Seems a bit early, but I'm pretty sure I heard a Purple Martin overhead in
West Seattle today. Had one clear series of warbles but then nothing and I
didn't have a good view of the sky from there.



Also recently Eric Steffens at the Matsuda Preserve on Vashon Island had a
day with at least 50 ravens at once overhead. That seems like a pretty high
count for King County. About a month or so back I gave a talk on birds to a
local garden group, one of the members of which lives near the Matsuda
Preserve. About two years ago, someone moved into the property between her
house and the preserve and brought in lots of pigs, ducks, chickens and
other animals. I used to visit the Matsuda property before it became a
preserve from time to time and there were never more than a couple of ravens
about. I think a potential source of attraction for the ravens might be
this property and the change of use explains why the numbers seen now
weren't there before.



Ed



Ed Swan

Nature writer and guide

<http://www.theswancompany.com/> www.theswancompany.com

edswan2 at comcast.net

206.949.3545