Hello Tweeters,

It's a lively time in Lincoln Park (West Seattle). Although the Bald Eagles don't seem to be nesting here this year, perhaps taking a well-deserved break after successfully fledging their first offspring last year, the pair are both around. For the past three days, there have also been two juveniles causing a great deal of excitement and/or upset; both adults call loudly when the juveniles fly by, which they do a lot. Of course, this stirs up the crows and gulls, so it's been pretty noisy out there. Is it likely that one of the juveniles is last year's fledgling?

The Pileated Woodpeckers are interacting quite a bit, also calling, apparently chasing each other through the forest. Flycatchers arrived on April 28, as best I could tell from a fuzzy sighting of what seemed to be an Olive-sided Flycatcher (?) at the top of a snag and the FOY call of a Pacific-slope Flycatcher from deep in the forest. (If you're interested in ID practice, the mystery flycatcher is at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trileigh/8707675387/in/photostream and the adjacent photo.)

Everyone's excavating nest holes apace, of course. A pair of Northern Flickers has been working diligently on a viewable nest hole (sequence at http://www.flickr.com/photos/trileigh/8708817454/in/set-72157633404127909), and the chickadees are busily exploring alternative nest sites.

Two particular chickadee pairs chose an interesting location for an early nesting attempt, which got quite a lot of attention. I've written up that story and its sequel on my blog at
http://naturalpresence.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/blockwatch/ (Chapter 1 - see the next entry for Chapter 2).

I've also created an initial Lincoln Park bird list and would welcome your input if you're familiar with the park. I have a list including initial photo links (many more to be added to over time) at https://naturalpresence.wordpress.com/lincoln-park/lincoln-park-bird-list-2/, and printable one- and two-page versions are linked from that page.

Lastly, I finally had to move my hummingbird feeder when a pregnant squirrel kept draining it...I guess in America every child gets sugar water, not just the human ones! Photo at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trileigh/8707730367/in/photostream

(Sorry about the multiplicity of links; it's been a long time since I've posted.)

Good birding to all,
Trileigh

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Trileigh Tucker
Lincoln Park, West Seattle
Naturalpresence.wordpress.com