Tweeters,

This noon while you were probably working, I was again looking for the
Baikal Teal at Kent Ponds. My timing was, for two reasons, quite
remarkable. Firstly, I just, and I mean just, got my scope set up in
the south observation tower when one of the locals arrived for his
afternoon exercise. He runs up and down the tower stairs as many times
as he can. No big deal, kind of funny. Secondly, I drove up to the
usual beside the big building road that is the closest access for the
tower just as a "PRIVATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING" sign was being pounded
into the ground. No big deal, there is a new, parking spot 200 yards
east, behind the next building, which calls itself Diadora.

The bottom line here is that no Baikal Teal were observed.

I then drove a couples miles NW to S 204th St. to see if there was any
standing water left. There wasn't much, but enough for a Marsh Wren. I
guess our marshes don't freeze often enough to make those migrate.

Before trying to beat the traffic to Issaquah I spent some time
wandering St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery. Features here include an
empty hummingbird feeder and markers dating back to the 1880s. There
was good variety and numbers of passerines. I found it to be a very
relaxing, restful even, place to look for some birds while reflecting on
one's mortality.

Larry Schwitters
Issaquah