Subject: [Tweeters] Magnuson Park surprises and Montlake Fill, King Co.,
Date: Mar 18 16:01:44 2012
From: Evan Houston - evanghouston at yahoo.com


Hi Tweeters,
After leading a Seattle Audubon field trip this morning, I
decided to swing by Magnuson Park before heading home.? I?m glad I did because Magnuson offered a few
surprises:
- A Red-throated Loon swimming out on the lake (might still
be there this afternoon ? way off the boat launch area)
- A flyover Rough-legged Hawk ? this was a particularly fun
sighting b/c I saw it fly at a distance, and it caught my eye as something
unusual just as it dropped behind some trees.? Frustrated, I thought I was going to have to chalk it up as one that got
away, but then it decided to start soaring, giving nice scope views of a
personal King Co. first.? It was a
light-phase juvenile, and weirdly was heading south.
- Other Magnuson birds included my first-for-the-park
Brewer?s Blackbirds, a half-dozen close-in Red-breasted Mergansers, and a
partial albino American Robin that had my mind racing before I figured out what
it was.
- Pix of the robin, mergansers, loon, and hawk are here (the
latter 2 distant record shots):
http://tinyurl.com/7pt7jed
?
Earlier this morning, fun participants enjoyed the Fill as
the rain let up soon after we met, and we saw lots of nice birds including some
recent arrivals (nothing too surprising):
- first of the year for us Cinnamon Teal, Tree and
Violet-green (with the violet showing!) Swallows and Savannah Sparrow.
- also Sharp-shinned Hawk with the usual Cooper?s, a Merlin
that streaked by several times, a Purple Finch, and a Pileated Woodpecker (the
latter seen at Surber swamp after the trip).
?
Good birding,
Evan Houston,
Seattle, WA?