Tweeters,
12:21pm start: Water level about 3in below the "0" point on the tide tracker
12:52pm end: Same as above...must be slack tide

Saw one juvenile OSPREY for the first time in over a week. An adult was also on the same power tower. Three MEW GULLS were on the far bank--two feeding and one taking it easy on the dry area.

Of mainly academic interest (to me) is an observation regarding gulls diving under water: A GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL was paddling close to the shoreline about 40ft from me. As I was scanning the far shore, another observer standing near me said "Wow! Did you see that seagull dive into the water?" I mentioned that gulls don't usually do that, and the observer said, "Well, THAT one did." I watched the gull for a minute or so, and sure enough, it rose about 2ft above the water and dove straight in, with just a portion of its tail above water. (My observer thought the gull was tangled in some fishline, but that wasn't the case.) It surfaced and continued paddling in relatively small circles, not even being deterred by a passing Mallard. Then, once again, the gull rose and dove--this time completely submerging and surfacing with a small fish in its beak, which it subsequently swallowed. This time, instead of paddling around, it started bathing in the river, and then paddled to, then walked up on the shore, where it started to preen. Pretty neat, and something I'd not seen before.

Birds seen today include the following:

Double-crested Cormorant
Canada Goose (14)
Mallard (10)
Osprey (2; one adult, one juvenile)
Killdeer (11; a relatively high number)
Least Sandpiper (3)
Mew Gull (3)
Glaucous-winged Gull (14)
Rock Pigeon (5)
American Crow (2)
European Starling (>800; a very large flock coursing around the area)
House Finch

May all your birds be identified,

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