Subject: New Birding Spot (For me anyway)
Date: Feb 27 22:34:30 2004
From: Rolan Nelson - rnbuffle at yahoo.com


Greetings,

Since moving from woody Burley over in Kitsap County to somewhat more urban Fircrest (Pierce Co) I've been nosing around for some new neighborhood birding spots. Just south of my place, near the corner of Orchard and Emerson, a new housing development has been kind enough to "tame" a wetland to the southwest of that corner. The good news is they created a nice, level gravel path that borders the area giving some nice views of the habitat. Lots of Flickers and lots of signs of Pileated Woodpeckers in the snags. The other morning I was treated to two mini dramas, one right after the other.

First, I was casually watching a lone pair of Canada Geese enjoying each other's company and a pond all to themselves. Out of the south came a loud honking pair who spied the pond but not the residents. When the newcomers hit the water, the resident pair hit them.. with a vengence! Talk about protecting your territory. It was quite a five minute battle before the interlopers were driven off.

Not ten minutes later a noticed a pair of Robins (one small, one large) flying in tandom. The larger one turned out to be a Sharp Shinned Hawk in almost leisurely pursuit of the Robin. Sitting back and toying with him. He(She?) would occasionally close the gap, then slide back a little. Kinda reminded me of a scene from Top Gun. I could almost hear the Hawk saying "guns,guns,guns" They cleared the horizon and disappeared behind a line of trees w/o making contact, so I can't even tell you the end of the story.

Still, a nice "new" spot for me to hang out.

-Rolan


Rolan Nelson
Fircrest, WA
rnbuffle at yahoo.com

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