Tweetsters,

Here are the results of this morning's complete Green Lake, Seattle count.
Light rain and 43F/8C made for nice quiet conditions around the lake
(human-wise).

As usual the number before the comma indicates males, after, female (where
applicable). An asterisk indicates a remark at the end.

General remarks:
Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Winter species are arriving. Some bays
are covered in algae and floating millfoil. Coots and Gadwalls have arrived
to take advantage of the bounty. If past years' numbers are any indication
(often they are not...) the winter numbers for these species may rival the
high counts of several years ago (Coots 1800, Gadwalls 600). Will be
interesting to watch.

Pied-billed Grebe - 55*
Horned Grebe - 2
Western Grebe - 5*
Double-crested Cormorant - 15
Great Blue Heron - 3
Canada Goose - 195
Domesticated Goose - 9
American Green-winged Teal - 2,2
Mallard - 105,65
Northern Shoveler - 31,23
Gadwall - 184,113
Eurasian Wigeon - 0,2*
American Wigeon - 32,20
Common Merganser - 0,16
Ruddy Duck - 6,8
Domesticated Duck - 9
Bald Eagle - 1,1*
Cooper's Hawk - 0,2*
American Coot - 485
Bonaparte's Gull - 4
Mew Gull - 128
Ring-billed Gull - 45
California Gull - 1
Glaucous-winged hybrid gulls - 8
Glaucous-winged Gull - 18
Rock Dove - 24
Belted Kingfisher - 1,0
Downy Woodpecker - 2,1
Northern Flicker - 1,1
Steller's Jay - 2
American/Northwestern Crow - 59
Black-capped Chickadee - 33
Bushtit - 40
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3
Winter Wren - 2
American Robin - 2
European Starling - 36
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 28
Song Sparrow - 10
Red-winged Blackbird - 32
Brewer's Blackbird - 16
American Goldfinch - 30
House Sparrow - 36

Notes:

Pied-billed Grebe
After the nesting season there was a slight decrease in numbers, but
last week the numbers shot up to their usual fall peak. Only one set of
offspring (2 stripe heads) are still with their parents. This morning they
were with dad near the Aqua Theater. These youngsters are almost 3 months
old. I have not seen them receive food from the adults for a few weeks now,
but they are certainly tolerated nearby.
The winter behavior of nighttime flocking has started. Those birds that
do not maintain a winter territory (a few of the residents do) congregate
along the SE shore, across from Kirkwood Avenue. They arrive about an hour
before sunset and fan out over the lake starting about an hour before
sunrise. It appears from some individually recognizable birds (for instance
one male has a scar towards the tip of his bill on the right hand side) that
the birds spend the daytime in roughly the same undefended area of the lake.
It has been fascinating to watch the change in appearance as juveniles
molt into Basic I plumage and adults molt into Definitive Basic plumage.
There is so much variation! If you get a chance to go out to the lake, you
will be able to scrutinize many of these birds at close quarters. Note for
instance that some young birds still have some striping on the head/neck,
but also faint black markings on the bill, which sometimes look like the
faded black bars of the adult Alternate plumage. Some adults in Definitive
Basic plumage show similar faint black bars.
Also note that several (if not the majority) of adults in Definitive
Basic plumage have lost the white eye ring. Like young birds in Basic I
plumage, the eye ring is the same tawny coloration as the rest of the facial
feathers. As far as we know the only difference between Basic I and
Definitive Basic plumage is the retention of the Juvenal flight feathers.

Western Grebe:
Five birds have been present on the lake these past three weeks. Doesn't
happen every fall/winter, but is not that unusual either. Lots of fish to be
had for them.

Eurasian Wigeon:
One male is in Basic plumage. The other looks like he's in Pre-Basic
molt. Either that or it's a hybrid American /Eurasian Wigeon. I'll have to
keep an eye on it, if it stays. My initial impression was that this is early
for this species. But my records indicate that the past five years this
species arrived in the third or fourth week of October. So we're right on
schedule.

Bald Eagle:
No eagles were seen on the lake since late August. Too early to say for
sure whether these two are the same individuals who staked out the lake as
their territory this past spring.

Cooper's Hawk:
Definitely 2 immature female Cooper's. Like last Saturday they were
flying together around the Community Center area. Big birds, light eyes,
thick legs. Very cooperative when perched.

Remember the free bird walks every first and thrid Saturday of each month
(through April), courtesy of the Green Lake Park Alliance.
8 AM at the east beach life guard chairs (near Community Center).

Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com