Greetings fellow tweetsters,

Did my weekly bird count of Green Lake Park this morning under overcast sky
but mild temperatures and almost no wind. Covered the roughly 3 miles around
the lake in about 1.5 hrs. (0745-0915).

The past few weeks have seen some changes from summer species to winter
species, as well as some changes probably related to food availability in
the lake (for instance Gadwall numbers have been dropping steadily while
little Millfoil is apparent in the lake). It's nice to see the winter
waterfowl species, even though they are still just passing through in small
numbers (first Buffleheads today).

As usual, where applicable, the number before the comma indicates number of
males, after the comma female. An asterisk indicates a note at the end.

Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle

GREBES, PODICIPEDIDAE
Pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 24
CORMORANTS, PHALACROCORACIDAE
Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 9
HERONS, ARDEIDAE
Great blue heron (Ardea herodias) 2 (3?)
WATERFOWL, ANATIDAE
Canada goose (Branta canadensis) 116*
domesticated goose 8
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 1,2
American wigeon (Anas americana) 1,2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 74,49
Northern shoveler (Anas clypeata) 1,2
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 1,2
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 1,1
Common merganser (Mergus merganser) 0,5
Ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 1,2
OSPREY, EAGLES, HAWKS, ACCIPITRIDAE
Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 0,1*
Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 0,1*
RAILS, RALLIDAE
American coot (Fulica americana) 100
PLOVERS, CHARADRIIDAE
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 10*
GULLS & TERNS, LARIDAE
Mew gull (Larus canus) 43
Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) 19
California gull (Larus californicus) 2
Glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) 18
Glaucous-winged hybrid 2
gull spp. 2
PIGEONS & DOVES, COLUMBIDAE
Rock dove (Columba livia) 18
WOODPECKERS, PICIDAE
Downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 1,1
Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1,0
CORVIDS, CORVIDAE
American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)/ Northwestern crow (Corvus caurinus)
31
CHICKADEES, PARIDAE
Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 44
BUSHTITS, AEGITHALIDAE
Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 114
NUTHATCHES, SITTIDAE
Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 2
CREEPERS, CERTHIIDAE
Brown creeper (Certhia americana) 1
WRENS, TROGLODYTIDAE
Winter wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) 2 (3?)
KINGLETS, REGULIDAE
Golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus satrapa) 28
Ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula) 2
STARLINGS, STURNIDAE
European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 68
WAXWINGS, BOMBYCILLIDAE
Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 12
WOOD WARBLERS, PARULIDAE
Yellow-rumped warbler (Dendroica coronata) 41*
SPARROWS, EMBERIZIDAE
Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 6
Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) 6
BLACKBIRDS & ORIOLES, ICTERIDAE
Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 17
Brewer's blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) 9
FINCHES, FRINGILLIDAE
House finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) 2
American goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) 110*
OLD WORLD SPARROWS, PASSERIDAE
House sparrow (Passer domesticus)14

Notes.

Canada goose: I've had the same question many times: did they take & kill
any of the geese from the lake? During the birds' flightless (flight feather
molt) period, this summer, the number of geese hovered around 230 every
week. Since the round-ups were taking place during this time, I'm confident
non were taken from Green Lake. As it was, the culling program was a p-r
nightmare. Why push it by taking birds from a place like Green Lake where
people claim to know the complete life history of every individual bird?
Sombody from Fish & Wildlife know differently for sure?

Bald eagle: occasionally there's an adult around, usually on the island. The
bird looks big, with a slow wingbeat, hence my guess it's a female (50-50
chance). After this year's failure of the nest in Lower Woodland, it will be
interesting to see if we get a pair back this winter. No idea why the nest
failed. As incubation was about to start one bird (female) disappeared. The
male hung around the area until about the time when an eagle was struck (and
killed) by a float plane over Aurora Bridge this spring. No way of knowing
for sure if it was him.

Cooper's hawk: immature female 'hiding' in the trees on the golf course. But
the crows gave her position away. Nice streaked bird. Big, hence the guess
at the bird's sex.

Killdeer: for the past weeks killdeer have been hanging out on the diving
platforms on the west side of the lake (Bathhouse Theatre side) during my
counts. This morning's 10 was a new high for the Green Lake count.

Yellow-rumped warbler: I determined subspecies for about half of the
butterbutts, both Myrtle and Audubon's race equally represented.

American goldfinch: the surprize here was the absolute absence of sound in
the largest flock (80 or so). Once I stopped moving the trees came alive
with the birds' movements. The only noises were from the butterbutts mixed
in the flock.