12:04 start - water level mid with some mudflats visible (12:55 high
tide - 7.6ft)
12:35 end

Tweeters,
Freshening north wind, cool, with Spring avian activity just stepping
into stride at Turning Basin #3. Two BARN SWALLOWS flew along the east
shoreline of the river, and swept back to the Boeing bridge, under which
both Barn and Cliff Swallow nested last year.

An OSPREY (not of the Hamm Creek pair) appears to be attempting to nest
on the top of a boom of a not-functioning crane on the north side of S
102nd St, just to the west of the Boeing parking lot (Riverfront
Technical Park is on the south side of the road). Although such a place
might not seem likely, it's elevated (the boom is almost vertical) and
it appears fairly flat on top. I spotted the Osprey carrying a stick
toward the south of TB3, and immediately checked to see if the Hamm
Creek pair were still at their nesting platform (they were). The bird
landed on the top of the crane-boom, placed the stick, and then adjusted
several other sticks before flying off to the east. I only saw the one
bird. Could this be one of the two that attempted to build a nest on a
light pole in the Boeing parking lot in September? Don't know.

A couple of KILLDEER, the first of this species seen since January 5,
landed on the bankside mudflat to the southeast of TB3.

The MEW GULLS continue in rather large numbers. At 10:15, I counted 217,
and at 12:10, 186. At 12:12, all the gulls lifted off their loafing spot
on the large mudflat at the south end of TB3, with 144 returning. The
rest continued downriver.

A DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT in full breeding plumage foraged near the
Boeing bridge. (Most DCCOs I've seen at this time are imm.)

Birds seen during this scan include the following:
Canada Goose (5)
Bufflehead (8)
Common Merganser (2)
Double-crested Cormorant (3)
Great Blue Heron
Osprey (3)
Killdeer (2)
Mew Gull (186)
Glaucous-winged Gull (20)
Rock Pigeon (12)
American Crow (5)
Barn Swallow (2)
Black-capped Chickadee (2; must be nesting somewhere nearby, but I've
not found the nest site)
American Robin
European Starling (4)
Song Sparrow (3)
Red-winged Blackbird (3; incl. the first female I've seen here this
year)
House Finch (2)
House Sparrow (4)

May all your birds be identified,

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