Subject: [Tweeters] Ancient Murrelet is happy to be back in the water!
Date: Nov 28 16:32:50 2006
From: Denny Granstrand - dgranstrand at charter.net


Hi Tweeters,

My wife and I left Yakima at about 9:00 this morning and got to the
park at the north end of the Seattle waterfront just before
noon. The murrelet seemed really alert and healthy, so we were
comfortable in releasing it into Elliot Bay. As we walked away from
the car with the murrelet in a bird cage, some gulls called from the
north side of the pier. The murrelet really perked up. I am sure
that it smelled the water and, after hearing the gulls, was sure it was home.

I had to toss it about four feet and it was paddling before it hit
the water. It swam for about 30 feet, surfaced, paddled on top of
the water for ten feet, dove and surfaced two more times. Those
little guys are really fast! It would be interesting to know how
long it will take until it finds a group of Ancient Murrelets to hang
out with.

This is the most exciting experience I have had with a bird for a long time.

By the way, the roads were in very good condition. We made it from
REI to our house in two hours and 45 minutes.

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA



* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* dgranstrand at charter.net *
* Denny's bird photos can be seen online at: *
http://granstrand.net/gallery/