11:54am start: Water level at 3.7ft
12:21pm end: Water level at 4.6ft

Tweeters,
Brisk breeze from the south had me wishing I put on a jacket today. TEN LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS was the highlight: this small group would probably have stayed to feed--they had started to do that--but the three guys in the research boat poling behind the mudflat spooked the birds a bit too much. Last I saw, the dowitchers were heading downriver from Turning Basing #3. 82 gulls included 28 MEW GULLS.

As I scoped the east-bank power tower looking for the Peregrine, I spotted a "ball" of European Starlings in the distance north of the tower. With them was what I thought was the Peregrine, but bins showed it to be a RED-TAILED HAWK circling and cruising south. What was interesting about this? Just that the flock of about 250 Starlings stayed with the hawk, banking and turning as the hawk circled toward me at an altitude of about 200+ft. The Starlings remained in a rather tight "ball," and the hawk was often in with the Starlings. I watched this unlikely group until it passed out of sight to the south. Seemed to me to be a waste of energy on the part of the Starlings. (I never did see the Peregrine today, nor did I see any Ospreys.)

Other birds seen today included the following,
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard (4)
Red-tailed Hawk
Long-billed Dowitcher (10)
Mew Gull (28)
California Gull (3)
Glaucous-winged Gull (51)
Rock Pigeon (~20)
American Crow (14)
European Starling (~1250)
Song Sparrow (2)

May all your birds be identified,

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