(Photo sent by Kellie, sighting near 41st/Alaska)

They’re not turkeys, though they’re often mistaken for them. The wandering Guinea Fowl of West Seattle have been seen for months north of The Junction – we’ve featured them in some of our galleries of bird photos sent by readers. But these past few days, readers have sent photos of them closer to the heart of The Junction, expressing concern for their safety – the next photo was from Kristin, who emailed this morning to say, “They’re on the corner of 41st and Oregon. Cars on Oregon are dodging them.”

Those two photos above are from today; the next one was sent by James last week, taken near 41st/Genesee, closer to the north-of-Junction location of most previous sightings people have mentioned to us:

If these are your birds, we’d be interested in the story behind them, after so many sighting reports – westseattleblog@gmail.com.

The photo and report are from William:

Someone’s steering-wheel lock, umbrella, and iPhone cable were found on the street this morning at 38th and Juneau; after checking in with the neighbors no one’s car had been stolen, so perhaps the stuff wad dumped here from another stolen car? The stuff is still outside if it’s yours…

From the inbox – a possibly stolen/dumped passport was found by someone who’s hoping to get it back to its owner:

I found someone’s passport on the grass strip west of the car wash. Between 35th and 36th, SW Graham. It was by itself. I will send it to the U.S. Department of State Consular Lost and Stolen Passport Unit (CLASP) … if I don’t hear back.

If it might be yours, email us and we’ll connect you to the finder.

The photo is from Meagan Loftin, who noted, “Leprechauns have been out on 41st Ave again. The green stripe is refreshed.” This is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition on 41st SW north of Admiral Way. We went by this morning for a look, too, and photographed the shamrock at the stripe’s end near SW Hill:

Who are the paint-equipped leprechauns? That remains a mystery. When we showed it 15 years ago, a commenter said this tradition dates back to the 1970s!

Ruby, Leona, and Tatum from Troop 43450 were enjoying a sunbreak when we stopped by for a photo this morning outside Easy Street Records in The Junction, one of multiple places you’ll find local Girl Scouts selling cookies this weekend. You can use the search box here to see where else cookie booths are set up, and you can go here to find online sellers who are delivering (or to donate cookies to people in the military). This year, local Scouts are selling nine varieties, $6/box; cookie-booth season continues through March 17th.

The photo and report are from Laurie – we’re publishing it here rather than in the Lost/Found section because the circumstances suggest possibly stolen/dumped rather than simply misplaced:

Saw this gym bag on my walk this morning. I didn’t look inside but maybe you can post in lost and found. Found halfway down stairs at 60th & Spokane on the left side.

One week until Valentine’s Day. But we learned last week, not all heart-light displays are a salute to the lovers’ holiday. In Gatewood, neighbors decked their block with hearts as a tribute to a departed neighbor. And tonight’s photo, from Pauline, is a tribute to her mom – named Joy: “Mom really was about Peace, Love, and Joy.” (If you have heart lights up, photos welcome at westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!)

Valentine’s Day is exactly two weeks away. While out walking this evening in Gatewood, we noticed a mini-trend:

Within the span of just a few blocks, three homes had Valentine’s lights. We photographed the illuminated hearts at two of them:

So in the spirit of Halloween and Christmas lights, we’ll extend the invitation for this season too – if you have or see a particularly festive Valentine’s display, we’d love a photo – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thanks!

From the inbox this morning:

MYSTERY TRAILER: From Corey:

This trailer made its way to our block this morning. We will submit to Find-It-Fix-It but wanted to give someone a chance to pick it up it it’s theirs. It’s located at 18th Ave SW and SW Trenton Street in Highland Park. Close to the north end of 18th and Trenton.

AFTERNOON UPDATE: Corey says in a comment below that the trailer is now gone.

BAG OF BELONGINGS: From Jennifer:

This looks like it belongs to someone. Dumped near the Murray (Wet Weather Facility) at Lowman Beach. Hope it finds its way home.

Were they stolen and dumped? Or just lost? A reader is hoping to get photos to their owner:

They were in a torn-apart photo album (no cover or binder). They were strewn all along Admiral Way, sort of near Schmitz Park. I even crawled under a couple vehicles to get some. They were very wet and covered in debris. My daughter and I just spent hours cleaning and drying them one by one.

If these might be yours, email us – westseattleblog@gmail.com – and we’ll connect you with the finder.j

Thanks to Don Brubeck from West Seattle Bike Connections for the photo and report:

Here is a 11/20/23 photo of driver Paul with SDOT’s electric compact street sweeper working on the SW Avalon Way bike lanes. He had to get out to remove some branches by hand. This is a welcome sight for people riding bikes, with all the fall leaves in the lanes becoming a little slippery when wet and hiding who knows what.

As announced in September, SDOT is in the middle of a six-month test of this sweeper, part of a larger look at how much of its fleet could go electric.

We didn’t hear about today’s Seahawks flyover in advance, but a couple people mentioned it afterward. And James Tilley sent this photo:

He notes, “Just after the flyover at the game, they made another pass over Alki, presumably on their way to land at Boeing Field, as they were dropping gear as they flew over the beach.” According to the Seahawks website, these were “two EA-18 Growlers from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.”

Thanks to everyone who messaged us about a film-crew sighting on the Lincoln Park waterfront today. According to the texter who sent the photo above: “Spoke to one of the organizers. It’s a short film. They are hoping to submit to Sundance. All local crew (Seattle-based).”

Today’s been a very aerial day … first the Guardian One helicopter, then the C-17 over Elliott Bay, then two fighter jets loud and low just before dusk (we were under the awning at the high-school football game so could only hear, not see, them, and they weren’t on tracker). People at the Mariners’ game confirm it was a pregame flyover (here’s a pic).

ADDED: In comments, Jason uploaded photos including this one, plus a link to video.

Thanks to the texter who just sent that photo (and to everybody else messaging us about the sighting). The jet is a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet, dozens of which are based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Pierce County.

ADDED: Another view, emailed by Jan Pendergrass:

PLUS: West Seattle skywatcher Kevin Freitas caught the flyby on one of his cameras:

Someone asked us early this evening on Twitter/X, “There are a bunch of women in the Junction dressed in Lucille Ball wigs and dresses. A few men too, what is up????” Well, no, not Lucille Ball. Actually – Helen Roper.

This is, as featured in our event calendar and daily preview list, the West Seattle Roper Romp, a pub crawl for which participants were encouraged to dress up like Helen Roper, a TV sitcom character from the shows “Three’s Company” and “The Ropers,” which aired 1977-1980 but live on in Gen X hearts.

As Hollye Bondurant, who sent the above photos, pointed out, Roper Romps were featured earlier this week in a New York Times story. We suspect there’s been a run on caftans and auburn wigs ever since. If you have some standing by, you still have an hour to get in on the West Seattle Roper Romp – the 10-11 pm stops are in our calendar listing.

We’ve also had questions this weekend about aircraft flyovers beyond usual patterns. Here in south West Seattle, we were just seeing general-aviation aircraft, but further north, a far more memorable sight. Commenter Jeff solved the mystery (and this morning, Kathleen sent a photo): Historic aircraft flying out of the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field, from the Commemorative Air Force. Scheduled rides (aboard a B-17 or B-25 bomber) ended at 1 pm but ground tours continue until 6 pm – info here.

The photo and report are from Jordan, who works at Sky Printing (35th/Fauntleroy), and thinks this is more likely to be a dumped/stolen item than merely lost, because of what’s not in it.

I found this Coach wallet outside of our shop, along with a bunch of business cards and receipts, but no cash or credit cards or IDs. The wallet is in good shape; we’re keeping it in our lost and found.

Contact the shop if it’s yours.

You had to be at Seattle Center to hear the music – but otherwise, last night’s All-Star Drone Show was visible from across the bay! Thanks to Carolyn Newman for the photos. The Center said 600 lighted drones flying up to 400 feet above ground were used for “stunning baseball-themed visuals and iconic Seattle scenes … set to a soundtrack of baseball classics and summertime music.” The “iconic scenes” included the Pike Place Market sign:

And even a “twin” for the Space Needle:

According to this GeekWire story from last year, the show was produced by Texas-based Sky Elements.

4:18 PM: Thanks to everyone who mentioned this sighting around 3:30 pm – two Air Force C-17s passing West Seattle’s north shore, as seen in Nate Miller‘s video above (Nate says, “We’re celebrating the promotion of Lafayette’s 5th graders, and convinced the kiddos that the flyby was for them!”), and Stewart L.’s photo of one of them:

We can’t say with absolute certainty that these were from Joint Base Lewis McChord, but JBLM is home to 40 of these aircraft.

5:02 PM: One more view, from David Hutchinson at Alki:

From Ben, in the Westwood area:

Some items were dumped on my property this afternoon.

If all or some of them are yours, email us – westseattleblog@gmail.com – and we will connect you with Ben.