Hi All,
Delia and I slipped out of Seattle unnoticed today (there was something going
on at Safeco Field) to do the Nisqually dike trail for the last time this
season-duck season starts tomorrow.
Nisqually was full of birds (and full of Darners)-- there must be a really
good fruit crop all along the dike. Purple Finches were thick all along the
MacAlister side and Waxwings were abundant everywhere. Here is the list, in
order seen:
Song Sparrow
Mallard
Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Black Capped Chickadee
Winter Wren
Robin
Downy Woodpecker
Bewick's Wren
Crow
Spotted Towhee
Starling
Prairie Falcon
Harrier
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Purple Finch (many)
Am Goldfinch
Red Tail
Greater Yellowlegs
Glaucous W. Gull
Ring Billed Gull
Killdeer
Green Wing Teal
Pintail
B. Kingfisher(individuals on both sides for a change)
Widgeon (huge numbers of these birds were in places that indicate they are in
for a rude shock tomorrow)
Marsh Wren
Flicker
Pine Siskin
Snipe
DC Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Shoveler
House Finch (only three!)
Golden Crowned Sparrow
Wood Duck
Caspian Tern
Northern Shrike (juv)
Red winged Blackbird
Whimbrel-(really pissed at a Harrier that buzzed it)
Lincoln's Sparrow
White crowned Sparrow

I wonder why Prairie Falcons always look like they fly so much faster than
Peregrines look like they fly. I was real happy to see that falcon until I
remembered, aging curmudgeon that I am, that we used to take another falcon,
the Kestrel, for granted down there. We no longer see them there, and I doubt
it is totally reducible to habitat changes at the Nisqually.
On the way back, we turned on New York Vinnie for long enough to get the mood:
everyone was happy! Maybe they don't know about the Kestrels.

PS. It was good to read Stan Kostka's post on the Starling roost. Stan did a
great job stewarding an increase in the Hermosa Beach colony and helping start
two brand new colonies composed of young Martins north of Everett. (And we
can all help reduce Starling densities by reducing the grass lawn they use to
forage.)

Ed Newbold, tweeter by digest on Beacon Hill Seattle
newboldwildlife at netscape.net




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