Today Janeanne and I went on our usual walk through Lincoln, our
neighborhood park in Seattle. Missed seeing the warblers we had noticed the
past couple of weeks. But we saw plenty of activity - besides large numbers
of the usual suspects, we did notice two Fox Sparrows, a juvie Golden
Crowned Sparow, and four Hermit Thrushes. Missed the Barred Owl that we have
seen about 50/50 since Labor Day. Looking through the trees on the bluff
down to the Sound, we thought we saw a loon, so we headed down to the water
to check it out.

Saw a Harlequin Duck fly-by as soon as we got down to the water. Saw several
Western Grebes and a few Horned Grebes. As we approached the north end of
the park, we still had not seen our loon, but we were drawn to this little
guy carrying on, pretty close to shore. An Eared Grebe. We were very close
and had great looks. This guy put on quite a show spinning, flapping,
splashing, and dancing. As we were gettiing ready to head up the trail to
the bluff at the north end, we took a quick look back - and saw our Common
Loon, still in breeding plumage. Wonderful day - Mark

Mark Ahlness
West Seattle
mahlness at halcyon.com
http://www.earthdaybags.org/mahlness.htm
http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/mahlness