Breeding has essentially completed in the park and the results are there to
see: hundreds of young birds of all sorts. Lots of begging and feeding
going on. The cutest, perhaps, was the little puffball Spotted Sandpiper
baby downing an earthworm it found.

The Barn Owl juveniles have pretty much moved out of the firehouse tower
and now use the roof for their hissing post. In the meantime, two adults
were seen in the meadows actively hunting. And they continued to do so well
into the dawn. I was surprised they were not being hassled by the crows
which were already numerous by 5:15. At last, I saw a dark shape chase one
of the owls, only it turned out to be a Northern Harrier, an uncommon
visitor here.

Other notables included a Least Sandpiper sharing a drying up pond with the
Spotties, a Belted Kingfisher hanging out around the new lagoons (are there
any fish there yet?), a large increase in the numbers of the 4 expected
swallow species (lots of young birds), begging calls of two Red-tailed
Hawks, a juvenile Bullock's Oriole still around, and a male Lazuli Bunting
defending a nest location. The Harrier brings my park year list to 133.

Scott Ramos
Seattle