Hi Tweets,

Stan and I were joined by 11 other birders on Monday, 3/19/12, at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, WA, for Eastside Audubon's monthly walk. We birded on VERY muddy trails from 8 am to 12:30 pm, in semi-cloudy to sunny weather, in low-wind conditions (3-5 mph), with temps ranging from 31 to 44 degrees. Highlights include:
1 male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE and 1 female LESSER SCAUP who've been hanging out together for a couple months in the east beach's swimming area
13 WESTERN GREBE & 1 HORNED GREBE offshore north of the beaches
30+ GREAT BLUE HERONS in the trees of the heronry, with many sitting on nests
6 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS--2 chasing each other on the edge of Issaquah Creek near the point, and 4 more doing the same further south along the Creek
5 woodpecker day: Red-breasted Sapsucker (6); Downy (2); Hairy (1); Northern Flicker (2); and Pileated (1)
TREE & VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS--Tree Swallows were checking out holes in last year's nesting trees along Issaquah Creek near the point
3 Wren day: Bewick's (4), Pacific (2) and Marsh (4)
2 VARIED THRUSH
1 TOWNSEND'S WARBLER
We enjoyed watching a RIVER OTTER swim just offshore of the beaches. It turns out, he was on a mission to retrieve a Carp he had left on the edge of the lake sometime earlier. We had just spotted the dead fish, and noticed he was swimming in a direct line towards us (and the fish). He started chattering to let us know we were too close so we respectfully backed off. The fish and he were soon gone.

53 species for the day, 67 for the year. Next walk: 4/23/12, 8 am to noon. No pre-registration--just show up at the first parking lot on the left just inside the main park entrance (not the boating launch entrance). Discover Pass required.

Sharon Aagaard
Bellevue WA
scormieraa001 at hotmail.com