Tweeters,
The Seattle Audubon Society Field trip to the lower Duwamish waterway (King County) was successful in a lot of respects, including the sighting (with a great digiscope photo by Ray Hamlyn) of a WESTERN KINGBIRD at Hamm Creek. (Directions to the Hamm Creek restoration area below.) <If anyone has a site where I can post the WEKI pic and that of a feeding Peregrine Falcon, I'd appreciate the help.>

The trip started at Oxbow site just west of the Duwamish river south of S 102nd off East Marginal Way. From there we visited Turning Basin #3, Puget Park/Kellogg Island, and Hamm Creek. Accompanying the SAS birding group was Torrey Luiting, Corps of Engineers biologist, who gave us some great insight as to history and restoration activity along the river.

Highlights include the following:
WESTERN KINGBIRD at Hamm Creek. This bird was sighted along the north side of the restoration, next to Hamm Creek on the barbed wire atop the Delta Marine fence. (Excellent photo of this bird is available.) Rebecca McCall and Dory Hamlyn get credit for first sighting ("What's that bird with the yellow breast on the wire?)
PEREGRINE FALCON along East Marginal Way. We first heard a "strange" call, then saw crows dive-bombing something atop a "telephone" pole across the river from us at S 104th and East Marginal Way. It turned out to be a male Peregrine Falcon with a Rock Pigeon. We stood enthralled, with excellent bin and scope views of the PEFA dodging crows and feeding on the pigeon. (Again, a very good photo of this bird was taken by Ray Hamlyn.) At one point, a crow landed on the cross-beam within a few feet of falcon; up to 15 crows were in the air above the falcon.
SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. We saw Spotted Sandpipers at three different locations along the river: Oxbow, Turning Basin #3 (TB3), and Puget Park. The possibility exists that Spotted Sandpipers are breeding along the lower Duwamish.
NORTHERN SHOVELER at Oxbow. This isn't an unusual bird, but I've never seen one on the Duwamish at Oxbow or TB3. Two males were paddling near a female Mallard with ducklings.
CLIFF SWALLOW, a first at TB3.
WILSON'S WARBLER near Oxbow. Possible breeding pair (saw on scouting trip, also.)

Birds seen (or heard - (H)) on this trip (41 species), include the following:
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
NORTHERN SHOVELER
Common Merganser (Note: on Thursday, May 20, I saw four < week-old COME riding on mama's back at TB3)
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Osprey (Hamm Creek and T105)
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker (H)
Northern Flicker
WESTERN KINGBIRD
American Crow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee (H)
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren (H)
Marsh Wren (with nesting material at TB3)
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (many at Hamm Creek)
Yellow Warbler
Wilson's Warbler (H)
Savannah Sparrow (many at Hamm Creek in the field)
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak (Puget Park)
Red-winged Blackbird (more than I thought might be breeding at TB3)
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Directions to Hamm Creek:
From I-5 N/S take Exit 158 onto the Boeing Access Road. Get into the center lane immediately (or you'll head to Airport Way) and go west to E Marginal Way.
Bear right at the light onto northbound E Marginal Way and get into the far LEFT lane. Get into the LEFT turn lane for S102nd. Turn onto S102nd.
You'll hit a 4-way stop just before the bridge. Go straight over the bridge; the road bears sharply right after the bridge and then goes straight.
At the next 4-way stop, go straight past the Riverfront Technical Park buildings, which will be on your left. You'll see a traffic light in front of you.
Take a right onto W Marginal PL S and follow the road past the electrical substation. There's a fence and a car-pull out right at the entrance to Hamm Creek. (The Osprey nest is located atop a "telephone pole" at this site.) The Western Kingbird was seen along the water at the north side of the field in front of you.

Participants in this trip were Ray and Dory Hamlyn; Torrey, Klaas, and Clara Luiting; Rebecca McCall, Susan Fallat, and Paul Budlong.

May all your birds be identified,

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