Subject: [Tweeters] out and about, union bay nature area
Date: Feb 19 20:30:51 2006
From: carenp - carenp at totalise.co.uk


what a beautiful, if not-quite balmy day, to spend out and about at your
local birding spots... as i hadn't visited union bay (montlake fill) in
about 4 months or so, i figured it was about time...

union bay waters:
great blue heron, at least 6 ruddy ducks about 30 metres out from the eagle
snag (or what used to be the eagle snag), american coots, bufflehead,
mallard, yada yada

shoveler pond:
for the better part of a few hours, there were 10 northern shovelers here,
mostly either in the little space that wasn't frozen over, or doing
ice-breaker work between spots that were ice-free; the males were in fine
breeding plumage... numerous killdeer, though most of them were in flight
from one spot to another, babbling something about a broken wing...
american green-winged teals, bufflehead, american coots, american wigeon,
american crow, red-shafted flickers, and a foursome of what i believe are
muskrat, including one that could have run its own nascar race; he was big
and fast... canada geese were spending a lot of time in the air, as they'd
abort their landing on the pond (probably due to ice)...

elsewhere:
reported were yellow-rumped warblers and a dowitcher, unknown species, but
not seen by myself... numerous anna hummingbirds, mostly male, from the
center for UH all the way out past shoveler pond... too many murders of
crow everywhere, starlings, song sparrows, one fox sparrow, robins,
ruby-crowned kinglets... no raptors seen, unfortunately...

photos, as usual, on the website under Photos of the Month... enjoy!

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org
union bay nature area
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