Subject: birding at the montlake fill
Date: Mar 22 16:30:20 1999
From: Deborah Wisti-Peterson - nyneve at u.washington.edu



hello tweets.

i went birding at the montlake fill this afternoon, until the
sprinkles moved in and the birds snuggled into their favorite
roosts. the past few days have definitely made me feel like a
bad-weather-magnet, boo.

i saw 46 species today, not that great, but some birds were
especially interesting, including the handsome white-crowned
sparrow that was singing three different songs while i stopped
to listen, discovering the killdeer nest, complete with four
lovely cryptic eggs located in almost the same exact place as
last year's (failed?) nest, and the pair of canada geese who
flew at me from at least 50 feet away to try attacking me (they
bit and beat my backpack, instead). i also saw 2 tree swallows,
so i wonder if i am the first person to see swallows within the
seattle city limits?

i include my list here, if anyone is interested;

pied-billed grebe
double-crested cormorant
1st spring black-crowned night-heron
great blue heron, nuptial plumage
greater white-fronted geese, 3, one of which is quite dark
canada geese, bazillions, including one pair that tried to
invite me for lunch, ahem.
mallard
gadwall
green-winged teal
american wigeon, including one pale-headed male
northern shoveler
ruddy duck, including one male that is showing the bright
blue bill along with winter plumage
ring-necked duck
lesser scaup
common goldeneye
bufflehead
red-breasted merganser
hooded merganser
american coot
killdeer, including one nest complete with four beautiful
cryptic eggs
common snipe
ring-billed gull
glaucous-winged gull
bald eagle
immature sharp-shinned hawk
red-tailed hawk
california quail, 4 male, 2 female
rock dove
northern red-shafted flicker
downy woodpecker
tree swallows, 2
common crow
black-capped chickadee
bushtit
marsh wren
american robin
european starling
audubon's yellow-rumped warbler
myrtle yellow-rumped warbler
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow, singing three different songs
red-winged blackbird
brewer's blackbird
house (english) sparrow
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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