Tweeties:

Saturday on Michael Cohen's monthly (2nd Saturday, 8am) birdwalk through
Seward Park we saw a duck none of us could identify. it was far away on the
other (west) side of Andrews Bay and difficult to see even through the
scope. It was a diving duck, small compared with some nearby mallards. It
was overall darkish; the crown seemed darkest (blackish) and the belly was
lighter; perhaps more reddish brown. The side of the head had two white or
lightish colored spots separated by a fairly thin vertical bar. The bill
also seemed light-colored (yellowish or orangish) and decidedly duck-like
as opposed to grebe-like or whatever.
The closest match I could come up with in the field guide was a juvenile
or female surf scoter or harlequin duck, but these seemed to be unlikely on
freshwater. I happened to be in Flora and Fauna Books Sunday, so I looked
in a global Waterfowl book to see if I could find a better (if more
unlikely) exotic match and found no other matches at all!
So does anyone know if scoters will turn up on Lake Washington
occasionally?? Right now I'm inclined to lean toward female surf scoter,
although the light bill might suggest a first year male.


Other birds in the park (mostly in 2s or 3s, except the coots and crows):

Coots (lots), western grebes, horned grebes, pied-billed grebes (including
two juveniles), mallards, gadwalls, widgeons, double-crested cormorant,
great blue heron, spotted sandpiper, ring-billed gull, glaucous-winged
gulls, red-winged blackbirds, bald eagle, red-breasted nuthatches, Bewick's
wren, golden-crowned kinglets, black-capped chickadee varied thrushes,
flickers, downy woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, crows, Stellar's Jays,
starlings, song sparrows, mitred conures.

Is this early for varied thrushes? We saw several, including one that
seemed decidedly yellow rather than orangish.


Paul Talbert
Seattle, wa