Hi Tweeters,

I led a field trip to the Montlake Fill in Seattle WA this morning, 1/3/10. It was a nice day with friendly and cheerful participants and about the best weather you could hope for at this time of the year.

The top highlight was a White-throated Sparrow (fairly drab tan-striped) at the house with a feeder on Surber at the east end of Surber Grove (this grove lies east of the CUH buildings, just walk along 41st and then turn right on Surber Dr to walk along the edge of this grove). Also at the feeders here was a female "Slate-colored" Dark-eyed Junco.

Other highlights include 3 shorebird species (including Dunlin on a mud
island on the lake), Redhead, Wood Duck, and crowd-pleasing views of
Belted Kingfisher, Brown Creeper, and Red-winged Blackbird males
(displaying already!).

A number of our species were seen somewhat distantly or heard-only, but we ended up with a nice total of 56 species, with 3 more added by me when I looked unsuccessfully for the recently reported Cinnamon Teal and Barrow's Goldeneye.

A copy of my list submitted to eBird, with (very) approximate numbers, follows below for those interested.

Good birding,
Evan Houston, Seattle, WA

Location: Union Bay Natural Area (Montlake Fill)
Observation date: 1/3/10
Number of species: 59

Canada Goose 15
Wood Duck 5 1 lake, others near boathouse
Gadwall 15
American Wigeon 150
Mallard 15
Northern Shoveler 8
Northern Pintail 3 males
Green-winged Teal 10
Canvasback 10
Redhead 3 2 males
Ring-necked Duck 30
Lesser Scaup 20 no obvious Greaters
Bufflehead 25
Common Goldeneye 2 males (added after trip)
Hooded Merganser 8
Common Merganser 10
Ruddy Duck 1 female (added after trip)
Pied-billed Grebe 10
Horned Grebe 2 way out on lake
Red-necked Grebe 2 way out on lake (added after trip)
Double-crested Cormorant 25
Great Blue Heron 2
Bald Eagle 2 adults looking for duck lunch
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 adult in Surber area
Red-tailed Hawk 1 Surber grove
American Coot 100
Killdeer 2 lagoon island
Dunlin 18 mud island on lake
Wilson's Snipe 1 flushed from marshy area
Mew Gull 4 mud island on lake
Ring-billed Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 10
Rock Pigeon 10 by playing field
Anna's Hummingbird 5
Belted Kingfisher 1 great looks at female
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 4
American Crow 20
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Bushtit 10
Brown Creeper 2 Surber grove
Bewick's Wren 5
Winter Wren 4
Marsh Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
American Robin 10
European Starling 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
Spotted Towhee 5
Fox Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 1 house w/ feeder at east end of Surber grove, drab tan-striped bird but great Fill lifer!
White-crowned Sparrow 5 all juvies
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1 same location as white-throated, matches Sibley
adult female w/ gray head and flanks, no defined "hood", and brown only
on upper back.
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 10
Red-winged Blackbird 12
House Finch 15
American Goldfinch 40

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)