On this wet Mon. morning I again walked the L. Hills Greenbelt and saw only
23 species. One interesting observation was a Great Blue Heron standing in a
field with a recently caught animal crosswise in its bill. With my binocs I
could see that it was considerably larger than a mouse. Its body was about
4"long and 1-1/2" in diameter. I would guess it probably was a vole. The
animal was still struggling in the bill and I watched for 20-30 seconds while
the GBHE tried repositioning the animal 3-4 times before it got it lengthwise
and swallowed it head first. I watched a large bulge go down the neck of the
heron. I know herons eat live fish, but watching one swallow a live animal
seems a little more gross. But, I guess that is life in the natural world.

CBC - The ELWAS (E. L. Wash. Audubon Society) CBC will be on Dec. 20. We
will meet at the west parking lot, near the windmill, of Marymoor Park at 0800
. Marymoor Park is just south of Redmond at the north end of L. Sammamish.
We cover the Sammamish valley and plateau, Beaver L., Snoqualmie Valley, and
extends outward in a 7.5 mile radius. We have about seven different routes,
each with a separate leader. To go along you just need to show up at 0800 at
Marymoor Park. When everyone is there, each will be assigned to a leader for
an area of their choice. Len Steiner, 425-827-2478, is the coordinator for
the ELWAS CBC. I usually lead one of the Snoqualmie Valley counts.

Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
hughbirder at aol.com
425-746-6351