Tweets:

We had a fantastic weekend of birding in our backyard on Pine Lake. In fact,
with winter waterfowl arriving, the past couple of weeks have been quite
active. We always look forward to reading Michael's Marymoor reports, as we're not
far from Marymoor and our sightings tend to closely mirror what is seen at the
park. In fact, I think sometimes we see the same birds. The immature Greater
White fronted Goose spotted among the Canadas mentioned in recent reports was
also a visitor to our neck of the woods. A couple of interesting notes: we had
an influx of woodpeckers today, well over a dozen, sapsuckers, downys and
flickers, in our trees and at the feeder. The sapsuckers were common last year,
but we've rarely seen them this year until now. But this is the first year
we've had downys. There are three American Coots on the lake today. Long-time
residents of Pine Lake tell us that Coots were common and used to nest on the
lake, but following the housing developments that have sprung up in the vacinity,
they are now rarely seen. Also, as the Mallards pair off, they are getting in
a lot of "practice". There's a whole lot of duck whoopee going on. Can't say
I've noticed that before at this time of the year, but I'm sure it's
commonplace.

Here's a list of the weekend sights, and a few additions seen over the past
couple of weeks.

WEEKEND

Pied-billed Grebes (3)
Double-crested Cormorants (4 - at least two immature)
Great Blue Heron (1)
Canada Goose (many)
Gadwall (M&F)
Mallard (many)
Ring-necked Duck (6 pairs)
Green-winged Teal (5 pairs)
Bufflehead (4 males; 10 females)
Hooded Merganser (1 male; 3 females)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (2)
American Coot (3)
Killdeer (many)
Glaucous-winged Gull (2)
Belted Kingfished (many)
Red-breasted Sapsucker (several)
Downy Woodpecker (several)
Northern Flicker (several)
Stellar's Jay (3)
Crow (many)
Black-capped Chickadee (many)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (many)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (many)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (many heard; a few seen)
American Robin (many)
Townsend's Warbler (1)
Spotted Towhee (3)
Song Sparrow (3)
Dark-eyed Junco (many)
Red-winged Blackbird (1 male)
Purple Finch (1 male)

RECENT SIGHTINGS

Blue-winged Teal (1 pair)
Canvasback (1 - only 2nd we've seen on PL)
Band-tailed Pigeon (lots this year compared to past)
Scaups (6 pairs; among the first winter waterfowl to arrive this year)
Common Merganser (three female; 1 male)
Western Grebe (1, only 2nd year to see this guy)
Bald Eagle (unusual this time of year)
Greater White-fronted Goose (1 imm., uncommon for PL)

Linda Davey
Pine Lake, Sammamish, WA