In the past week and over the weekend, a group of 8-12 W. grebes, a single
red necked grebe, a few horned grebes, 2 rhino auklets and a small
flotilla of 6-8 surfscoters are hanging around the fishing pier.
Pied-billed grebes are more frequently seen now; I'm not certain whether
they nest in the immediate area or away; they are much more visible in the
winter.

About 6 double crested cormorants are roosting on the totem pole entrance
to the marina. The wintering wigeons have increased to the hundreds, but
these are only seen early in the morning. The ducks disperse during the
day. Two adult bald eagles, perhaps the nesting pair of Normandy Park,
have been seen frequently in tree tops near the senior center area and
north on the snags of Normandy Park bluff. Groups of killdeer passed
through earlier, and there are still a few Boneparte's gulls "terning"
about the Des Moines Beach Park bay.

Sunday, the mother of all blustery fall days with awesome downpour squalls
sweeping across the Sound, the Des Moines Park Senior Center trees were
crowded with hundreds of bushtits and intermixed ruby-crowned kinglets 'n
black-capped chickadees plus a couple of song sparrows (song sparrows were
scarce here this summer; they usually nest, but not sure there were any
successes this season).

More as the birds move in,

Maureen E. Ellis, me2 at u.washington.edu, Des Moines WA and Univ of WA