Subject: Seahurst Park, Burien, WA, Sunday, March 21, 1999
Date: Mar 22 13:44:45 1999
From: Maureen Ellis - me2 at u.washington.edu


Folks,
What a great day! Our wintering PINE siskins, DARK-EYED juncoes (we have
slate-colored, Oregon, and pink-sided morphs), sooty FOX sparrows, and
VARIED thrushes are all still here. More Robins are arriving. The
red-shafted Northern flickers, both Black-capped and Chestnut-backed
chickadees, Song sparrows and Bewick's wrens appear to be setting up
housekeeping. I saw a small 'wave' of probably migrating RUBY-CROWNED
kinglets in a mixed flock of chickadees, GOLDEN-CROWNED kinglets and
COMMON bushtits.

A forest trail trek to the beach areas was rewarded by 5 PACIFIC loons,
all in transition plumage, not far off the beach. There were flotillas of
BARROW's goldeneyes, a few HORNED grebes (still in basic plumage) and
large rafts of SURF scoters, expecially out in the middle of the Sound
looking toward the north Vashon Island ferry terminal. A few scattered,
mostly seen as single birds, BUFFLEHEADS, WHITE-WINGED scoters, and
RED-NECKED grebes are also still here.

In the forest were plots of white TRILLIUM (I need to look up
the Latin name for this NW species; the Trillium I know best blooms in
Smoky Mt Nat Park)---wonderful displays within an easy stroll of home.
The Salmonberry bushes started flowering about last weekend, Mar 13-14,
and many more were seen this Sunday. And the marshes and seeps now have
widespread Skunk cabbage, very colorful in full yellow "bloom."

In late afternoon the forest edge around our condo complex was full of
bird song.....SPRING!.

Cheers,
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu U of WA & Burien-Seahurst Park, WA

"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
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