Subject: [Tweeters] LHG-Bellevue, Su 4/28 - today's notes & FOYs
Date: Apr 28 12:23:23 2013
From: Pterodroma at aol.com - Pterodroma at aol.com


Lake Hills Greenbelt (LHG), Bellevue, notes from the field:



28Apr (0618-0942hrs) -- A full walk this morning including all the
extensions usually omitted (boardwalk west of 148th, the NNE spur from Larsen
Lake all the way to Walmart, boardwalk north up the 156th, and east on SE
16th; ~5mi total, 3.4hrs). Despite the early dark gloomy threatening sky
and rain at the very end, things started out quite promising with unexpected
waterfowl including a Gadwall and a female Hooded Merganser on Phantom Lake
and a flyover female Common Merganser very high over Larsen Lake,
California Quail calling east of 156th, and the Barn Owl was on its usual day roost
spot north of the windmill where both Hermit and an FOY Swainson?s Thrush
were seen together making for nice side-by-side comparison. Also FOY was a
singing Black-headed Grosbeak in the central section, and an adult male
but silent Western Tanager south of Larsen Lake spotted by mere "accident"
when I was ogling a nice adult "Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler when I suddenly
realized the tanager was just sitting there in the same field of view!
Now 169 LHG walks later I've gone full circle with Western Tanager, the last
one seen in the LHG being October 1, 2012, inaugural LHG walk #1. There
were a lot of Yellow-rumped Warblers scattered throughout including a
surprising number of adult ?Myrtles?, but apart from that and a few Common
Yellowthroats scattered around, there were no other warblers, not even an
Orange-crowned. Some other bad misses included Red-tailed Hawk, Rufous
Hummingbird, and any one of the usually dependable insistent Hutton's Vireos. At
the farm field on the NE corner of 156th Ave SE & SE 16th, no Kingbirds this
morning, but Savannah Sparrow numbers continue to rise, up to at least 40
now, and one American Pipit was seen. At the #2 Killdeer nest east of
Larsen Lake, new life is emerging, hatching day it seems. Both adults and
one chick were seen from the trail down in the brushy wet spot with both
adults in close attendance. As I watched for awhile from the non-intrusive
distance of the trail to see if I could spot any others, the female then made
her way back to the nest up on the terrace and settled in. With some
reluctance, I made my over there just to check what the status was. Very quick,
quick one-second glance, in and OUT of there in an instant! Indeed, 3
eggs remain, so one chick is indeed on the loose and I suspect the other three
will likely follow between now and this time tomorrow. 3.4hrs, 57 species.


Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA