Hi tweets,

Started out as a cool, blustery day this morning before this "Seattle mist" started. My wofe and I spent a couple of hours birding the Montlake Fill this morning, and tallied some 30 species. Plus there were at least 3 different LBJ's we were unable to ID, so the diversity was nice. Unfortunately, it was a bit col for any of the reptiles (Garter snakes, turtles, etc.) we normally see. Some of our highlights included GREATER YELLOW-LEGS, LEAST SANDPIPERS and a COMMON SNIPE. All of these were near the couple of fresh water ponds in the middle of the "prairie". Here is the full list from today:



9/2/02 Montlake Fill, Seattle Chronological order:

Common Crow

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow (lots!)

Rock dove

Canada Goose

European Starling (2 different flocks over 100 strong each)

House Finch (lots!)

Black-Capped Chickadee

Marsh Wren

Killdeer

Mallard Duck

Northern Shoveler

Wood Duck

Song Sparrow

Pied-Billed Grebe

Great Blue Heron

American Coot

Glaucous-Wing Gull

Brown-Headed Cowbird (2 in a huge flock of starlings)

Red-Wing Blackbird (one flock of 30+ birds, scattered singles)

Belted Kingfisher (he's broke-rattles all the time!)

Ring-Necked Pheasant (!!)

Greater Yellowlegs (!!)

Cooper's Hawk ("Mighty quiet around here. Oh look! There's why!")

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Flicker

American Goldfinch (at least 3 groups of 5-10 birds each)

Common Snipe (!!)

Anna's Hummingbird

Least Sandpiper

We were kind of surprised to not see more sparrows in the grass, as that will usually add at least 3-4 species. Also, we didn't spend as much time on the watery end to ID ducks. We could have had more there too, I'm sure. Between that and the couple of LBJ's mentioned before, we could've had a 40 species day today relateively easy. Not bad for a chilly, breezy morning! Good birding, y'all!

Brett A. Wolfe Seattle, WA gismybabe at yahoo.com



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