Hi Tweets,

On Sunday I went on a long walk along the Lake Washington ship canal from
around
I-5 to Marsh Island in the Arboretum. It was mid-day and the sun was just
gorgeous, so things were fairly quiet on the bird front. However I did see
some
interesting CANADA GOOSE behavior that I thought worth reporting - diving
geese.

The Geese were floating in the area near the first bridge from the Montlake
cut
area to Marsh Island, across from the UW boathouse area, and they were diving
completely under water. They first splashed around with their wings for a
couple
of seconds, like they were getting a running start and then went down
completely
under water. They were down for several seconds - I timed one down for nine
seconds. In light of a question that came up a couple of months ago about
Mallards diving, I thought I would report this unusual behavior.

Other highlights of the day (10-3):

A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK being mercilessly harassed by a handful of the
thousands of
crows near Husky Stadium.



As I got back to my house in the Wallingford Neighborhood, I saw the first
DARK-EYED JUNCO of the season.

On 10/1 I saw a 2nd year HEERMAN'S GULL by the Ferry Terminal and on the
Pier 53
roof in Downtown Seattle.

On 9/28 and again on 10/5 - adult MEW GULLS in the water between pier 53
and 54.

Happy Birding!

John Chapman
Seattle, WA
email to: ragweed at igc.org