Hi Tweets,

There was a EURASIAN WIGEON on the pond in Golden Gardens Park in
Ballard/Seattle this morning. (Mon.) He seemed to be hanging out with a
male Green-winged Teal. If there were females present I didn't spot them
among the large numbers of Mallards and American Wigeons. Also present were
5 Northern Shovelers, (none showing any signs of adult male alternate
plumage.) a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes and a pair of Hooded Mergansers.

Two interesting things at the locks, among a fishing group of 10 Double-
crested Cormorants(DCCO) and 8 Common Mergansers was the palest Juv DCCO
I've ever seen, the entire neck and head were that off-white with just a
small dark crown and faintly darker streak down the back of the neck.
Sibley shows one that pale, but that's the first I've seen like that. The
other thing was 3 male and 1 female Barrow's Goldeneyes doing their
courtship thing, - never too early I guess - being closely followed by a
juv (1st winter?) Mew Gull. It was kind of funny, it looked completely out
of place. The other Mew gulls were bugging the DCCO's and Mergansers and
chasing the same school of fish.
=======================
Cliff Drake
SW Ballard, Seattle, WA
cliff at cliffdrake.net