Fellow bird watchers,

Did my weekly Green Lake (Seattle) count this morning under cloudy skies
(55F/13C) from 06:20 - 07:50.

Asterisk indicated a note below.

Pied-billed Grebe* 27 ad, 17 stripe-head, 22 chicks, 5 eggs
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Green Heron 1
Canada Goose 156
Domesticated Goose 9
Mallard 56 male,20 female, 8 duckling
Gadwall 96 male, 69 male
Domesticated Duck 5
American Coot 69
Ring-billed Gull 11
Glaucous-winged hybrid gulls 9
Glaucous-winged Gull 14
Rock Dove 15
Belted Kingfisher 1 imm. male
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 1
Barn Swallow 150
American/Northwestern Crow 34
Black-capped Chickadee 22
Bushtit 40
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
European Starling 210
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Song Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird 42
Brewer's Blackbird 36
House Sparrow 48

Note:
Pied-billed Grebe; Everything is happening at the same time! One newly
formed pair has just started incubation (5 eggs). About three weeks till
hatching. This is still well within "normal" range. The latest hatching date
for Green Lake is the first week of October, those young survived. These two
adults have dropped all their flight feathers; they are, as far as I can
tell, the only ones who have started their Pre-Basic molt. About a week
after their eggs hatch they should regain flight and their body feathers
will start to molt and their appearance ought to change.
Most pairs have offspring > 3 weeks old, so they have abandoned their nests
and are out and about on the lake. A good number still congregate in the
largest lily patch to spend the night. Two pairs have raised two broods.
Some birds have started to move. There are more independent
young-of-the-year (stripe-heads) on the lake than have been raised here and
since last week a few more adults have shown up too.

Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com