On two treks out to water's edge and the fishing pier both Saturday and
Sunday, noted a few more changes in local birds. The two Pelagic
cormorants were not seen this weekend; there are still 6-8 Double-crested
cormorants hanging out 'n roosting on the totem entrance to the Marina and
on the jetty. Grebes continue to decline with 2-3 Red-necked and less
than a dozen remaining Horned grebes; large rafts of mostly Barrow's
goldeneyes (up to 100) with some Commons continue as well as 20-30
scoters, nearly all Surf with perhaps 4 White-wingeds. A single, very
inhospitable male Red-breasted merganser has joined the munch-mouth
Mallards. They stay just out of his reach, and keep right on begging and
snacking. The winter-resident flock of female Red-breasted mergansers
keep to themselves and forage in their natural habitat that includes
determined theft of fish from Horned grebes, equally energetic in
their usually futile efforts to hang on to their prey. Life is not fair.

Weather was fierce these two days with icy winds, despite
the variable S, SE, SW direction; maybe blowing off the glaciers of
Rainier.....Brrrr! And, there were big, big for this part of the Puget
Sound, swells with gale-driven chop on top, looked mighty seasicky to me!
For a while on Saturday, I was the ONLY person out on the fishing
pier, an extremely rare solitude for such a popular weekend/warmer weather
destination. The big water surge could be easily felt through the
pilings, just a bit disquieting.

A Pileated woodpecker appeared in Des Moines Beach Park, today (03-02-97),
flying from the big Western red cedar snag near Cabin F across to trees on
the south "rim" of the park. This is marginal way-too-many-people habitat
for them in terms of hectare requirements of woodland. Maybe they can
make use of the remaining corridors of big trees in this area, and adapt
to the wooded sanctuaries provided by connecting ravines, bluffs, etc., in
the absence of a large wooded park like Carkeek or Seward. A call to Thais
Bock revealed that Pileateds are known to nest in the suburban
"forests" between Burien and Federal Way. This is my first sighting
(three seasons of monitoring) of this species in this area, and there is,
as yet, no visible evidence of drilled rectangles on any trees here; so
will keep watching.

A Red-tailed hawk that took up residence in the Beach Park in December may
be about to nest in one of the few remaining tall conifers. It's
incredible how these big buteos can conceal a nest near the top of an
evergreen, at least from our prying eyes at ground level.

A bundle-up, huddled-gulls weekend with spectacular wild skies, wind and
water........

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