Fellow Tweeters,

This morning (9/25) I did my weekly Green Lake (Seattle, King County, WA) bird
census. It's obviously fall. Last week's swallows (all Barn Swallows) are
gone. There's an immature Greater White-fronted Goose hanging out with the
Canada Geese on the lawn. It's bill is more orange than pink, no white at base
of bill, feathers show typical break-off point for down feathers. It'll be
interesting to see how long it stays. Three years ago (or so) one spent most
of the winter on the lake with the domesticated geese.
A Dunlin was on one of the docks near the Small Craft Center (near Aqua
Theater). This is only my second record of a Dunlin at Green Lake, in the past
thirteen years.
An immature Spotted Sandpiper has been on the lake for the past four weeks.
Either walking along the top of the water lilies or somewhere on shore. This
morning I found it on one of the diving platforms near the Bathhouse Theater.
On the steps at the same location one Savannah Sparrow was walking/hopping
around too; another rare visitor to the lake.
The Merlin, reported on earlier this week, is still around. At least, I assume
it's the same bird (just like I assume it's the same Spotted Sandpiper from
week to week). A large bird, presumably female. Most likely an immature (based
on behavior). Chasing various other birds and screaming loudly (at first I
thought an escaped parakeet was hiding in the trees). First she chased a
Northern Flicker (male, red-shafted), he turned the tables on her, chasing her
off her perch twice. Then the Merlin chased a male Belted Kingfisher around,
once out over the water he turned the tables on her and chased her back into
the trees. The Merlin was obviously not having a good morning.
Then while I was watching the Spotted Sandpiper and Savannah Sparrow the
Merlin came over and made a pass at the sandpiper. The sandpiper made a
bee-line for my legs and if the Merlin hadn't broken off pursuit ten feet from
my face (closest I've ever been to a Merlin!), the sandpiper could very well
have ended up between my legs. As it was it stood less than three feet from
me. The Merlin made a pass at the fleeing Savannah Sparrow (missed by a mile).
The sandpiper looked up at me and casually walked over to where a couple of
Mallards were resting on the beach steps.

Complete species list (7:00 - 8:30 AM, clear skies):
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green-backed Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck (single female, quite tame, escapee?)
American Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon (three summered on the lake, done molting)
Ruddy Duck (first of the season)
Merlin
American Coot
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous-winged hybrids
Rock Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Cedar Waxwing (8 along Aurora Avenue, N-end)
European Starling (flying rats...)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (thirty-three of them, high-count of the year, so far)
Wilson's Warbler (2)
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird (32, high count I believe)
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

For those not familiar with Green Lake: this 103 hectare (256 acre) lake is
located in the north end of Seattle. It is surrounded by 105 acres of park
land in a suburban area. The park is the most heavily used park in the state,
with a three mile (5 kilometer) path circling the lake.
The lake originated after retreat of the Vashon Glacier from the Puget Sound
Lowland basin 15,000 years ago, and is naturally eutrophic. It is believed 2/3
of the original lake basin is filled with nutrient-rich sediment, accumulated
during the lake's existence. The lake is shallow with a mean depth of 13 feet
(4 meters), 80 % less than mean depth. One 29 feet (nine meters) spot,
probably the only location the lake ever becomes anoxic in late summer after
prolonged sunny and warm weather. Otherwise well mixed and oxygenated.
The lake is well-named. Sediment core samples show the lake has experienced
annual algal blooms for at least the past 7000 years.