hello tweets.

i went to the montlake fill this morning to conduct my weekly census.
the fill was very quiet this morning, probably due to the almost
constant breezes and the sporatic sprinkles that fell about every 20
minutes. probably the best bird that i saw today was the single male
wood duck on the central pond. this bird is mostly in full breeding
plumage, except he lacks the long feathery tresses on the back of his
head and nape of his neck. instead, he has some randow whisps of
fluff curling out through his plumage. i also saw a few vaux's swifts
today, at least four and probably more. one individual swift was
missing a flight feather on its left wing.

speaking of missing feathers, the crows, waterfowl and blackbirds
appear to be in various stages of moult at this time. the ground is
litered with the large flight feathers of canada geese, and the crows
flying overhead look ratty and unkempt. many waterfowl seem to be
flightless at this time. i did see one new canada goose mama, swimming
proudly around the central pond, followed by three goslings that i
guess are probably two- to three-days of age.

a mother downy woodpecker and her two chicks found me as i stood
silently at the edge of a pond near parking lot E4. they sat very
close in front of me and pipped at their mother in single high-pitched
notes. they were still learning to fly through the dense brush, but
they also pecked tenatively at tree branches as their mother
instructed. very curious bewick's wrens peered down at me when i
attempted to imitate the call notes of the downy woodpeckers.

i also managed to find a singing willow flycatcher, sitting on a
dense thicket of blackberry bushes, suggesting that this individual
may be setting up a breeding territory at the fill. about the same
time that i found this flycatcher, a homeless man, who had been
sleeping under a small group of trees, awakened, sat up and glared
threateningly at me. i glared back at him, comforting myself with the
silly thought that i could beat him senseless with my binoculars
if i had to defend myself. then i wandered away through the brush,
trying to appear casual about this encounter, but i spent much time
nervously glancing around and listening for the sounds of pursuing
footsteps.

i was at the fill from 10am-11am. the weather was warm, cloudy,
and breezy, with occasional sprinkles. i saw 41 species of birds
today; my bird list follows, for those who might be interested;

pied-billed grebe
great blue heron
canada goose
wood duck, 1 male
mallard
gadwall
northern shoveler
bufflehead, 1 female
ring-necked pheasant
california quail
american coot
killdeer
ring-billed gull
glaucous-winged gull
rock dove
vaux's swift, 4+
anna's hummingbird, 2 females +
northern (red-shafted) flicker
downy woodpecker, 1 adult female and 2 newly-fledged juveniles
willow flycatcher
american crow
tree swallow, adults and newly-fledged juveniles
violet-green swallow, adults and newly-fledged juveniles
cliff swallow, adults and newly-fledged juveniles
barn swallow, adults only
black-capped chickadees, adults and newly-fledged juveniles
bushtits
bewick's wren
marsh wren
american robin, adults and newly-fledged juveniles
european starling
cedar waxwing, adults only
yellow warbler
savannah sparrow
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
red-winged blackbird
brown-headed cowbird
house finch
american goldfinch
house (english) sparrow

non-avian list;

red-eared slider turtles, many really huge ones
homo homelessi, 1 male

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