hello tweets.

i finally managed to visit the green river natural resources
area (GRNRA) this morning. awhile ago, i showed a fellow tweeter
around the montlake fill at her request, and she then told me
about GRNRA and even brought a map for me! of course, there is nothing
like a new place to go birding to get me out of bed at the
crack of dawn, so off i went.

the weather was splendid once again, and there was a moderate
breeze to keep things cooled off. even though i was merely trying
to learn the "lay of the land," i still managed to see 56 species
of birds while i was there. notable birds were a common snipe
that i flushed while trying to get a closer look at the many
american pipits walking through the grasses, the peregrine falcon
who stirred things up and allowed me to get a reasonably accurate
count of all the western sandpipers (14) and the greater
yellowlegs (2) feeding on the shore of the ponds, the four
red-tailed hawks that were arguing very loudly in midflight,
a single american kestrel (eating something) and the female
northern harrier.

migrant passerines were also setting up housekeeping here.
i watched a group of about 30 cliff swallows build their mud
nests under the eaves of the red barn, talking to each other
in their creaky voices the entire time, and i was amazed to
hear so many common yellowthroats singing; they seemed to be
everywhere. the savannah sparrows were especially vocal and
active, as were the marsh wrens, who provided me with many
close looks at them while they gathered nesting materials
for their newest birdhouse masterpieces. i also saw a group
of 4 barn swallows and noticed that the tree swallows seem to
outnumber the violet-green swallows.

this is a very nice place to go birding. i could easily have
spent all day here, instead of two hours, since there are so
many trails to bike, walk and jog, and i could have added
more birds to my day's list, too!

my bird list follows, for those who are interested;

western grebe, 2
pied-billed grebe
double-crested cormorant, 1st year
great blue heron
canada goose, many
mallard, including one duckling
gadwall
american green-winged teal, many
american wigeon, many
northern shoveler
ruddy duck
ring-necked duck
greater scaup
lesser scaup
bufflehead, many!
common merganser
hooded merganser
sora (heard only)
american coot, bazillions
killdeer, many!
greater yellowlegs, 2
western sandpiper, 14
common snipe, 1
glaucous-winged gull
western gull
bald eagle, 1 adult
northern harrier, 1 adult female
red-tailed hawk, 4 (probably two mated pairs)
american kestrel, 1
peregrine falcon, 1
ring-necked pheasant (heard only)
rock dove
northern (red-shafted) flicker
downy woodpecker
tree swallow
violet-green swallow
cliff swallow, ~30
barn swallow, 4
american crow
black-capped chickadee
bewick's wren
marsh wren
american robin
american pipit, many!
european starling, bazillions
yellow-rumped (audubon's) warbler
common yellowthroat, dozens
savannah sparrow, bazillions
song sparrow, many!
white-crowned sparrow
golden-crowned sparrow, many!
fox sparrow
red-winged blackbird
house (english) sparrow
american goldfinch
house finch

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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