12:34pm start - water level high; only mudflats visible are small amount at south end of Turning Basin #3
1:04pm end

Tweeters,
A "wee mist" was falling over this part of the river during this period, and the river was quite high. (My Scottish golfing buddies used to call anything from a light fog to a downpour a "wee mist," but as long as we could play, it mattered not.) The LEAST SANDPIPERS were very active, feeding now at the edges of the marsh near the goose exclusion area, then at the southern mudflat, then at the very narrow area on the west margin of the river, and back. I spent perhaps too much time trying to sort out how many LESAs were around, but eventually believe that 6 were at TB3.

I definitely heard a DOWNY WOODPECKER calling (twice) from the restoration area to the southwest of my position. It's the first ID of a Downy I've had at the Turning Basin since July 29, 2003.

Both adults, but only one nestling OSPREY, were visible at the Hamm Creek nest. The other nestlings were probably hunkered down.

A harbor seal cruised just off the goose-exclusion zone.

Note: At 6:10am, the local Peregrine Falcon was being harrassed by crows as it flew toward the west power tower. The crows left off their "game" a couple of hundred yards from the tower, and the falcon continued on, settling at the top.

Birds seen during this scan include the following:
Canada Goose (14)
Mallard (12)
Double-crested Cormorant (3)
Osprey (2 adult; one nestling)
Killdeer (12)
Least Sandpiper (6)
Glaucous-winged Gull (3)
Rock Pigeon (14)
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker (heard)
American Crow (3)
Marsh Wren (heard)
American Robin
European Starling (~50)
Song Sparrow
House Finch (3)
American Goldfinch (a male shining brightly on the dark mudflat near the goose-exclusion zone)
House Sparrow (3)

May all your birds be identified,

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