12:31 start - water level low with all mudflats visible (10:22 low tide
- (-)2.4ft; 17:44 high tide - 11.2ft -- almost 13ft difference today!)

Tweeters,
Warm north breeze, low water, and a couple of real surprises at Turning
Basin #3. Surprise 1: A pair of Purple Martins have been around this
week, but today was the first time I had the opportunity to observe them
closely. The female was bringing nesting material into a hole on the
west side of the 9-120 building here on the Boeing campus. The male bird
is doesn't have the plumage I normally have seen (lots of light color on
the breast -- are these immature birds?). I heard a "burble" of a Purple
Martin last week, and again a couple of times this week. Early Tuesday
morning, I tracked down the birds, but was stunned to see both of them
enter a hole in the building's exterior (there's a flashing below the
hole on which they first perched). I didn't have time to grab the bins,
but today was different. I had very good views of both birds. The hole
in the building may be about 2 inches in diameter. Note: This building
is closest to the south end of TB3 on the east bank.

Surprise 2: A California Gull landed on the mudflat below me, then rose
and circled TB3 before heading downstream. I was amazed to see a gull
with dark wingtips, which is why I paid more attention than usual --
Glaucous-winged Gulls are the norm.

The male Osprey at Oxbow was tearing of small pieces of a fish and
feeding it to something in the nest. The female stood on the edge of the
nest. The female Osprey was on the edge of the nest at Hamm Creek, while
the male was at a very different perching post -- the power tower on the
east side of the river (normally it perches on the west side). I again
saw two wee heads poke up out of the nest at Hamm Creek.

Bird of the day: The Purple Martins and the California Gull

Birds seen during this scan:
Canada Goose (23; two appear to be "trapped" inside the goose exlusion
fencing in the newly renovated area on the west side)
Osprey (6)
Killdeer (2)
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull (3)
Rock Pigeon (21)
Belted Kingfisher
American Crow (3)
Purple Martin (2)
Cliff Swallow (2)
Bewick's Wren
European Starling (5)
Song Sparrow (2)
House Finch (2)
American Goldfinch (2)
House Sparrow (2)

16 spp today; 45 year to date

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis
Seattle, WA
mailto:denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com