In January 09 my wife and I bought the Anchor Pub in Everett. Last January while sweeping cigarette butts off the sidewalk out front I was thrilled by the sound and sight of a big flock of Snow Geese flying over the Anchor. That's when I got my brilliant idea to make a bird list for the place, which I call the Bar Tab.

The Anchor is located along the railroad tracks at the edge of the Industrial Toyland known as the Port of Everett-hundreds of acres of cement, cranes and shipping containers. Across the street is the tail end of a residential neighborhood, mostly apartment buildings. Not too birdy. Out back, on the far side of the tracks, we are blessed to have a small grove of Big-leaf Maples, the largest of which is about 70 ft tall, with an undergrowth of mostly invasive species ( blackberry, buddleia, scots broom , and english laurel) which isn't exactly pristine habitat, but it's what we got. The big maple is the bird magnet.

So my list for the year is -

Snow Goose (last Jan. and again this October - big flocks high overhead)
Common Crow
Glaucous- winged Gull
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Coopers Hawk (twice)
Common Bushtit
Canada Goose
Bewicks Wren
Bald Eagle
Killdeer
American Robin
Caspian Tern (hundreds roost all summer down at the Port - lots of great noise all night long)
Northern Flicker
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Osprey
Great Blue Heron
Violet-green Swallow
White-crown Sparrow (especially nice when they sing during the night)
Peregrine Falcon

Along with those three urban amigos Rock Dove, Starling and House Sparrow, the tab is a big 23 for the year. I think that's pretty good for an urban pub. This year I hope to be more observant. We also resurrected an old window that had been boarded up for years - after washing and scraping decades of nicotine grunge of it, it allows a clear view of the maple out back. So now I can watch tree birds without letting go of my beer - that's what we call progress down here at the Anchor Pub.



Jeff Gibson
Anchor Pub
1001 Hewitt Ave.
Everett Wa