Hello Tweets,

I stopped by Larsen Lake in the Lake Hills Greenbelt just to check it out because I was in the area. I wasn't too surprised to find the birch trees bare of any redpolls, but I didn't mind too much because I was able to see the Green Lake redpolls 12 days ago. There were 3-4 red-tailed hawks in the area, and what was probably a Virginia rail dashed briefly into view between some reeds. The lake's water level was quite high, and a dozen mallards were feeding in the slightly flooded fields.

However, the highlight came as I was standing beside a half-submerged bench, watching the handful of Mallards and wigeons on the lake: a Barn Swallow came swooping into view over the water! It appeared to be an adult female, with a long, forked tail and pale reddish belly. I watched the swallow swooping around for a while, ranging from the opposite side of the lake to right over my head! An entertaining bird to watch, as swallows always are. I took a few identifiable photos that I will post later. My first winter swallow! As a passing photographer had said just five minutes prior to my sighting: "you always come for one thing, but sometimes you get something else!"

Good birding, Joshua Glant

Mercer Island, WA

Josh(dot)n(dot)glant(at)gmail(dot)com