Subject: [Tweeters] Clark's-type Grebe at Capitol Lake,Olympia
Date: Oct 19 18:39:10 2004
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

This afternoon my mother and I ventured down to Capitol Lake in Olympia,where we easily located the Clark's-type Grebe at extreme western portion of Capitol Lake between 2:45pm-3:30pm,which we managed to obtain a few less than good quality digital photographs. The bird clearly showed all basic field marks of a typical winter-plumaged Clark's Grebe,except the obvious orange-yellow bill that the Oak Bay bird showed yesterday and other winter-plumaged Clark's Grebes we have encountered in past years from separate locations. The bird remained near the middle portion of the lake and never came close to shore and the paved trail bordering the lake,but we obtained excellent views of the bird with limited lightings due to increasing cloudiness. Overall the bird was quite pale with obvious pale gray sides and flanks,white extending along the neck with a black angular strip extending through the eye(with a whitish area between the eye and the dark cap). We continued watching the bird,as it loafed within the lake swimming (amongst several small groups of waterfowl,as well as by itself),as it rested in different directions,as well as having it's head fully extended offering the best views. The bill color was a plain yellow with just a slight ting of orange in the best lighting condition,but to no extent of a "pure" Clark's Grebe in our personal observations and we wonder if this may vary on individual birds depending on seasonal changes in plumage. We personally observed up to 2 Clark's/Western Grebe hybrids from the Cedar River Park in Renton(while searching for the Great Black-backed Gull and Slaty-backed Gull)on the 1st of February,2004 and the bird today clearly showed nearly exact plumage characteristics compared to both birds we observed at Renton. There was also a "pure" Clarks' Grebe observed by several observers at Renton that allowed good comparisons along with the nearby Clark's/Western-type Grebe hybrids.

For the Capitol Lake bird we strongly lean towards a hybrid bird and not a pure Clark's Grebe unless there is a distinct variation in bill color and we strongly hope others will get to view the bird and state their own personal opinions. Nonetheless,it was a nice bird to see along with several other species noted during our visit including the following:

4 Pied-billed Grebes
1 Horned Grebe
1 Eared Grebe
2 immature Brown Pelicans(observed flying in from towards East Bay,then landing on Capitol Lake foraging amongst a gull flock then after 10 minutes flying back towards East Bay,which are most likely the same two individual birds lingering in the immediate downtown Olympia area)
78 Am.Wigeon
38 Ring-necked Ducks
18 Greater Scaups
46 Lesser Scaups
1 Surf Scoter
15 Buffleheads
7 Ruddy Ducks
1 Bonaparte's Gull
180+ Pine Siskins(observed flying along the forested hillside immediately south of Capitol Lake)

On our way home we made a visit to the Nisqually NWR between 4pm-4:45pm,where a short,partial walk was made along the McAllister Creek trail to the first patch of willows then back to the parking lot. Despite the time of day and rather limited light conditions a fairly good assortment of species were noted including the following:

1 Am.Bittern
550+ "Cackling"Canada Geese
320+ Green-winged Teal
34 Northern Shovelers
1 rufous-morph Eurasian Wigeon
1 Ring-necked Duck
2 Northern Harriers
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
10 Am.Coots
2 Wilson's Snipes
2 Short-eared Owls
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 adult Northern Shrike
1 Lapland Longspur(observed in flight and calling amongst a flock of 18 Western Meadowlarks in a large,open field immediately north of the McAllister Creek trail west of the parking lot)


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net