Fellow bird appreciators,

This morning (January 22, 1997, 07:30 - 09:00) I walked around Green Lake
(Seattle, King County, Washington) in the light drizzle.
Due to construction of the inner path, the 1/2 mile section along Aurora
Avenue is closed. To complete the circular route one can follow an alternative
route west of Aurora. Birds encountered west of Aurora are not included in the
count. The alternative route adds some distance and it is not possible to do a
completely accurate count of the lake-side Aurora section. However, by using a
scope and scanning the Aurora section before and after the detour, I feel I do
get most of the birds present in that section. With the exception of small
(kinglet etc.) in the trees in the park.
I continue the weekly count despite these shortcomings, since my object is to
document the large, overall picture. In that regard one or more missed
"special birds" or a mixed feeding flock of kinglets, chickadees and the like,
doesn't seem to warrant suspending the counts during closure of the circular
route.

Notes:
The past few weeks, during the cold snap, Green Lake twice froze over
partially. Most of the grebes left. Pied-billed Grebes are just now starting
to return to the lake.
This winter the amount of plant material in the lake appears to be very low.
Compared to previous (recent) winters, the number of Gadwalls and American
Coots (who love to feed on the Eurasian Millfoil in the lake) are down. During
the winter of 1993 Coots peaked at 1800 and Gadwalls at 600. Now they are down
to 188 and 11 respectively. With most of the coots grazing on the grass, along
with the wigeons and geese.
Courtship activity was observed in Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards
and Gadwalls. Spring is definitely in the air (or in this case on the water).
The large number of American Crows is due to the morning roost departure
flight from Foster Island. Flocks fly to Green Lake, briefly land near the
Community Center (in trees and on the diving platform), before dispersing over
the North Seattle neighborhood (some of them making a second brief stop at the
island in the lake). There is a ten-minute window during which you can
encounter the high number. Otherwise the actual number of birds around the
lake (daytime) is something like two dozen birds.
The Northern Pintails and Hooded Mergansers were in the western section of the
lake, near Aurora Avenue (scope needed). The Eurasian Wigeons are with the
large flock near the Community Center on the east side of the lake.

Legend: Where there are two numbers separated by a comma, the first number is
males, the second females.

Pied-billed Grebe 6
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Great Blue Heron 2
Canada Goose 84 (incl. 4 Cackling)
domesticated goose 2
Mallard 88,55
Northern Pintail 1,1
Northern Shoveler 8,6
Gadwall 6,5
Eurasian Wigeon 2,0
American Wigeon 134,94
Bufflehead 15,12
Hooded Merganser 2,2
Common Merganser 1,4
Ruddy Duck 101,66
domesticated duck 6
Bald Eagle 2 (1 Juvenile, 1 adult)
American Coot 188
Mew Gull 65
Ring-billed Gull 55
Pink-legged hybrids :) 21
Glaucous-winged Gull 69
Rock Dove 25
American Crow 340 +
Black-capped Chickadee 22
Bushtits 60
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 40
American Robin 2
European Starling 50
Song Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Red-winged Blackbird 24
Brewer's Blackbird 6
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch 120
House Sparrow 22

That's the count.

For those of you in this area: remember the free bird walks around the lake
each Saturday morning. Starting at 8 AM on the east beach (near Community
Center/Evans Pool. Note: the parking lot is closed for renovation so take some
extra time to park and walk in. No registration required. Group size limited
to 15.

Martin Muller, Seattle
martinmuller at msn.com