Hi Tweeters,

I played hooky yesterday and joined the fray of
birders at the coast. I think I will be grateful I
did go during the week as I expect it will be a mad
rush this weekend. As I left the Bowerman Basin with
a couple from Spokane, we ran into a very intense man
who said he was from Tennessee and he wanted to know
if the geese were still there and where. In
retrospect I felt I should have gone back with him,
but my car was locked inside the fence along with the
Spokane birders (I am sorry I did not introduce myself
or get your names) and we wanted to go at the same
time. Igor, who I met before looking for Tufted
Puffin also was locked in. So we all went out
together and very nice and gracious waitress from the
restaurant let us out.

The Bean/Pink-Footed geese were very lovely to look at
and reading the discussion now that I am back at a
computer has been very interesting. The feature I
keyed on the most with them and is hinted at in the
National Geographic pictures, is the vertical furrows
from the feather tracts on the rich brown necks. This
isn't as easy to see on other geese but really stands
out on them. I wonder if the feather texture is
different, or thicker to keep those necks warmer. I
thought the head/face of these geese matched the Bean
Goose illustration in Nat. Geo. but the feet, yes,
were pink, no doubt there.

I read Greg Toffic's post about captives and have a
question regarding this. Aren't most captive birds
marked in some way? Leg band, etc? Or is this a
misperception on my part?

I also got the see the Hudsonian Godwit. The best
field mark on this roosting bird was the very black
and plain tail feathers, as well as the white eyebrow.
Also speaking of marked birds, Vicky King noticed one
of the Marbled Godwit's was banded, but it was
impossible to read the band. Maybe when the wind is
not as fierce it could be read. The Tropical Kingbird
basically flew right into the Godwit roosting area
while I was there, making that a very easy bird to
find! Several of us saw some flying bugs it caught.
The bugs were moving slow (half frozen, no doubt).

It is weird sometimes the order a person gets lifer's
in. So the Hudsonian Godwit before the Bar Tailed
which I haven't seen yet. And yesterday the 2 Red
Necked Phalaropes at the Hoquiam STP was Phalarope #3
in the lifer line after the Red Phalaropes I got to
see about a month ago after stormy coastal weather.
(And yes you Tahoma intermediate birding classmates
the back was, you guessed it, STREAKED) (Sometimes I
retain some of that information!)

It was a great day and getting back to work has been a
bit dreary...

I hope everyone gets to enjoy the coastal frenzy this
weekend!

Kathy

Kathy Andrich
Roosting in Renton
chukarbird at yahoo.com

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