Hi Tweeters,

Strange week here. The poor homeless and/or
downtrodden folk were in evidence around lower campus.
A pair camped out one night near the fish pond. At
lunch that same day I went up to the dirt trail near
the Montlake bridge and inadvertantly startled an
immature Cooper's hawk with prey which it dropped when
I spooked it up the trail. It didn't move far and I
got wonderful looks at it. Blood on one foot evidence
of the prey. Before too long a man with a stick came
a little too close for comfort for both the hawk and
I. The man was poking and probing the weeds on the
side of the trail with his stick. It seemed pretty
random, so I bailed out. Later this week I saw
Eastern Gray Squirrel remains on the same trail. The
squirrel looked very efficiently removed from it's
skin. I suspect a hungry person rather than hawk was
the culprit. So sad for people to have to hunt in the
city for their food. At least the squirrel fed
someone.

The very next day at lunch I saw a mob of crows, at
least 40, chase an immature Cooper's Hawk into a tree
in a raised bed near Aqua Verde, the restaurant at
Sakuma viewpoint. Could have been the same bird. The
lighting was better here and I could really see how
reddish rufous the head is. Today on the bus over 520
I had a third accipiter sighting on Foster Island.

Salmon numbers at the fisheries pond are way way down.
Might only be a dozen or so in there anymore. The
herons were back this week.

>From Sakuma Viewpoint to Montlake Bridge:

Canada Goose
Gadwell
American Wigeon
Mallard
Hooded Merganser (2 each male/female)
Common Merganser (1 male)
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron (at least 2)
Cooper's Hawk (2?)
Gull sp
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Anna's Hummingbird (2 males)
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Kathy
Roosting in S King County



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