Tweets,

I live in a pretty standard subdivision in Newcastle (the city between
Bellevue and Renton) - though my lot has a nice location bordering a
greenbelt that has a year round active stream (China Creek) and a dedicated
"wetland" across the street. There is also a large above ground water
storage tank (25X200 ft) that sits next to the mini-wetland. Over the past
year I have been astounded by the critters this seemingly sterile cement
pond (as Ellie May would call it) has attracted.

Pacific chorus frogs use the structure to breed in. In the spring and early
summer there are thousands of frogs and tadpoles. I've also noticed minnows
of some type in the pond (mosquito control?), and a couple of goldfish.
Barn, tree and violet green swallows zip around the pond taking emerging
mayflies in the springtime. Mallards visit on an almost daily basis. Last
spring I saw Wood Ducks on two separate occassions - once with the male
sitting in a snag above the pond (which was cut down this fall by the city).
A huge surprise during mid-summer when a Belted Kingfisher showed up at
the pond and hung around for about 2 weeks - feeding on frogs and minnows.
A single Bufflehead showed up in November.

On January 2 of this year the biggest surprise yet - a hooded merganser
paddling around the pond. They are common on Lake Boren about 3 blocks away
and I've seen them on other "natural" storm water basins but I took a triple
take at seeing this bird I associate with highly vegetated margins in a big
concrete box.

It seems are bird friends are a pretty adaptable sort. Any others with
experiences similar to this?

Cheers,

Rob Conway
Newcastle, WA

robin_birder at hotmail.com