Tweeters,

Great birding this morning at Discovery Park in Seattle. Conditions were
perfect, 50s warming to 60s and little wind. Water was calm. I started at
the South parking lot area, walked down to the South Beach, along the North
Beach, up along the loop trail and back by the historic housing. Here are
the highlights:

Lower part of the South Beach trail
CASSIN'S VIREO -- Was watching Black-capped Chickadees and a pair of Downy
Woodpeckers when I heard the slow, hesitant phrases of a vireo. Was
thinking of a red-eyed vireo song, but the bird had the white spectacles and
grayish head of a Cassin's Vireo.
WILSON'S WARBLER - In the same location I heard an insistent warble. I was
fooled on this song once earlier this spring, but the Wilson's popped out
for a nice view of the black top knot.

Lowest overlook of South Beach trail - scope views of
MARBLED MURRELET - pair
RED NECK GREBES
WESTERN GREBES - about 60 strung out in a long line

Lighthouse - about 9:30 am with a minus tide at 12:23, so quite a bit of
beach was exposed
RHINOCEROS AUKLET -3 pair close in
MARBLED MURRELET - 2 pair close in
Pigeon Guillemots and Red-Necked Grebes were further out.
Bonaparte's Gull in breeding plumage way out on a piece of driftwood.

Both the Murrelets and Auklets were actively chasing schools of small fish
that would boil to the surface. At one point one of the Murrelets came up
early and started a plaintive cheeping until the other appeared.

Scope view way out in the main channel of 3 medium sized marine mammals (not
Orcas or Gray Whales) moving slowly, with white dorsal fins. (My books and
the Internet failed me in an id guess.)

North Beach
BRANT - 14 out on the beach amongst Mew Gulls and Glaucous -winged Gulls.
WESTERN GREBES - about 80 in two loose groups quite close in. I was
watching something else when I heard strident calls. It turned out to be
two pairs of Grebes that had paired up. One pair were swimming together
bobbing their heads and calling. The other pair had stretched their necks
up and were turning their heads from side to side in perfect unison.

Pond
Buffleheads, Gadwalls. Tree Swallows were flying in and out of the Purple
Martin gourds.

Further along the North Beach was a lone Common Goldeneye and a pair of
Horned Grebes.

Loop Trail
Pacific Slope Flycatchers, Black-Throated Gray Warblers, Orange-crowned
Warblers - heard
Black-Capped Chickadees mating. The two were on a limb over the trail, all
puffed up, shivering their wings and making a continuous dee dee dee before
a brief mating.
BARRED OWL - There is a well known Barred Owl site in the deepest ravine on
the loop trail. When I got there, two Crows and a Steller's Jay were
mobbing it as it sat well out in the open on a small limb. It soon flew to
the other side of the ravine where it perched out in the sunlight.
Naturally I didn't have my camera!

Scott Berglund
Seattle WA
dabergls at comcast.net