Subject: [Tweeters] Edmonds Roundup
Date: Jun 4 18:37:00 2016
From: Carol Riddell - cariddellwa at gmail.com


Waterfront: Brants, grebes and most ducks are gone. Some Brandt?s Cormorants are around and there has been a recent return of about a dozen Pelagic Cormorants. Heermann?s Gulls have not yet arrived, but Caspian Terns and Ospreys can be seen. There have been a couple of Purple Mart(code 3) in sightings over the marsh but none has been seen yet at the Olympic Beach nest boxes. A Whimbrel (code 3) was at Marina Beach a couple of weeks ago. An American White Pelican large flock moving around the inland marine waters has been seen in Edmonds. It was a code 5 Edmonds species until two recent sightings of these birds. It will be revised to a code 4.

Edmonds marsh: Spring shorebird migration included a Wilson?s Phalarope (code 4), a Short-billed Dowitcher (code 4), a Semipalmated Sandpiper (code 3 but unusual for spring), a Pectoral Sandpiper (code 3), and a couple of Semipalmated Plovers (code 3), in addition to the expected Western and Least Sandpipers. A pair of Blue-winged Teals (code 3) recently passed through the marsh. One Tree Swallow (code 3) pair is nesting in one of the new boxes. A third-of-spring Western Kingbird showed up near the marsh a couple of days ago. There have been enough sightings to revise its abundance code from 5 to 4.

A Swainson?s Hawk (code 5) was in a south Edmonds neighborhood on June 1. The only previous known Edmonds sighting of that species was in September 1999. Evening Grosbeaks (code 3) were seen recently in a central Edmonds neighborhood. Swainson?s Thrushes are back in the wooded parks. Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and various flycatchers and warblers have been moving through the area. This has been a good spring for Rufous Hummingbirds, which have been seen in many parts of Edmonds.

Public Pier: The pier has been closed since March for repairs. As happens with many repair projects, additional problems are found once the work begins. In the case of the pier, substandard workmanship in the original construction has been discovered and requires extensive repair of the deck. The preliminary cost estimate is an additional $400,000. Neither the city nor WDFW, the state agency that built the pier in the 1970s, has the money available. Initial talk is that reopening the pier will be delayed until mid-summer. However, I believe that is a very soft timetable since no agency yet knows where the funds will come from. You can read more about it here: http://myedmondsnews.com/2016/05/unexpected-edmonds-fishing-pier-repairs-to-cost-nearly-400k/ <http://myedmondsnews.com/2016/05/unexpected-edmonds-fishing-pier-repairs-to-cost-nearly-400k/> . When better information becomes available on a reopening date, we will post it to Tweeters.

Carol Riddell
Edmonds