Subject: (no subject)
Date: Dec 13 20:35:06 1996
From: Cliff Drake - birder at juno.com


I saw a bird this morning at Shilshole that I think was a Rhinoceros
Auklet, but barring confirmation, I hesitate to be too positive. It was
quite a stormy morning with maybe 4 foot swells and waves breaking over
the rocks onto the sidewalk. In the shadow of the breakwater just north
of the boat ramp there were two male Hooded Mergansers, six (three pair)
Red Breasted Mergansers ,two female Common Mergansers, four Surf
Scoters, and just south of the boat ramp, this one dark bird. It was
uniformly dark gray above and flashed a white belly when diving when
viewed from the rear. It used it's wings when diving, also flashing a bit
of white under the wings. I know it wasn't a Loon, Cormorant or any
waterfowl I'm familiar with. There are never a lot of birds at
Shilshole/Golden Gardens, but there seems to be a great variety, if small
numbers.

I also wanted to thank the Seattle Parks Department for the great work
they've done on Golden Gardens Park. The new pond at the North end of the
park is worth a look see, already it's home to 30 or so Mallards and it's
not uncommon to see 10 to 20 Crows bathing along the shore. The resident
flock of Wigeons visit it too. The calls of Chickadees and Song Sparrows
echo through the trees around and beyond the railroad tracks. The dunes
have been restored with the plantings of more than 3000 plants, mostly
dune grasses, Oregon Grape and Wild Rose. Now that the machinery is
gone, I expect the birdies to come back real soon.
=================
Cliff Drake
Ballard, WA
Birder at Juno.com