First off, I've yet to see any Bonaparte's Gulls in Ballard, but they
usually show up at the Locks about now. The Mew Gulls have been hanging
around for a week or so along with a few California Gulls and the ever
present GW Gulls. There's still a good contingent of California Gulls on
the beach at Golden Gardens, but I only saw one Caspian Tern, again on a
tide low enough to expose the sandbar north of Meadow Point. Also, in the
new dunes were Red Winged Blackbirds, American Goldfinches, Kildeer,
White Crowned, Golden Crowned and Song Sparrows and lots of Crows. This
is the area that was totally rebuilt last winter and was totally devoid
of life for most of the spring and summer.

Back to the subject, I watched a pair of Belted Kingfishers, male and
female, chase each other around for more than an hour at the locks.
Constantly chattering, they'd take off on long circular chases, then
trade perches. One would perch at point A, the other would land a ways
away, then displace the first bird and so it would go, a constant cycle
of displacement interspersed with long circular chases. Pretty cool. Oh
yeah, an immature Bald Eagle flew over as well.


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Cliff Drake
Seattle, (Ballard) WA
Birder at Juno.com