Tweetsters,

Counted the birds on and around Green Lake (Seattle) this Wednesday morning.
07:30 - 09:00
Overcast, 42F/6C, S wind making it chillier
Legend: before comma male, after female (when applicable)
Asterisk indicates note at end

General remark: very few plant eating birds feeding on the lake since the
brief period of ice on the lake last month. They are mostly feeding on the
grass fields.
Two upcoming projects with potentially significant influence on food
availability in the lake. Later this week state Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
is convening a meeting to discuss removal of the large population of big
carp in the lake. A boater/scuba diver volunteer is organizing a work party
including (hopefully) some 200 scuba divers and many additional volunteers
in boats and on shore. This June event will target under water harvest of
complete (root and all) milfoil by the scuba divers.
Trying to predict how these two actions will impact the lake and its bird
life is tough, but any removal of non-native invasives should be an
improvement.


Pied-billed Grebe 6*
Double-crested Cormorant 11
Great Blue Heron 2
Canada Goose 171
Domesticated Goose 9
Mallard 68,38
Gadwall 25,16
Eurasian Wigeon 0,2
American Wigeon 135,106
Ring-necked Duck 1,0
Lesser Scaup 0,1
Common Goldeneye 1,0
Bufflehead 12,7
Common Merganser 13,7
Ruddy Duck 44,67
Domesticated Duck 11
Bald Eagle 1,1*
Cooper's Hawk 0,1
American Coot 537
Bonaparte's Gull 2
Mew Gull 184
Ring-billed Gull 92
California Gull 2
Glaucous-winged hybrid gulls 19
Glaucous-winged Gull 43
Rock Dove 24
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2,1
Northern Flicker 1,1
American/Northwestern Crow 250*
Black-capped Chickadee 21
Bushtit 36
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 2
Winter Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 30
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
American Robin 6
European Starling 240
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Song Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 12
Red-winged Blackbird 27
Brewer's Blackbird 9
Pine Siskin 20
American Goldfinch 20
House Sparrow 20

Pied-billed Grebe; can't pass up a note on these guys: most of them are in
pre-alternate molt, showing varying amounts of black on the throat area and
bill color changing to gray with the black bar. Still waiting to hear from
Great Britain, where another Pied-bill was reported from Wales ten days ago.
There are well over 40 reports of Pied-bills in Europe. They don't look it,
but they are strong fliers and some (many?) migrate long distances (1000 km
plus).

Bald Eagles: the pair continues collecting sticks and placing them in fir
trees in Lower Woodland Park. Nothing much with a definite nest-shape yet.
The sub-adult female was finishing off a meal of duck the other day, as far
as I could tell (based on a partial wing dangling from a branch) Ruddy Duck.
Yesterday I also saw her make a brief hunting attempt over two ruddies but
they were well aware of her presence.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com