Hi All,

My wife and I headed over to Seward Park in Seattle bright and early this
morning for a walk. As we got out of the car a mixed group of Mallards and
Gadwalls was grazing on the grass nearby, A Northern Flicker was anting at
the edge of the parking lot, A pair of Common Mergansers was swimming just
offshore and a starling was running through a repertoire of songs that
included recognizable pieces of about 6 other species songs. As we walked
on the paved trail that circumvents the park we heard and then saw a male
Western Tanager in the trees on the slope above us. Chestnut-backed
Chickadees, Wilson?s Warblers, Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, American
Robins and a few other miscellaneous species were seen on the forest edge as
well. About half-way around the park we saw a Common Loon in the lake. We
also heard the loon vocalizing later on. It was an unexpected treat.

We hiked several different trails in the wooded section of the park. We
didn?t find any rarities, but we did have a nice prolonged encounter with a
Winter Wren adult and Fledgling. Shortly after encountering the Winter
Wrens, a dog appeared on the trail and began snarling and barking as he ran
directly at my wife. Just before he got to her his owner called him back.
I did some barking and snarling of my own at the owner for not only ignoring
the leash law but also doing it with an aggressive dog. The encounter
really put a damper on the morning so we headed back toward the car. Sadly,
we found the dead body of a small dog (dachshund mix) on our way back to the
car which further dampened the morning. I?m guessing he too had been
off-leash a day or two before and had met a larger, unfriendly dog like we
had just encountered. I wondered if the owner even knew what had happened
to him. I hoped that the coyotes in the park weren?t the ones being blamed
for his disappearance.

We spotted a few more miscellaneous birds on the way to the car, but our
hearts were no longer in it. The full list from this morning is below, and
if you?d like to see some photos of the Winter Wrens we encountered they can
be found in the ?New? gallery on this page:
http://www.goatislandimages.com/photogalleries/photogalleries.html

Seward Park- 05/25/09

Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Mallard
Gadwall
Common Merganser
Common Loon
Western Tanager
Wilson?s Warbler
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Song Sparrow
American Crow
Steller?s Jay
Winter Wren
Spotted Towhee
American Robin
European Starling
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Violet-green Swallow

Kevin Mack
Edmonds, WA
www.goatislandimages.com