Ran out of time this morning to go to Portage and the weather got nasty,
so I just went to the sewage ponds. While there, we saw:

1 Bald eagle (adult)
7 Red-tailed Hawks (one of which was a Harlan's)
7 Great Blue Herons
100+ Canvasbacks
2 Redheads
2 Little Gulls (with the Bonaparte's on the south end)
50 Bonaparte's Gulls (all on the south end)
100+ Mallards
150+ Pintails
300+ Northern Shoveler
40 Ruddy Ducks
4 Ring-necked Ducks
Several Greater and Lesser Scaup
50 American Wigeon
70 Gadwall
4 Bufflehead

LOTS OF DUCK HUNTERS!



Most of the numbers I gave above are estimates (anything over 10). This
was the first time I had been there, and I was really surprised to see so
many red-tails just by walking around the ponds on the gravel road. At
one time, I could see four of them at a time sitting in the trees. I
would have thought they would be a little more territorial, maybe the
hunter's retrievers weren't doing a very good job.

Next time, I will bring my spotting scope and a tripod, and maybe I will
get a better look at some of the birds sitting out in the middle.



Michael Dossett
Shoreline, Washington
mpdossett at Juno.com