This morning I was reminded why it isn't a good idea to post to Tweeters
late at night and without closely reading what I was about to post. In my
Nisqually saunter post I meant to refer to seeing a vigorous flock of 25
TREE SWALLOWS along McAllister Creek, as noted in the species list, not
Tree Sparrows. Thanks to Ian Paulsen for pointing out the error.

Meanwhile, back at home this morning I enjoyed better than normal early
a.m. birding in Tacoma's North End. The first bird of the day was a
Sharp-shinned Hawk riding the northern winds over the street in front of
our house as it was being pursued by six American Crows. The sharpie
showed its superior aerial skills by knifing through the breezy air and
staying well out in front of the crows.

A few minutes later, after dropping Natalie off at her workplace in
downtown Tacoma, I saw three Bald Eagles (two immature and one mature)
riding the wind above Schuster Parkway, and a Red-tailed Hawk riding the
wind just over the top of Garfield Gulch. The waters of Commencement Bay
are growing less and less full of birds each day, as birds move to new
areas for the spring, but despite the white caps that were crashing
against the rocky sea walls and up onto the sidewalks at times, there
were still a handful of Horned Grebes, Barrow's Goldeneye, White-winged
and Black Scoters in the bay.

Back at home, the Anna's Hummingbirds are growing less and less common at
our feeders and displaying in our yard. The females are now sitting on
their nests and these prominent winter hummingbirds are transitioning to
being less visible in urban landscapes. I can still see the males sitting
on their territories just a couple of blocks away at the top of Mason
Gulch. Meanwhile, my eyes are peeled for the first appearance of a Rufous
Hummingbird in our yard.

Happy birding!

--
Rob McNair-Huff ---------- Tacoma, WA
Author of Birding Washington (Falcon Publishing, 2004)
and Insider's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula (Globe Pequot, 2001)
White Rabbit Publishing ---- http://www.whiterabbits.com
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html