Subject: Kingfishers
Date: Oct 22 18:22:06 1998
From: birder at juno.com - birder at juno.com


There were three Belted Kingfishers at the Ballard Locks this morning,
the first two were perched together (~20 ft), both had some roufus on the
breast, but I don't know if they were juv. or adult females. I'm not an
expert, but I doubt two adult females would sit that close to each
other... The third was an adult male.Also of interest:
2 female Mergansers, red breasted I think, the first of the year. They
were down past the railroad bridge.
12 or so Wigeons on the beach.
20 or so Double Crested Cormorants
1 Western Grebe
1 Horned Grebe
Mew, Bonaparte's, California and GW Gulls
3 Spotted Towhees in the Rose Garden
1 Fox Sparrow near the trees across from the visitors center
1 Downy Woodpecker in the trees across from the visitors center
1 Song sparrow, same location
Juncos, Bushtits, lots of skymice and skyrats
There was one Dusky Canada Goose in with the flocks earlier in the week.
Still a few Steller's Jays around, they seem to have a preferred flight
plan from the vicinity of the Sequoia across the canal to the general
vicinity of the Heronry. It's not far from there to Discovery Park so I
keep hoping to see the Blue Jay over here, but no dice.
A hummingbird where I saw the Anna's, but it was too fast to ID. The
fuschia's are still blooming...

For the mammalogists:
There's a short game trail just west of the fish ladder with a tunnel
under the sidewalk, on the east end there's a tunnel/hole under the fence
and a parth leading up. I finally saw a decent track on the west trail.
Five toes well spread, a c shaped pad with no center spot, about 1 1/2
inches across. The "toes" were narrow and sharp. There are paths down the
hill that look like otter slides, but the gardeners keep cleaning things
up.
Sea Lions are rare, Harbor Seals are frequent. There's a juvenile who
likes to get trapped in the small lock chamber, it "herds" the fish
against the lock gates. They'll float with their eyes and nose above
water looking at the people.

And if you like deciduous conifers and can't get up to see tha Alpine
Larch, there are a couple of Dawn Redwoods that are turning now.
=========================
Cliff Drake
(Ballard) Seattle, WA 98107
birder at juno.com

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