Our E. L. WA Audubon chapter had a Monday morning trip to
Tukwila/Kent/Boeing Ponds. It was another perfect day - calm, sunny, mid 50'
s, for this trip. We started at Tukwila Ponds where the waterfowl were
numerous and we had 16 species. The most noteworthy were Bufflehead, Ruddy
Duck, many Northern Shoveler and American Wigeon, and Hooded Mergansers plus
Belted Kingfisher. At the Kent Ponds (officially the Green River Natural
Resources Area), the highlight was a juvenile Northern Shrike that posed for
good scope viewing. Just as we arrived at the south tower an American
Bittern flew up, down the pond and into the high grass, never to be seen
again. We added Northern Pintail, Northern Harrier and two Red-tailed Hawks,
Bewick's and Marsh Wrens. Our last stop was the Boeing Ponds on 59th Ave. SW
where we saw two new species, Horned Grebe and California Gull. The water
level was high leaving no shoreline for the shorebirds. The complete list
follows:



Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Ruddy Duck
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Great Blue Heron
American Bittern
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Northern Shrike
European Starling
Marsh Wren
Bewick's Wren
Black-capped Chickadee
House Finch
Song Sparrow



Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
hughbirder at bigzoo.net