Hey Martin,

What a great birthday present (Aug. 26) to be able to read about Green
Lake again. Hope you are doing well these days. I might come on over
this fall to visit, perhaps with an ELWAS outing.

Martin J. Muller wrote:
>
> 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

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