Subject: On the Duwamish - 8/12/2003
Date: Aug 12 11:03:06 2003
From: Desilvis, Denis J - denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com


Tweeters,
Another rather quiet morning (9:35-9:55) on the Duwamish. The seven boats that were moored or anchored here last Friday (is it gill-netting season already?) at Turning Basin #3 weren't in evidence, but the COMMON MERGANSER family of 7 young and adult female, which I've seen since July 1, drifted and fed with the outgoing tide. The two young OSPREYS appear still to be nestbound, with the adult female at the nest and the male on the power tower on the west side of the river. The local PEREGRINE FALCON appears now to have favored this (the east) side of the river, and I've seen it almost every morning for the last two weeks on the east-bank power tower. Today, I managed to scope it as it was dining on a mid-morning appetizer of EUROPEAN STARLING, and had a clear look at the right leg: no band. I'm still trying to get a clear view of the left leg to see if a VID band is evident.

Note: Does anyone know if jet skis are permitted on the river at this point? Last Thursday, two jet-skiers passed by at an extremely high rate of speed around this bend in the river. It's probably a good thing that no obstacles, human or otherwise, were in evidence.

Complete list of birds seen during this viewing:

Double-crested Cormorant (2, feeding in the vicinity of the mergansers)
Canada Goose (2)
Mallard (4)
Common Merganser (8)
Osprey (4)
Peregrine Falcon
Glaucous-winged Gull (5)
Rock Dove (2, a surprisingly low number; could be that the falcon has cut into the local population)
Belted Kingfisher (male)
American Crow (3)
European Starling (>50 feeding on the southwest bank; saw two flocks of >200 each when I arrived at this site at 6 am)
House Finch (6)
House Sparrow (2)

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis
Seattle, WA
denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com