Subject: On the Duwamish - 5-3-2004 (w/ 4-29 note)
Date: May 3 12:44:47 2004
From: Desilvis, Denis J - denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com


11:39am start - water level very low; all mudbanks exposed
12:13pm end

Tweeters,
Breezy, but pleasant on the river; not very active. As I set up my scope, a RED-TAILED HAWK circled the SW part of Turning Basin #3, with a Red-winged Blackbird making repeated dives on the hawk as it circled southward. Had a good look at a very yellow male HOUSE FINCH singing, with a very red male HOFI close by. The difference in coloration between the two is very striking.

The male OSPREY delivered a small fish to the incubating female at the Hamm Creek site.

Note from 4-29-2004: On Thursday last, at 7:50am just as the water level was dropping, I counted 53 LEAST SANDPIPERS foraging along the entired exposed mudflat from the south end of Turning Basin #3 to directly west, near the pier. This was by far the highest number of shorebirds I've seen here. (I'll have to get out earlier tomorrow to see if more are coming through.)

Birds seen during this scan include the following:
Canada Goose (2; flyover)
Mallard
Bufflehead
Double-crested Cormorant
Osprey (2)
Red-tailed Hawk
Glaucous-winged Gull (6)
Rock Pigeon (17)
Belted Kingfisher
American Crow (6)
Violet-green Swallow (7)
Bewick's Wren
European Starling (8)
Song Sparrow (2)
Red-winged Blackbird (2)
House Finch (4)

May all your birds be identified,

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