hello tweets.

i had a fantastic day at the montlake fill today. besides the
wonderful (warm and SUNNY!) weather, there were some mighty
fine birds to be seen there today. the fun began almost the very
moment that i arrived at the fill, when a lovely male yellow
warbler popped out of a small tree by the dime-lot pond, giving
me a very long and close look, my best look at this species this
year. i then saw three vaux's swifts soaring high overhead,
above a large mixed flock of swallows.

i then ran into tom o'connell's ornithology class, and we continued
through the fill together. a quick walk to the central pond
revealed even more unusual species of birds. we saw one male and
two female yellow-headed blackbirds feeding on the ground near the
eastern side of the central pond. they were harassed often by male
red-winged blackbirds, so they were fairly nervous. two spotted
sandpipers flushed from the back of the central pond and flew with
stiff wingbeats south towards the front of this pond, their bold white
wingbars were quite obvious. perhaps the best "spot" of this day
were the three breeding-plumaged wilson's phalaropes. there were
two females and one male poking around in the muddy shores of the
central pond. they allowed us to observe them through a 'scope for
awhile, but later, when i returned alone for another look, they had
all disappeared.

i also saw a single osprey flying high over the fill, rolling on its
back with its talons pointed to the heavens to meet the dives of
a peregrine falcon. this is my first osprey of the year for the
montlake fill. unfortunately, these birds were too high up for me
to provide a description of the peregrine.

other notable birds seen today at the fill include three male
blue-winged teal, one pair cinnamon teal, two male and one female
ring-necked ducks (i thought they all had left), three or four
american pipits (seen after tom's class had left, unfortunately),
one adult bald eagle soaring high over union bay, and three
sightings of a red-tailed hawk (probably the same individual) being
mobbed by crows as it flew over the fill. the air was full of the
warbler-like song of american goldfinches as they flew in tight
cirlces over the montlake fill. i also saw an amorous pair of tree
swallows "doin' the wild thang!" and realized that swallows do
everything with the utmost grace, even cloacal kissing!

overall, this was a most fantastic day, and i have the sunburn to
prove it (so much for sunblock #56!). the warm sunny weather was
superb this morning, but became windy this afternoon, driving the
smaller birds into hiding (just in time for my florida guest's
arrival, pooh!). in all, i saw 47 species of birds today, some
of those species were absolutely wonderful! my list follows for
those who might be interested;

pied-billed grebe
great blue heron
canada goose
mallard
gadwall
northern shoveler, 2 males
blue-winged teal, 3 males
cinnamon teal, 1 pair
ring-necked duck, 2 males and 1 female
lesser scaup, 2 male and 1 female
bufflehead, 2 female
american coot
killdeer
spotted sandpiper, 2
wilson's phalarope, 1 male and 2 female
glaucous-winged gull
bald eagle, 1 soaring
osprey, 1 being attacked by peregrine
red-tailed hawk, 3 sightings
peregrine falcon, 1
california quail, allowing us long close looks
ring-necked pheasant
rock dove, yawn
vaux's swifts, 3 (4?)
northern (red-shafted) flicker
tree swallow
violet-green swallow
barn swallow
cliff swallow
american crow
black-capped chickadee
bushtit
bewick's wren, some with newly-fledged chickies
marsh wren
american pipit, 4
american robin
european starling
yellow warbler, saw 1 male and heard several more
savannah sparrow
song sparrow
white-crowned sparrow
yellow-headed blackbird, 1 male and 2 females
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://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
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