Hi All,

I spent a few hours along the Edmonds waterfront today and had a good time
just watching common birds do interesting things. I started at the fishing
pier and saw Horned Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Western Gulls, Mew
Gulls and Heermann?s Gulls in abundance. I also spotted a Rhinoceros Auklet
or two and a few Rock Pigeons hanging out on the dock and breakwater. Down
at Brackett?s Landing there were more Horned Grebes, cormorants and gulls as
well as about 100 surf scoters that were in a large raft out by the ferry.
As I headed back south toward the marsh, I saw two crows that were working
hard to dismantle an old matchbook. The matches had all been torn out, but
the crows seemed to be determined to tear out all of the little bits of
paper matchstick that were left behind. After picking at the book for
several minutes, one crow picked it up and, with a quick flick of his beak,
threw it about 5 feet away. Both crows then flew over a small fence and
began to forage along the railroad tracks.

At the marsh things were pretty quiet. I ran into a small flock of
Golden-crowned Kinglets and Black-capped Chickadees. Crows were around, as
were a number of Great Blue Herons. It was pretty windy though so everyone
was laying low. I returned to the waterfront and wandered along the marina.
I ran into a Western Gull with an injured foot that was sitting on a light
post. He flew down to the dock, wandered over to a leaky water spigot and
proceeded to drink from it. It looked quite comical.

I finished out my time at the waterfront watching dozens of Heermann?s Gulls
bicker with one another on the breakwater. I love the sounds the Heermann?s
Gulls make when they are annoyed each other. Mew Gulls were also present
and fighting for prime perches, and two Great Blue Herons were seen stalking
the breakwater as well. All in all a nice afternoon.

I took many photos today and will upload them in the next day or two. In
the meantime, if you?d like to see the gull drinking from the faucet, I have
posted one photo on my blog here: http://everydaywild.blogspot.com/

Happy Birding!

Kevin Mack
Edmonds, WA
www.goatislandimages.com