Tina Blade and I walked the Montlake Fill (Union Bay Natural Area)
starting around 10 this morning. At first we thought we were late for
any bird action, but things actually heated up very nicely (along
with the temperature). At the westernmost edge of the Fill, we bumped
into Jeanelle Richardson, and enjoyed a number of highlights including:

A small band of Wood Duck drakes sporting their courtship plumage;

Two young Coopers Hawks (at least one of which had a silver metal leg
band) engaging in attack/counter attack with a large number of crows;

A family of two adult Pied Billed Grebes teaching their three young
ones to fish. That is, to pick up fish from the parents, who
sometimes had to retrieve dropped food;

Several Northern Shovelers in the westernmost water, some of them juveniles;

A Cinnamon Teal pair, plus what we suspect were several Blue-Winged Teals;

A young White-Crowned Sparrow, looking rather alone in the absence of
the many WCSP's we saw just a couple of weeks ago.

PHOTOS AT:
http://www.dartfrogmedia.com/birds/montlakeFill080914/index.htm


Marc Hoffman
Kirkland, WA
http://www.dartfrogmedia.com
mailto: tweeters at dartfrogmedia dot com