Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Green Lake bird id needed & species seen
Date: Nov 20 14:23:56 2011
From: Martin Muller - martinmuller at msn.com


Luci,

I've walked Green Lake (Seattle, King Co.) a few times these past weeks and can confirm that the 7 - 5 Aechmophorus grebes I've seen have all been Western Grebes.
They can be reliably found in the bay east of the community center where they are loafing pretty much all day long. My personal theory is that the fishing is really good in Green Lake this year, meaning that there are plenty of bite-size fish available. This would also explain the presence of 5-7 Horned Grebes and more than 30 (!) Pied-billed Grebes on the lake for several weeks now. In addition many Hooded and Common mergansers are present as well as a good cadre of Double-crested Cormorants.

I think the Western Grebes feed at night, diving down and swimming close to the bottom, looking up at fish silhouetted against the clouds lit up by the city lights. This would explain why they are resting in the same area all day long.

The three geese hanging out near the same area as the Western Grebes do look like Greater White-fronted geese. I've been told by other lake goers they have been hanging out in this area "for the past few months."

The full list of birds seen during the two Friends of Green Lake walks these past two Saturdays is as follows (those marked by an asterisk were seen by me before or after the walk, not by all walk participants):

Greater White-fronted Goose
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Gadwall
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
American Coot
Spotted Sandpiper
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull*
Herring Gull*
Glaucous-winged x Western hybrid
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Brown Creeper
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren*
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush*
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler*
Townsend's Warbler
Sotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch*
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow


Cheers,
Martin Muller, Seattle
martinmuller at msn.com