Subject: [Tweeters] URGENT: Fill Shrike
Date: Oct 11 09:46:53 2009
From: Jordan Gunn - uwjag21 at yahoo.com


Fill shrike still there (right now) at sw of fill near end of small peninsula in l Washington. Hawking and getting harassed by crows.

Jordan Gunn
Bothell WA

On Oct 10, 2009, at 1:32 PM, Connie Sidles <constancesidles at gmail.com> wrote:

Hey tweets, I just got back from the Fill after seeing a very interesting shrike. I *think* it's a juvenile Northern Shrike, but it has a disturbingly short bill for a Northern. It is rather brown in color - no gray that I could see. It was perched on the tallest snag of the Southwest Pond. Then it dove down toward the pond. When it reappeared, it was perched in a lower bush. I had good, long looks but no scope. Eventually it flew over to the cattails and went hunting along the edge of the lake.

I was not the first to see this bird. A guy I never saw before (sorry I didn't get his name) saw it first in the bushes on the west side of the Main Pond. It then flew into the dead willow snags before flying away. He said he thought it was a Loggerhead, but I'm pretty sure that is not right. Loggerheads don't have brown plumage even when immature or juvenile.

If you want to see this bird, I think you'd better hurry. The weather won't hold past today, and probably neither will this bird.

A little warning: this is a football Saturday and the fans are already starting to arrive (although the game won't start for many hours yet). You can park in the little lot on the west side of the CUH library. There is a sandwich sign halfway blocking the entrance, but this is to keep out football parkers.

Also on view this morning were many other wonderful birds, including: Bonaparte's Gull flying around close to shore; two Ruddy Ducks on the lake; several Canvasbacks and Lesser Scaup on the Cove; a Bufflehead pair on the Cove; and a Western Meadowlark in the field east of the Main Pond.

Yesterday a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker glommed onto the big snag near the Lagoon just as the sun came out and lit up its topknot. The bird looked like a living ruby set on velvet, though a lot noisier than you'd expect a ruby to be. A male Brewer's Blackbird with a little harem of females was in the dead snag on the Southwest Pond (where the shrike was just now). An absolutely stunning immature Red-tailed Hawk with pure-white bib and undertail coverts is hanging around too. It is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen, although I have to admit it did preen its indistinct belly band, leaving a couple of feathers sticking out in a very messy way.- Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com
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