Hi everyone,

A cool breezy day, but there were 6 of us turned out
for the monthly People for Puget Sound bird counts at
the three restoration sites (T-105, Puget Creek and
GSA Marsh, just across the river from Puget Creek)
just south of the West Seattle Freeway. We didn't see
as much as on a sunny day, but there were some
definite highlights, including:

At T-105, we mostly saw the average locals, but we did
note that there were a pair of BALD EAGLES in the tree
where the nest is just to the south & west. There were
also a couple of GBH's roosting in the tree's up
there, (perhaps looking to start a new rookery...?).
We also saw the pair of OSPREY on the nest between
Puget Creek & T-105 copulating! There were a couple of
KILLDEER on the salt marsh, and some VIOLET-GREEN &
BARN SWALLOWS flying nar some of the nesting boxes. No
Purple Martins noted yet. One other note was the
WESTERN GREBE that we saw preening on land amongst a
group of 5 Canada honkers.

At Puget Creek, it has become AMERICAN GOLDFINCH city!
Lots of beauties flying and singing, and one of the
males was missing the little black head patch, which
we all found quite interesting. At this location, we
also saw some YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and a brilliant
male WILSON's WARBLER (a personal first for me). There
were also a couple of SONG SPARROWS competing, a
female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD foraging in air for insects,
and at least 3 or 4 BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS in this
spot. Very nice!

Across the river at GSA Marsh, we looked south and
west towards the concrete mill, and saw that up on top
of one of the towers is a 2nd pair of OSPREY! So there
are two pairs nesting within a 1/2 mile or so of each
other, as well as the Baldies. We also noted a pair of
CASPAIN TERNS flying over, a pair of CINNAMON TEAL
swimming, and a COMMON MERGANSER swimming & then
flying.

So all in all, a good day for birding. Some of these
species were first sightings for the year (Barn
Swallow & Wilson's Warbler were both newbies) which is
always exciting. Can't wait to see what we see next
month!

Brett A. Wolfe
Capitol Hill, Seattle
gismybabe at yahoo.com



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