Subject: [Tweeters]
Date: Dec 30 20:52:56 2012
From: Tim Brennan - tsbrennan at hotmail.com



Hey Tweets!

We had the Kent-Auburn CBC today, and my crew dug up a lot of great birds. I especially wanted to report two birds that I didn't see, and will throw out a less certain report on a bird that I did see.

Bird one: I got our team to Cascade Park in Renton (just south of Tiffany Park Elementary), and decided to have them bird the park while I checked out feeders in the neighborhood. Whoops! They found a White-throated Sparrow not far from the south end of the park, mixed in with some Golden-crowned Sparrows. Great looks by nearly all, and I can't imagine not looking for it on Jan 1st to start out my new year!

Bird two: Birding Boulevard Lane Park (behind Meeker Middle School in Kent - or accessed by driving aimlessly through the Boulevard Lane neighborhood... I always get there, but often get lost in the cul de sacs) The park has a playground on the south end; Just north from there, you'll find the beginnings of a trail, which is essentially part of the Soos Creek at present. In part of this swampy area, I heard a calling Swamp Sparrow. I need to explain - I bird a lot by ear, and I knew that this was a new call for me. I had been looking for a Swamp Sparrow recently and was familiar with the call note. I called JC Vicente back - he had heard a Swamp Sparrow a few days earlier - he looked at me and said "Swamp Sparrow!" We tried hard to get the bird out where we could see it, and JC did get a glance at the rufous crown, but it otherwise stayed hunkered down pretty well. So..... there's a Swamp Sparrow there; I didn't see it; bring boots.

Bird three: Boeing Ponds are closed, but parts can be viewed from the perimeter. In the wet grasses to the east of the ponds, there was a bird we viewed in poor lighting. Two birders and myself found a collection of field marks that pointed to Swamp Sparrow, although we never put together all of the pieces well enough to feel as good about calling this one a Swamp Sparrow, especially because the bird was not calling. 1: Breast clean of streaks (not a Lincoln) 2: White markings on throat (not a Song) 3: Dark, possibly rufous cap (not a White-throated) 4: Possibly orange coloring on the sides.... There were birds popping up and dropping down in this area, and I was never confident that this was the same bird every time... but these were probably all on the same bird. Worth a check here, especially if you're going to Auburn to look for the Common Redpoll and Harris' Sparrow.

Other highlights from the area:

Owls! I was able to find a pair of Great Horned on the north end of the Soos Creek Trail, and last week had Northern Saw-whet and Barred from Boulevard Lane Park.
Quail! There is still a population feeding the coyotes on the pipeline trails that run across Renton Hill. I've had them all along those trails at different times, and my team found four today.
204th/Frager Roads! The construction is significant on 204th... we'll see how it all shakes out in the end, but I think the road will actually not get flooded now, which seemed to have always happened in years past. I did something I've never done before - walking all along Frager Road from 212th to 204th, down 204th, up the hill to St. Pat's Cemetery, and back down to 212th to our cars. We found a lot of good birds as a result. In this square, and the fields to the north we had: Northern Shrike, Brown Creeper, Northern Harrier, Wilson's Snipe, American Pipit (flyover), Bald Eagle, and most of the ducks, sparrows and blackbirds you'd expect on 204th. Worth noting that there are still some homeowners in that area that aren't fond of people poking around with binoculars, so be respectful, y'all.

Happy Birding!

Tim Brennan
Renton