During two trips along Ruston Way at the south end of Commencement Bay in
Tacoma today I have noted a larger than normal congregation of eagles -
two mature Bald Eagles, one immature Bald Eagle, and a fourth eagle that
appears to be larger than the mature Bald Eagles, making me suspect it
could be a Golden Eagle. All four birds have been seen along the bluff,
sitting in madrona and other trees and flying along the shoreline while
scaring up the local waterfowl. I have yet to get a close enough look at
the suspect eagle to note the head color, but it has an overall darker
hue with no white seen anywhere on the bird, strongly fingered feathers,
and the larger size of the bird. It also seems to soar with a slight
dihedral and I watched it make a few dives at the mature Bald Eagles.

I have yet to see the elusive Yellow-billed Loon along Ruston Way today,
but I am seeing more Black and White-winged Scoters than I have seen in
the last few weeks. Barrow's Goldeneye and Horned Grebe numbers are down
today, even more so this afternoon as the waters in Commencement Bay are
growing more choppy with the approaching storm.

Meanwhile back at home we added a new yard bird to our list today - a
Varied Thrush feasting on hawthorne berries alongside an American Robin.
Our feeders are very active today, largely due to the fact that I have
been keeping the bird bath thawed and there is no other open water in the
area. Three Anna's Hummingbirds - two males and a female - are taking
turns at our two feeders that I am working to keep thawed, and otherwise
the yard birds are the regular winter suspects - Goldfinches, Golden-
crowned Sparrows, House Sparrows, House Finches, an occasional European
Starling, and plenty of Dark-eyed Junco.

Happy birding and snow birding ahead!

Rob

--
Rob McNair-Huff ---------- mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com
White Rabbit Publishing -- http://www.whiterabbits.com/
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com/
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html