During the monthly Seward Park Audubon bird count led by Sam Woods yesterday, Sam, John, and I saw a Great Blue Heron land on the water and swim like a duck briefly. It was in Andrews Bay, and there were a lot of fish jumping, but we didn't see the bird catch any fish. It then flew closer to the shore to hunt in the usual way.
The heron also caused a Spotted Sandpiper to fly up from the shore, and we later saw 8 more of these. Later in the morning we saw a crow get a small fish and take it up into a tree to eat it. And we encountered a Barred Owl mobbed by crows. We didn't see as many of the usual birds as I would have expected, but the less common sights more than made up for it.

Gary Kelsberg
Seattle