Subject: Eagles etc. at Green Lake; Lincoln Pk
Date: Mar 26 20:02:30 1998
From: Trileigh Stroh - tri at seattleu.edu


Hi, Martin et al.,
Back to Green Lake (old haunt) for my first visit in months.
Delighted to see so many swallows; they haven't made it out to Lincoln
Park Annex this spring yet! I was excited to see the two bald eagles on
the island, even more so when the immature one swooped down and cruised
low over the lake (causing much consternation in Cootville below), then
sat on a low post by the dock by the Bathhouse. Turned out it's
osprey-phase, which I hadn't even heard of until my Tweeters digest a day
or so ago! Martin, is this the same one you saw yesterday? Dark eyebrow,
tail tip chocolate-rimmed? It hung out on the post from about 11:10 am -
11:40ish, then cruised back up to the island, doing an aerial dance with
the mature eagle who'd been sitting at the top of the island the whole
time. Nice to see the flock of Bonaparte's Gulls on the Bathhouse dock,
too, and watch them skimming the water, occasionally dipping beaks in. The
stiff north wind and hail didn't seem to faze any of the avian types,
though my chocolate croissant got soggy...
At Lincoln Park yesterday (it's spring break, so I finally get to
spend some time outside birding instead of in the classroom) I saw a pair
of low mottled birds I hadn't seen before in the 1.5 years I've lived near
the park, floating just north of the point. Looked to me from the Nat'l G
guide like they were marbled murrelets, which was pretty exciting to me!
I checked Gene Hunn's "Birding in Seattle and King Co." and see that
they're not unheard of here in March, but that was my closest view to date
(if that's indeed what they were).
The bushtits outside my window above Lincoln Pk have apparently
finished their nest, circa 12 days in construction. Though I'm not
actually sure how I'd be sure they were finished with nestbuilding and on
to egglaying/caretaking, since they might continue bringing material to
the nest even when the eggs are in there. Or do they? I'll keep an eye
out to see.

Happy birding,
Trileigh Stroh