On Friday afternoon, I visited some of my favorite places. Drove by the
eagles' nest on Harbor Avenue, across from Salty's restaurant in West
Seattle. The nest is newly built this fall, replacing the nest that fell
apart earlier this year as the young were fledging. One eagle was perched on
a branch near the nest. As I parked, its mate joined it, and they circled
above the street several times and flew off together.

I went to Longfellow Creek, where I spotted one live salmon, about 15
carcasses and a small hawk. (I recently reported that I saw an American
Dipper one day in Longfellow Creek, when there were several fish in the
creek. I haven't seen one there since, but did see one in Pipers Creek
recently when there were a few fish in that creek. Other folks were with me
for both of these sightings.)

Then went down to the new park on the Duwamish. (Parks Department is in the
process of naming this park. Anyone have ideas they want to pass on to the
Dept?) Saw one of the eagles on a piling on Kellogg Island. And then saw the
other eagle with a salmon (12 to 14 inches) in its grip, flying along the
surface of the water. It circled over to the shore of Kelllogg Island with
its catch and ate it. I stayed for about 10 minutes, and it continued to eat
all that time, never sharing with its mate who stayed perched on the piling.

Thank you to everyone who voted for Seattle Parks Proposition 1 this fall.
It will continue efforts to preserve habitat in Seattle in this decade, just
as the property for the eagles nest, Longfellow Creek, and the new Duwamish
park were preserved in the 1990's.

Didi Catherine Anstett
didianstet at aol.com