12:40pm start - water level higher than it normally would be (lots of runoff); some mudflats exposed
1:04pm end

Tweeters,
A break in the steady downpour (well, the droplet size was smaller) gave me impetus to scoot outside for a bit. At the same time that a SPOTTED SANDPIPER was snoozing to the south on a mudbank, the PEREGRINE FALCON flew--pursued, but not aggressively, by two crows--with a chunk of prey from the middle of the east-bank power tower to the very top of the west-bank tower. Whatever it had was mostly flesh because we didn't see feathers or other inedible parts dropping as it continued to dine on a noontime repast. The crows returned to the middle of the east tower, and appeared to be cleaning up on whatever the PEFA left.

I spotted a river otter cruising north along the west bank just south of the power substation. It swam to about the north boundary of Turning Basin #3 (TB3) and swam east. In a few minutes, it cruised by me heading south, then turned and cruised back north. It looked as if it was hunting, but wasn't successful during the time I saw it. A harbor seal was also near the goose-exclusion area of TB3.

Birds seen during this scan include the following:
Canada Goose (22, all adults)
Gadwall
Mallard (3, plus two older ducklings)
Double-crested Cormorant (4)
Osprey (only the female--on the nest--was seen)
Peregrine Falcon
Spotted Sandpiper
Glaucous-winged Gull (5)
Rock Pigeon (6)
American Crow (5)
Bewick's Wren
Song Sparrow (2)
White-crowned Sparrow (2)
Red-winged Blackbird (2)
House Finch (2)
House Sparrow (2)

May all your birds be identified,

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