Subject: [Tweeters] LHG Bellevue: Short-eared Owl & White-throated Sparrows
Date: Oct 28 13:06:24 2012
From: Pterodroma at aol.com - Pterodroma at aol.com



28Oct ? Lake Hills Greenbelt (LHG), Bellevue. This morning?s 'power bird
walk' highlight was totally serendipitous and least expected; a
Short-eared Owl at 0930hrs circling around in the company of a couple attendant crows
as I was coming along the north side of Larson Lake just before the
viewing platform due north of the little foot bridge! The owl was quite high,
~400 feet, and circled about and nicely viewed in the welcome sunlight for a
good 5 minutes over the northern most part of the Greenbelt and the brand
spanking new Walmart on the corner of 148th Ave SE and Main! I have no idea
where this bird came from but I doubt it was from the Greenbelt. Nor do I
know which is rarer in Bellevue, the Short-eared Owl or the Walmart ...
probably the Walmart since the latter IS a first record :-))
There are at least two White-throated Sparrows on the sidewalk and in
adjacent shrubbery right on the corner (usually SE corner) of 156th Ave SE and
SE 16th Street. One is an adult ?white-striped? with gleaming white
supercilium and throat and yellow lores, the other an immature 'tan-striped'
with a more dirty streaky chest, tan supercilium, and little or no yellow
lores, and quite obvious white throat too. I haven't seen both actually
together, but the 'white-striped' was first discovered on Thursday and seen
again this morning, while the immature was seen yesterday and Friday. The
'white-striped' adult was seen right off this morning as I was northbound on
the SE corner of SE 16th but across the street on the NW corner near the
flower stand when on the southbound return. I didn?t see the immature ?
tan-striped? bird this morning despite the usual presence of the other
Zono-sparrows with which these White-throateds associate. Anyone caring to take a
quick look, there's parking on the NW corner near the flower stand, then
just walk across the streets to the SE corner. Both of these birds are pretty
shy and skulky, so it might take some patience.
There were a LOT of Cooper?s Hawk sightings this morning, SEVEN in fact in
7 different places throughout, from end to end. I have no idea how many
birds there really were, but did see THREE at once and together fly right
overhead at 156th Ave SE and SE 16th, two adults and one immature. The
adults were engaged in what appeared to be some sort of weird (meaning,
unfamiliar) but interesting maybe courtship flight suggestive of a Harrier or a
Nighthawk or even a Short-eared Owl. I have never seen this before with
Cooper's or any accipiters, but perhaps that's what they do from time to time.
For this morning's LHG dash, 2.2hrs, 39 species, 84 now for the month.
P.S. The highlight of yesterday's mid-day 'power bird walk' during the
2-hr lull between rainstorms, a fast flyover Merlin was seen again, this time
making a purposeful bee-line straight into one of the swirling flocks of
~200 Pine Siskins. It must have nailed something but I lost it in the
trees before determining the outcome. As many 'tweets' have noted this month,
there sure are a LOT of Pine Siskins around. Lake Hills Greenbelt is
certainly no exception with 200-400 or more daily all month long. But nothing
to date can beat the mega-swarm of easily a thousand or more Pine Siskins
seen at the west shore of Phantom Lake on Oct.22. That spectacle was by far
the largest Pine Siskin flock I have ever seen in my life!