Subject: [Tweeters] Two Lifers
Date: Mar 25 00:21:54 2012
From: ray holden - rayleeholden at yahoo.com


They aren't rare but you take your lifers when you can. ?A 3rd year Herring Gull showed up with the feeding flock at around 12:30 here at Percival Landing in Olympia. ?I feed them dry cat food and the usual suspects are so used to me that I wade through the flock as I spread out the goodies. ?New birds often take awhile to figure out what's going on and I noticed this guy hanging around the edge not knowing exactly what to do. ?Being on the way to Nisqually I had my Sibleys with me so I took the time to get to know my new "friend". ?Last week there was what seemed to me to be a Glaucous X GW gull in the mix. ?It only came the one day. ?

I dipped again today on the Say's Phoebe ?for the second day in a row but saw a Northern Shrike on one of the standing dead trees on the salt water side of the new dike trail for lifer number two. ?It sat around for a great view for several minutes then swooped down hunting and I never saw it again. ?

Another dramatic life and death scene was being played out a few feet away on the opposite side of the dike. ?The American Bittern that has been seen in the area lately snatched a snake out of the grass that was about as long as the bird. ?I'm sure the photographers got great pictures since it was right out in the open 20ft or so away. ?Then the bird retreated into the grass and proceeded to begin the process of choking down the snake head first. ?When I left the snake was about a forth of the way in with a foot or so left to go. ?Don't know if it was able to eat the whole thing. ?

The gaggle of birders on the river side of the boardwalk made finding the Great Horned Owls and easy find. ?One adult and two owlets were perched at?different?levels in the same tree. ?

Last week the Bald Eagles at the settlement ponds at 3001 Hogam Bay Rd. were still moving?furniture. ?The female flew in and perched in a tree next to the nest tree. ?The male flew in beside her a couple of minutes later with a twig in his beak. ?He showed it to her and fiddled with it a few minutes then dropped it and ?they flew off again. ?To me it looked like he was making an offering to his mate rather than any serious nest building. ? They've been working on the nest all winter and today was the big day. ?Mama Eagle is now sitting her nest. ?You walk right under the nest on the gravel trail and today she hung her head on the edge and peered straight down at me. ?A local man said she wasn't sitting yesterday but he's come over a twice today and she is hunkered down in the nest and not moving around. ? Papa (to be, we hope) wasn't in sight. ?I guess he was out picking up dinner so to speak. ?


?
Ray Holden
Olympia, WA

Life is for the birds.