HI All,

At least 5 times in the last three weeks I have heard and seen an osprey
performing an aerial courtship display just east of the PAWS property in
Lynnwood. It struck me as odd considering the fact that it looked from my
vantage point like the bird was right over either a neighborhood or Highway
99. This morning at about 7:30 am I saw an osprey fly over the PAWS
property at treetop level, moving from west to east, carrying a branch.
PAWS is located at 15305 44th Ave West at the north end of Lynnwood. It is
about 2.5 miles east of Puget Sound. The closest lakes are Lake Serene
(about .7 miles to the north), Lake Stickney (about 2 miles or so to the
north east) and Martha Lake (2 miles due east). I have no idea where these
birds are building their nest, but if the courtship displays have been
taking place right around the nest site I think they might be a little
confused.

On a different note, I just added a new quiz page to Goat Island Images
called ?Natural Knowledge?. The kickoff question on the page is a bird ID
puzzler. You can find it here:
http://www.kevinmackphotography.com/naturalist%20Pages/natural_knowledge.htm
l if you are interested.

Kevin Mack
Edmonds, WA
www.goatislandimages.com