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WEST SEATTLE BIRDS: Have you seen/heard this one?

August 9, 2023 12:46 pm
|      23 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | Wildlife

(2022 photo by Matthew Olson)

West Seattle wildlife biologist Kersti Muul wonders if anyone else is seeing or hearing the birds whose calls she heard earlier today:

Much to my surprise this morning, I had what’s called overlapping/and multiple ‘keer’ calls of marbled murrelets at 0750. A friend heard them also at 0830 and says she’s been hearing them for about a week.

They were flying ENE from 5627 Beach Drive -ish and directly over the house, low.

This is of interest for many reasons, and I’d like to know if anyone is seeing or hearing them, especially on that inland trajectory. Catching them in flight is next to impossible. If anyone can record them, that would be even better!

They are endangered, and on an exponential decline in Washington. They do hang out off West point sometimes, but nest sparsely on the peninsula. They only nest in old growth.

Here are some sounds. Call number two is what we were hearing this morning.

The marbled murrelet is of particular interest to Kersti, as she spent the summer surveying them on Tiger Mountain after receiving a certification in April.

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23 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE BIRDS: Have you seen/heard this one?"

  • Mel August 9, 2023 (2:52 pm)

    I thought I saw some swimming and flying next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock on Sunday evening. A group of 4. But the sun was setting and I didn’t have binoculars so it was hard to tell.

  • jdfsea August 9, 2023 (3:58 pm)

    I heard call number two yesterday morning, around 7am, about five blocks due south from the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. Distinct, though at first I thought it might have been juvenile bald eagles. If it’s old growth they like, Fauntleroy Park might have been on their itinerary.

  • Mellow Kitty August 9, 2023 (4:03 pm)

    It’s a Marbled Murrelet.Marbled Murrelet | Audubon Field Guide https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/marbled-murrelet

    • Kersti Elisabeth Muul August 9, 2023 (5:45 pm)

      Please read the article .  We know what the pictured bird is

      • Mellow Kitty August 9, 2023 (6:51 pm)

        Thank you for pointing out my mistake in such a polite way. I especially appreciate your infallible response.You have a fantastic day now. ❤️

  • Lara August 9, 2023 (4:10 pm)

    I think I may have heard them yesterday. I thought it might be a juvenile raptor, but it was definitely that second call.We’re at 42nd and Charlestown. I’ll keep my ears open for them!

  • Actually Mike August 9, 2023 (4:30 pm)

    Hard to be sure in retrospect, but I heard something that sounded a lot like #2 in tree canopy at Lincoln Park early Monday morning–maybe around 8:00-8:15.

    • Kersti Elisabeth Muul August 9, 2023 (5:52 pm)

      Likely Cooper’s hawk fledglings. Murrelets would not be in Lincoln park

  • waikikigirl August 9, 2023 (4:39 pm)

    Do they fly/make noise at night like around 9pm? My husband heard something we’ve never heard before, it was last night and the night before. We live up above Seoul Beach’s greenbelt in the 11600 block area.

    • waikikigirl August 10, 2023 (11:25 am)

      Dang spell correct! Seola Beach not Seoul 😏but anyways it was a different bird sound he/we heard the other night.

  • Janet August 9, 2023 (4:59 pm)

    Kersti,Thank you for alerting our eyes and ears to the murrelets.  Do crows chase them off?  There was a very large cacophony of crows yesterday about 0850, in the trees west of 48th, south of Andover and away towards Genesee.  Unique calls have also been heard the past few days.

  • Kersti Elisabeth Muul August 9, 2023 (5:51 pm)

    All, it is a rare thing to hear over west Seattle (I am still gobsmacked)  and there are many birds that folks could mistake for murrelets. I had someone send me a recording of fledgling Cooper’s hawks, for example. Very unlikely in water near ferry, or flying into fauntleroy park. The only time they fly into old growth stands is when nesting, and chicks are fledging now. There is no nesting in west Seattle. I have a trained ear for this, and the sound is unmistakable to me. Reading these reports tell me these are not murrelets. This is a very unique and odd bird. 

  • DD August 9, 2023 (7:22 pm)

    I heard these calls the other morning while walking in the north admiral district. Could not see the birds and at first thought it might be gulls. But the calls definitely sounded like those in your link. 

  • I like birds August 10, 2023 (7:42 am)

    I have been hearing these calls near Holden/California, timing varies. My first thought was Oystercatcher, but it was not right- a little to shrill and also sounds like more than one bird (I have seen an  Oystercatcher in Edmonds, but not in WS). This sounds weird, but it sounded like a “smaller” bird. My next guess was killdeer, had the same flighty, panicky, type quality, but there were at least two, staying mostly in the same area but flying/moving around quickly for a few minutes (not just passing right by). I have not seen killdeer in Gatewood before, butI have seen Killdeer ground nests inland near Yakima. And I have seen them at Carkeek beach. That’s my best guess for now. Whatever they are, they are infrequent, or newbies around here, and they have been here for a couple weeks. I will keep trying for a glimpse!

    • K August 10, 2023 (1:28 pm)

      Interesting note on the killdeer. My Merlin Sound App picked one up May 27th, I’m  just east of you a half mile or so. I have never seen one here, but other parts of Puget Sound and Columbia Basin. I recorded for 2:32 and had multiple sound pickups. On the marbled murrelet topic, so interesting. I will be watching any info on this closely. I remember Audubon magazine had a feature on them in California in last year’s summer edition, which was my first time learning about them: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2022/rebuilding-iconic-california-state-park-birds-and I always appreciate your education, Kersti.    

    • Kersti Elisabeth Muul August 10, 2023 (2:30 pm)

      Killdeer nest in all kinds of unfortunate places. I’ve seen them in parking lots in the Alaska junction, coffee stand drive-thrus even 🤦🏼‍♀️they are definitely around and away from water too, but also along the water 

  • tom August 10, 2023 (9:57 am)

    Cool that you heard them locally and survey them Kersti. Seems like a weird place to solicit observations since 99.99% of respondents here will have zero experience with them and there seems to be a great deal of nuance ID’ing sounds based on context (also given that it’s near impossible to catch them in flight). Maybe check those with observations on iNat (all the observations there are obscured but likely some are in or around the areas you care about). People here seem excited about it though so that’s great!

  • Scarlett August 10, 2023 (3:04 pm)

    A highlight, and surprise, for me was seeing a N. Goshawk in Lincoln Park a few months ago.  Really a magnificent looking raptor.  

    • Kersti Elisabeth Muul August 10, 2023 (3:57 pm)

      Yes! I infrequently see one fly East over ferry lanes towards fauntleroy and I can never get anyone else to see it. Was yours perched?

      • Scarlett August 10, 2023 (6:05 pm)

        Kersti:  It darted out of the trees and didn’t catch much in the way of markings (too fast) but it was more powerfully built than a Cooper’s and had the characteristic flight of an accipiter.   I’ve always been a fan of raptors and falcons, maybe because I read “My side of the Mountain” when I was a kid. 

  • Derrick August 10, 2023 (5:44 pm)

    Does Kersti (a local treasure) ever host any nature walks? I am sure many of us would love to listen to her teach us about our local wildlife. Plus, she could raise money for… whatever she wants!

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