Subject: [Tweeters] marymoor fun
Date: Dec 26 19:00:18 2006
From: carenp - carenp at totalise.co.uk


yesterday, there was (1) some sunshine, (2) almost no sky leaking, and (3) i
was off work. for the first time in almost two months, those three factors
came into play. and, as i live near marymoor now, i decided to see what all
the fuss was about (grin)...

mostly, the standards were available in good numbers - crows, golden-crowned
sparrows, great blue herons, etc... however, i was pleasantly-surprised by
the presence of golden-crowned kinglets... a flock of about 10-15 or so
flitted through the trees along the slough where the trail becomes a creek,
about 100 metres in from the off-leash canine area.. and, unlike almost
every other time i've been around them, they were concentrated at eye level
about 30 feet away... oddly enough (for me, anyway), only one ruby-crowned
kinglet was seen or heard the entire day... at about the same point, i
found what i THINK is a red-breasted nuthatch, but this little guy had zero
orange/pink/red/whatever from beak to legs...

tons of crows (perhaps literally) around, especially at the pea patch and
snag row, and there were decent-sized rafts of american coots on the slough
proper...

with the exception of a small V of canada geese headed eastbound, no geese,
swans, or other waterfowl were seen, either in meadows or on the slough or
lake... a little disconcerting this early in winter, but i'm assuming they
were out for a quick java fix, and would return when i wasn't around; it
was a bit brisk out...

there were herons almost everywhere, mostly in the snags, but there was one
defiant individual who was located near the soccer fields. he seemed to
look at me as if it were my fault he wasn't near water...

lastly, i have one "who am i" in the group uploaded today that i believe is
an in-flight downy woodpecker. however, checking out the wing markings in
sibley makes me want to take up chess or something simpler. you see, i
followed said bird into a tree, then photographed it after as well.
however, the in-flight markings just don't match to sibley... i can blame
myself because the bird was flying AT me, and the camera and i were
attempting to focus on said moving object, and i only got one shot. well,
the photo wasn't remotely sharp, except for the bird's eyes, which remind me
of something out of a bad horror flick... if you can help, please feel free
publicly or privately :)

photos of many of the above personalities (to include a few canines, too)
are available on my website in the "photos of the month" gallery. also, as
this is close enough to the beginning of the new year, a new month's
calendar desktop has been made available for your downloading pleasure as
well... i hope you enjoy!

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org
george davis creek, north fork


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