Hi Birders:
Two Burien Parks along Puget Sound were hopping w/ migrants today.
Eagle Landing Park, www.eaglelandingpark.org is a small, new park on the
bluff west of Burien. The wooded park goes all the way down to Puget Sound.
The trail has an overlook of a tree where Bald Eagles have nested, and where
they sometimes perch. The local community is planting native plants under
the
tall trees, and encourages birders to visit. I drove from 149th and Anbaum
directly west, and as I approached the park about 10am, I could hear
warblers in the neighborhood above the park. An Or-crowned Warbler was
singing in a birch tree. Two Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers were singing
loudly & fly-catching from the tops of fir trees. I turned right on 25th
Ave SW and immediately heard Wilson's Warblers. The park is down to the
left. You can drop down to the left to the small trailhead parking lot, or
park up above on the street. At the parking lot I could mainly hear the
small birds, as they were pretty hard to see in the dense foliage.

Eagle Landing Park Parking Lot: Wilson's Warblers 4, Bushtits 2, Bewick's
Wrens several, Pacific-slope Flycatcher 1, Western Tanager 1, Ruby-crowned
Kinglet 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet 2, Red-breasted Nuthatch 1, Band-tailed
Pigeon 1, Purple Finch 1.
I walked down the trail and heard a lot of Brown Creepers. Couldn't see
any, so they may be nesting. At the bottom of the many! steps, there is a
gravel beach. I could see a Common Loon fairly close. Farther away to the
north were Western Grebes 16, and Surf Scoters 10. A Brandt's Cormorant was
off-shore to the south. There was no wind on the sound. An adult Bald
Eagle flew from just north of the park out over the water and back to the
tall trees. Jim, the park caretaker and resident native plants expert
walked w/ me on the trail and we heard a Western Wood Pewee and several
Pacific-slope Flycatchers. Black-capped Chickadees appeared to have a
fledgling outside their nest cavity.
The viewing in the woods at small birds overhead flitting in the canopy was
quite hard. A person might do well to walk the neighborhood here to see the
migrants better. I could not ID several of the small birds in the trees
overhead.

Seahurst County Park
>From Eagle Landing Park, I went north to 144th St and turned north on 13th
Ave to go to Seahurst Park, a large (122 acres?) King Cty park on the sound
at Burien. It was about 1pm. The beach has been restored to natural sand
and gravel, and some of the bulkheads removed. More of the area down there
near the beaches is being restored. As I drove down from near the top of
the hill I could hear a Pac-slope Flycatcher. Down by the beach a Warbling
Vireo was singing in the trees. Wilson's Warblers were singing about
halfway down where there are woods and a couple of creeks. A Savannah
Sparrow was hopping around in the driftwood on the beach. It was sunny and
there was no wind. Temp about 70 degrees. It was a very nice day.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines
mail to: linusq at att.net