It was raining heavily before dawn, it was pouring at the end of the morning, yet there were stretches of clearing skies in between to keep spirits up. But, the birds gotta eat so there was plenty of action, at least when you could see through the deluge. Not all of it pleasant, though?an unexpected and frightening episode with an almost resident homeless person produced threats of violence and more (police have been notified), although no bodily harm. For anyone else who visits the park early on weekdays, this individual has occupied one of the dugouts on the western-most baseball field. Please stay aware.

Now for the birds of the day:

Eurasian Wigeon - a male hanging out with the large flock in the Entrance Pond
Ducks - good numbers of all wintering ducks, including Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck (mostly at the NOAA shore), Greater and Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye and Common Merganser
Grebes - good numbers of Pied-billed, both on the lake and in the ponds; Horned and Western, with the continuing large flock (>60) in the middle of the lake
Cooper?s Hawk - adult female
Bald Eagle - immature
Red-tailed Hawk - adult
Virginia Rail - at least 2, kiddicking, one just south of Frog Pond, another from the western lobe of Promontory Pond
Gulls - all 5 usual species, with large number loafing on the swim platform
Barn Owl - one on a light post near box 2, another east meadow
Belted Kingfisher - flew from NOAA; I wonder where they will nest since they were evicted from Kingfisher Basin last year
Cedar Waxwing - a dozen or so
Yellow-Rumped Warbler - good numbers again, about 20, with 4 Myrtles
Chickadee - only Black-capped, but this individual caught my attention, apparently learning that there are grubs buried within the cattail fluff:
https://youtu.be/czJOnCny228

For the day, 53 species.
Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27459699 <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27459699>
Scott Ramos
Seattle