Hi Kelly,



A couple years ago at work in Redmond (along Willows Road, which has lots of water), a facilities guy came to me (everyone knew that in addition to my work responsibilities, I was 'the bird guy') with a covered cardboard box.? He said he had found a bird in the back parking lot and it must be hurt because it couldn't get off the ground.? It had been very rainy the previous night.? I opened the box and there was a Pied-billed Grebe.? Right out our building's front door was a small mitigation pond that had had a Pied-billed Grebe in it before, so I assumed it was big enough for them to taxi and take off.? We released the Grebe into the pond and after swimming a short distance away from us, it drank multiple bills full of water and then proceeded to do what grebes do - it was perfectly healthy.? I theorized that the reflection of the parking lot lights off the wet, puddly asphalt looked like a body of water and once he landed he couldn't get airborne again since they need to paddle along the water for a distance to get airborne.



The bird stayed happily in the mitigation pond for almost a week, then one day when we came to work it was gone, presumably having refueled and gotten airborne again.



John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net




----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly McAllister" <mcallisters4 at comcast.net>
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 6:52:51 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Alcids that hit the pavement


This morning I encountered a dead Rhinoceros Auklet along the fog line on
Martin Way, in Lacey (hate to admit to even being in Lacey). It reminded me
of a Western Grebe I encountered, last September 10th, along US 12 in
Packwood. It was alive and seemed quite healthy. I took it to Rimrock Lake
and released it.

Both of these oddities occurred after some fairly nasty, rainy weather. I've
heard of birds landing on wet asphalt, at night, likely because they mistake
it for an open body of water.

I remember being told, long ago, that Olympia street sweepers, working in
the wee hours of the pre-dawn, frequently encountered seabirds on the
pavement of 4th Avenue, near the bridge over the south end of Budd Inlet. I
don't know that the story is true. You'd be hard pressed to find an alcid in
lower Budd Inlet at any time of year anymore. I remember large numbers of
Rhinoceros Auklets at Percival Landing one winter when herring were amassed
there. Many ended up dead one day. The state Fisheries agency explained that
the birds dove and came up under ice, causing them to drown. Their deaths
were in no way related to the busy seiners who had moved in at
coincidentally the same time to exploit the herring congregation. I'd like
to find that Olympian article...

My apologies to those who tune in to Tweeters for rarities. I don't usually
see them... because they're rare.

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, WA

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