Whilst strolling the fishing pier and marina area, saw:

(1) pair of mallards mating in the salt water just off the fishing
pier.........eggs as early as Feb? Bent's Life Histories reports that
mallards can be on the nest in late Feb. in the south Puget Sound
area. I have a wild duck reproductive biology question---How long between
mating, i.e., copulation, and fertilized egg laying?

(2) Charming courtship behavior between a pair of Barrow's goldeneye; the
pair was swimming in close tandem in a serpentine pattern with the female
doing the "pursuing" and bowing right 'n left just behind the male. I
noticed he was swimming just fast enough for her to catch him. According
to Bent's, Barrow's goldeneye may do courtship displays throughout the
winter, and females have been observed performing displays (no detail
given, however, as to the actual choreography of these performances.)
The male remained somewhat passive; he did not exhibit the typical
head-thrown-back/gaping bill display. I'm assuming what I saw
was courtship of a sorts, rather than some female territorial defensive
posture. The marina area has about 100 Barrow's goldeneyes that seem to
stay in mixed groups throughout the winter.

I"ve noticed another interesting behavior among the Barrow's goldeneyes:
They "play" in the rain. That is, they swim repeatedly under the
rainwater streams dripping off the shed roofs of the marina slips. I've
watched this several times now, and it is as inexplicable as the wigeons
seen 'body-surfing' last year.

(3) Spotted towhee heard singing a rendition of the spring song
and Bewick's wrens seen as a foraging pair just above the marina.
However, Bushtits, Juncoes, Robins, and other local passerines are still
in flocks.

(4) Finally, a black-capped chickadee was singing spring song at the
Seattle Science Center on Sunday (heard while on the way to the opera
matinee).

(5) Not a spring-maybe thing, but saw an immature bald eagle flying north
just off the end of the fishing pier. Our 'resident' eagles are all
adults (we have 3 to 5 frequently seen adult Bald eagles, and 2 are known
to be a nesting pair on the Normandy Park bluff.)

More as deemed reportable,

Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu UofWA and DesMoines WA, USA