hello tweetsters.

i returned to the montlake fill at the crack of dawn this morning
so i could meet a fellow tweeter and show her the wonders of urban
birds. i could not relocate the american bittern, much to my
disappointment, however, i did manage to relocate five of the six
ducklings that i saw yesterday afternoon. i also spotted a newly
hatched brood of seven canada goslings, along with their proud
parents. incidentally, these canada geese parents looked suspiciously
similar to the attack geese that almost cost me my life several weeks
ago when i was innocently wandering around the periphery of the
central pond. that's all we need, SONS of killer geese!

so i am declaring myself the undisputed champion baby bird finder
within the tweeters community! i also declare that springtime has
finally arrived!

other observations of interest included a group of at least six
american pipits first seen near the central pond, and then later
re-spotted virtually everywhere, numerous warring american goldfinches
and american robins, a female common merganser, a female harrier
that made a quick pass over the poplar stand at the north end of
the fill, golden-crowned sparrows singing their sweet melancholy
songs, and several pairs of copulating song sparrows (i knew you
all were waiting for that part of my report!). also frequently seen
and heard were downy woodpeckers and northern (red-shafted)
flickers.

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~nyneve/
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