WEST SEATTLE BIRDS: 9 views of your winged neighbors

| West Seattle news | Wildlife

Lots more news in the pipeline … but more great bird photos have flown in lately, so here are nine:

Above, David Hutchinson explains, “This pair of Bald Eagles has been scavenging on the carcass of a young harbor seal (last year’s pup) on the beach along the 1500 block of Alki Ave at times the last two days. The sight has attracted a lot of attention from passersby and Seal Sitters has placed informational signage up along the walkway.”

Might be one of those same two in this photo from Gene Pavola:

Robin Sinner photographed fledgling Steller’s Jays:

Next are Raven fledglings at Lincoln Park, from Mark MacDonald:

He also photographed a Caspian Tern, the seabirds with prehistoric-sounding cries:

Mark Wangerin photographed a colorful Western Tanager:

From Ryan Minch, a leucistic Crow at Cormorant Cove during low tide:

And rom Larry Gilpin – even the ordinary House Sparrow can be eye-catching:

Big thanks to everyone who shares these photos reminding us who and what else lives on our wonderful peninsula!

Karen Lyons June 7, 2020 (3:10 pm)

Wonderful photos! Really needed to see our birds and not the news for a change. Although, WSB is the best!

Ann Adachi June 7, 2020 (4:59 pm)

Love these! Like so many others during the shutdown we’ve gotten into bird watching & I so enjoy these photos. Thanks to the photographers and WSB for sharing!

HS June 7, 2020 (5:56 pm)

I am constantly amazed at the incredible diversity of wild beasties living in West Seattle. The slightly intoxicated looking fledging Jay 😂😂😂

Sunflower June 7, 2020 (8:29 pm)

Thank you for sharing these cool birds and photos! Particularly fond of the raven fledgling poofs.

Yma June 7, 2020 (11:33 pm)

We saw the leucistic crow outside Blue Moon burgers on Alki, Sat eve. I saw it & said, hey that’s a crow. My daughter said – no that’s a seagull. Me – no, that’s a crow! We got close enough to confirm, yup – crow. Very cool.

anonyme June 8, 2020 (7:15 am)

All amazing, but I especially enjoyed seeing a fledgling raven for the first time. I do love the oft-overlooked LBB’s (little brown birds). Please control pets, especially roaming cats, during this time when so many fledglings are on the ground.

Skyler June 8, 2020 (7:30 am)

Caspian Tern! We’ve been trying to figure out what bird flies super high over Delridge yelling “Can’t get down” to each other as they pass in prehistoric voices. Thank you!

Kathy June 8, 2020 (9:26 am)

Thanks so much to the photographers who share their photos and the WSB for posting them. They’re gorgeous and a reminder of what a wonderful place West Seattle is…

Deb June 8, 2020 (3:17 pm)

What is the large bird that has its wings cocked at an inverted ‘v’ angle like this ^ when flying, and makes a guttural (prehistoric??) call as it flies along? I was thinking great blue heron?Thanks for the beautiful photos!! Maybe I should find a bird call website?

WSB June 8, 2020 (4:56 pm)

Every bird name above is linked to that species’ page on BirdWeb, which includes audio. As for what you mention, that certainly could describe a GBH …

Matt P June 9, 2020 (9:10 am)

Ravens at Lincoln park? Super cool. They’ve been making a comeback in Seattle. There’s a blog that tracks them in the Arboretum and I’ve seen them in Discovery park.