Hello, all.

I spent two hours (7:45-9:45) walking around Montlake Fill this
morning (4/28), and it was sublime. Sadly (some might say), nothing
rare, but just lots of bird activity. I was digiscoping, so easily
satisfied. Here's my list of 36 species, with very rough estimates
except when <5. Very little time spent looking out over the lake.

Pied-billed Grebe 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Canada Goose 30
Mallard 20
Gadwall 30
Northern Shoveler 20
Green-winged Teal 10
Cinnamon Teal 3
American Wigeon 25
Lesser Scaup 2
Bufflehead 5
Hooded Merganser 4
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
American Coot 25
Killdeer 4
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Western Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 6
Rock Pigeon 2
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Tree Swallow 15
Barn Swallow 8
American Crow 10
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Marsh Wren 2
American Robin 10
European Starling 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8 (both types)
Common Yellowthroat 2
Savannah Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird 20
House Finch 2

No nutrias, and I suspect they may be more in evidence under certain
weather conditions or at certain times of day. What did impress me
was seeing about a dozen turtles at the southeast corner, basking on
all the floating logs there, and they included three species. Red-
eared Sliders of all sizes were common, and there was at least one
Painted Turtle and one Spiny Softshell (quite large). I got voucher
photos of all of them. None of them is native in Lake Washington.
These turtles probably won't have any adverse affects on our native
fauna, but that's only a guess. Red-eared Sliders have been shown to
have negative effects on native turtles in other regions where they
were introduced.
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382

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