I truly appreciate the detailed lists that tweeters participants post.
I cannot wait to go to Greenlake on Friday and see a Ruddy Duck. Thank
you!

A fellow birder and I are looking to buy a used spotting scope together,
nothing too expensive though. Please email me at
<laurenb at seattleaudubon.org> if you have any leads for me. Thanks!

-Lauren Braden

-----Original Message-----
From: Martin J. Muller [mailto:MartinMuller at email.msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 9:12 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: Green Lake, Seattle, count (long)


Complete count Green Lake, October 27, 1999.
0730-0900, 45F/6C, overcast.

Birds are on the move, with various "winter" species showing up at the
lake.
It's maybe a bit early to say for sure, but I have a feeling the heavy
algal
bloom 1 1/2 months ago may have caused the milfoil to die back earlier
than
usual. The coots are already foraging on land and there are a fair
number of
diving birds on the lake. It will be interesting to see how the winter
numbers play out.

Where applicable: before comma male, after female.
Asterisk indicates note at end.

Pied-billed Grebe 6
Western Grebe 1,1*
Double-crested Cormorant 19
Great Blue Heron 1
Canada Goose 126
Domesticated Goose 7
Mallard 113,61
Northern Shoveler 0,2
Gadwall 27,24
Eurasian Wigeon 1,0
American Wigeon 9,7
Ring-necked Duck 2,3
Lesser Scaup 3,3
Bufflehead 4,8
Common Merganser 1,12
Ruddy Duck 2,3
Domesticated Duck 8
Bald Eagle 1,1*
Cooper's Hawk 0,1imm*
Red-tailed Hawk 1 imm*
American Coot 99
Killdeer 3
Mew Gull 5
Ring-billed Gull 21
California Gull 1
Glaucous-winged hybrid gulls 6
Glaucous-winged Gull 22
Rock Dove 20
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 1,1
Northern Flicker 1,0
American/Northwestern Crow 55
Black-capped Chickadee 20
Bushtit 80
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 2
American Robin 4
European Starling 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Song Sparrow 6
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Brewer's Blackbird 2
American Goldfinch 10
House Sparrow 8


* Western Grebe: before someone asks, as in all grebes sexes can be
distinguished by bill size (male larger), especially when seen at close
range with birds in profile next to one another, as this morning
(otherwise
I wouldn't even try).

* Bald Eagle: an adult male and female circled 50 feet overhead near the
largest patch of water lilies, the female landed in a tree in Woodland
Park,
the male in a treetop on the island. If this is the same pair that
nested
here last year then the female has indeed lost all traces of brown
(immature) plumage on head and tail. Tom Aversa told me people have seen
eagles collect sticks in trees in the Zoo (up the hill from their nest
tree)
last week. This is normal for eagles in this area this time of year
(probably part of that false courtship that goes on in the fall).

* Cooper's Hawk: this first-year female zipped in low over the path near
the
Community Center at the very start of my count, chasing a crow (she was
bigger, hence the determination of the hawks' sex). The crow dodged
around
the metal diving platform superstructure (for diving boards in summer)
and
the hawk landed out in the open on the metal structure. Shortly
thereafter
there were a dozen crows (quietly, if you can believe it) sitting one
perch
higher, looking at her. She ignored them and started preening.... One
crow
flew off and she briefly chased it, then returned to her perch and
preened,
then pulled one foot up, looking as if she planned on staying for a
while. I
continued on my way.

* Red-tailed Hawk: Followed by loud crows (that's more like it!) this
bird
came out of Woodland Park and flew off to the SE along the lake shore.
As it
flew overhead and I got my binoculars on it, the bird looked completely
dark
brown (as in solid dark brown body, no visible streaking) presumably a
dark
morph bird. As it flew off I got my scope on it and confirmed the
(immature)
brown tail. First time I've seen a dark morph of any age here in town.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com


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