Last Thursday (Oct. 29th) at the Ballard Locks there was an adult female
Belted Kingfisher with an ~2" flounder in her beak. She flew to several
perches near the railroad bridge before flying into the Commodore Park
trees followed by two distinct rattles. I assume she was feeding a
youngster. Saturday (Oct. 31st) I saw a Juv. male (Juv, yes, male, yes,
I think.) Plus about six other sightings that flew by too fast to ID.
They all could have been the same birds. At Shilshole today there was an
adult male rattling around V and W piers. He "woke up" two Pied-billed
Grebes who were sleeping/resting in the calm water between the Yacht Club
and V pier, other than that and a mystery bird it was pretty quiet.

The Mystery Bird was small and squat, not much longer in the body than a
Horned Grebe, but fatter, the body was a mottled brown and white in a
swirling pattern, the head a more uniform brown, close to the body with a
thick dark bill almost as long as the head. I've seen it several times
near the boat launch ramp, if it's a diving bird it doesn't dive very
often, it seems to just float around and groom. Any ideas?
=================
Cliff Drake
Seattle, (Ballard) WA
Birder at Juno.com

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