hello tweets.

i tried to send a message to you all yesterday about my adventures
at the montlake fill. however, my stupid computer connection decided
to crash, and the entire message was lost. i wanted to mention that
i was there from 1215-1445, and saw 43 species and subspecies (i don't
count hybrids, such as the ever-present "olympic" gull, but i do
mention them in my lists). the best birds that i saw were the male
eurasian green-winged teal, hanging out with about 15-18 american
green-winged teal, the two male anna's hummingbirds, one of who
repeatedly "bomb-dived" upon the other, and the male yellow-shafted
flicker, sunning in a tree to the east of the central pond. other
birds of interest are "audubon's" yellow-rumped warbler, ruby-crowned
kinglet, canvasback, hooded merganser and cackling canada geese.
interestingly, four cackling-sized canada geese were distinctly redder
on the breast and darker on the back, resembling B. c. occidentalis,
with a clear white "necklace" at the base of their necks, resembling
B. c. leucopareia. does anyone know how much variation there is in
the coloring and markings of canada geese subspecies?

i received an email message from bob vandenbosch later yesterday
evening, stating that he saw a pair of wood ducks on the lake, in
the small bay on the eastern side of the fill (i hope i have
described their location correctly, bob?).

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
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