This morning in Seattle's East Ballard at 6th Ave. NW and 53rd St.,
keen-eyed Kris Baker pointed to a pair of scrub jays. Grabbing my spotting
scope, I could see that she was right, these two tiny specks across the
street were indeed scrub jays. Last year we saw just one, which stayed in
the neighborhood for at least a few months.

As of yesterday, two vacant purple martin gourds are now on the north end of
Lake Sammamish, on a lone piling just east of the slough. They're tough to
see without a boat, but any reports of avian activity would be appreciated.
Last year we had a tree swallow but no martins; in the early 80s it was
reported in Birding in Seattle and King County that 8 pairs of martins
nested in the vicinity. A common loon in fine spring plumage was still
present, seen to the south near Lewis Creek. Great blue herons were active
around their nests just to the west of the boat ramp, but we lacked the time
to make a count (Jon had to attend a baby shower).

Luhr Beach/Nisqually martins were heard on Wednesday evening as Jon Frodge
and Kris Baker and I installed and refurbished a few more boxes and gourds;
a starling had a nest in one box already, but it was evicted before eggs
were laid. Jon did an excellent job of handling the canoe, despite my
blatant violation of the canoeing rule against standing up.

Kevin Li
Seattle, WA
e-mail: kevin.li at metrokc.gov