Subject: a quiet evening at the montlake fill (FRI EVE)
Date: Apr 30 23:09:30 1999
From: Deborah Wisti-Peterson - nyneve at u.washington.edu



hello tweets.

even though the weather was nice earlier today, it had clouded
up and cooled off by the time i got out of my last meeting for
the day. by the time i got to the fill, i wondered if i might
get rained on, but it turned out that it never did really rain,
but only sprinkled a little, and it was cold and breezy.

there weren't many shorebirds to be seen today, but i did find
13 Least Sandpipers and one Solitary Sandpiper. the crows swooped
down upon the solitary sandpiper and knocked it into the pond.
the startled bird took to the air and flew north over the fill
until it was a mere speck in the sky. it then turned abruptly
and rocketed downward, headfirst, to some new hiding place,
probably at the north end of the fill.

on the nearby pond (east point pond on the map, but is it also
known as shoveler's pond? if so, i like that name better),
i managed to find the pair of Cinnamon Teal, feeding quietly
among the iris. i did not see them when i had passed through
earlier in the evening, but i did see them on my second walk
through the fill at 710pm. the male teal wasn't as impressive
today as he was yesterday: he was wearing a scummy ring around
his belly, similar to a bathtub ring!

i also sat near the main pond for awhile, watching the antics
of the ducks there. one male greater scaup was bathing
enthusiastically. finally, he rolled onto his back, exposing his
white belly and waving his dark paddles at the grey sky. he
bobbed around on the water's surface like this for five minutes,
grooming his tummy, before righting himself again.

other interesting observations include the flicker nest, which
was being inspected and redecorated by a female flicker -- the
first time i have seen a female flicker at this nesthole. i
managed to find the precise location of a killdeer nest, which
has four eggs in it, so i am preparing myself for another
heartbreak. i saw three starling fledglings today, the first
i've seen at the fill this year.

i was at the fill tonight from 530pm-730pm.

today's species count was sort of disappointing, with only 50
species. i expect that this species count was reduced by the
cloudy weather, which caused the birds to be fairly quiet. my
list follows, for those who are interested;

pied-billed grebe
double-crested cormorant
great-blue heron
mute swan, 2
canada goose, bazillions and more on the way!
mallard
gadwall
green-winged teal
american wigeon
northern shoveler
cinnamon teal, 1 pair
ruddy duck
ring-necked duck
greater scaup
lesser scaup
goldeneye spp., 1 snoozing female
bufflehead
sora, calling
american coot
killdeer
solitary sandpiper, 1
least sandpiper, 13
western gull
glaucous-winged gull
caspian tern, 2 feeding on lake
ring-necked pheasant
rock dove
northern (red-shafted) flicker
tree swallow
violet-green swallow
cliff swallow
barn swallow
american crow
bushtit
black-capped chickadee
bewick's wren
marsh wren
american robin
european starling, many and now fledglings, too (boo!)
yellow-rumped warbler, singing
savannah sparrow
song sparrow
dark-eyed junco
white-crowned sparrow
fox sparrow
red-winged blackbird
brown-headed cowbird
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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