(Lincoln Park photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli – we hear the fish are here too)
Just got a note from Sam, who reports seeing “hundreds of salmon … dozens leaping through the air as they feed” at the Harbor Island pier. Checking around online, fishing writer Mark Yuasa at seattletimes.com (WSB partner) reported this week that pink salmon are entering the area “in the millions.”
They’re by no means rare, but when coyote sightings are brought to our attention, we pass them along as a reminder that you’ll want to make sure your pets are inside, etc. Just got a call from Pam, who lives along lower Lincoln Park Way, north of Lincoln Park, east of Lowman Beach (vicinity map), and says a coyote’s been hanging around behind her house for going on an hour now, so she wanted to make sure others got the word. (Past coyote reports, some with photos, are archived here.)
That’s how Trileigh captioned this photo of the young Lincoln Park-born barred owl who was nicknamed “Wollet” during a rash of sightings that followed our first owlet report, which came from Kim and Jordan Petram and included this next photo, back in late May:
(Among other photo reports that followed, Minette contributed too.) Back to today’s top photo – Trileigh elaborates:
I found an owl in Lincoln Park on Sunday, but I wasn’t sure whether it was Wollet or one of his parents. He looked so freshly washed that I thought it was probably “our” baby. Then when I showed his picture to one of my owl-expert friends, she confirmed that it is indeed Wollet: apparently you can tell by his white tail feathers. Hooray! So glad to see that little guy one more time. My friend also tells me he’s likely to start searching for his own territory — so each sighting could be the last.
She has more photos at flickr.com/photos/trileigh. Meantime, we’ve received a few other beautiful West Seattle bird-sighting photos recently (thank you!!!!) and will share them soon too.
Jill sends this photo and explains, “Out walking the dog on the beach at low tide and saw this dead Manta Ray, or so I think. found south of the Arroyos during low tide. Anyone know, is this common for Puget Sound?” We know “skates” can be found in cold waters – “manta rays” tend to be tropical – any thoughts on Jill’s discovery? Here’s another photo, for scale:
One possibility we’ve come across so far: A “big skate.”
First an update on “Leucy,” the leucistic (light-colored) crow that died in the recordsetting Wednesday heat, after living for several years along the Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy border. Our neighbor Jane, who told us about the well-known crow’s death on Friday, posted an update today, saying that after freezing the crow’s remains, she turned them over to the local bird-expert author who had studied it before, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, who Jane said planned to take it for study at UW. (Added Monday morning: As Lyanda notes in the comment section, she has now written about “Leucy” at her website, The Tangled Nest.)
Speaking of crows:
Jodie shares that photo of a local bald eagle under siege by a crow while perched atop a tree nera 45th and Genesee, west side of The Junction – a scene we’ve probably all seen before, and yet always riveting. A different bird-in-tree scene is shared by Gary Jones – two ospreys squabbling over supremacy in an Alki Point tree:
Want to know more about our local birds and why they behave the way they do? Seattle Audubon‘s BirdWeb site is a great place to start.
Just yesterday, we mentioned that unusually colored crow – “leucistic” is the term – in our story about Gatewood author Lyanda Lynn Haupt‘s new book (from which she is reading at Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 tonight). This morning, on our way out to cover a story, we saw one of our neighbors here in the Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy area where “Leucy” has hung out for years – and she told us she found “Leucy,” aka the “brown crow,” dead in Wednesday’s historic heat. No sign of blood or injury – just dead. Neighbor Jane thinks “Leucy” was female, and had noticed her “showing off her babies” this past season. No way to tell how old “Leucy” was; Lyanda told us crows can live longer than a decade in optimum conditions.
Full story on this coming up later but wanted to post a quick alert now. We were just out covering three men digging clams up along Beach Drive, which is (a) illegal and (b) dangerous – the beaches are closed to shellfish harvesting for health reasons, explained here (and most of it wouldn’t be open anyway – either parkland or private property). Confronted by a local wildlife advocate, they claimed it was for personal use, claimed they had no idea about the health risks etc., and returned the 100-plus clams to the beach. But in case they just packed up and moved somewhere else, be on the lookout – copper/gold Suburban-type SUV with plate starting with 861, blue and white cooler. More later!
Coyotes are in there too, she says, as are many of the other wild things who are mixing it up with us mere humans, in West Seattle and elsewhere.
Chatting with Lyanda in the garden behind the 1920s-vintage home she shares with her husband and daughter, you might spot some of the wildness – a hummingbird hovering over a hedge, pondering whether to investigate the small bouquet of salvia that the author placed in a glass as a sort of feeder. (She wrote about the makeshift feeder last weekend on her website “The Tangled Nest: Cultivating an Urban-Earthen Household.”) Or you might hear her stories, like the one about the raccoon that woke her up during a backyard family campout:
(photo taken at EC Hughes wading pool today just before it opened at noon)
As promised by the Parks Department, E.C. Hughes wading pool (29th/Holden; map) opened today – that’s the last of the West Seattle wading pools to open this year, on a staggered schedule because of federally mandated drain-safety work. (The department says Highland Park will not open this year at all, one of more than a dozen wading pools citywide staying closed.) Delridge, Hiawatha and Lincoln Park wading pools already are open; their respective hours are listed here. If you’re too big for a wading pool, your other municipal swimming options are Southwest Pool (indoors) and Colman Pool (outdoors) – several private facilities offer pools to their members, such as the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor). Humans aren’t the only ones who can get some relief in the water – Trileigh sends this photo with a reminder to have water out for the birds:
She notes:
… our little avian friends have a tough time in this hot weather! If folks have a birdbath, please keep water in it — it helps the little guys to have cool water to drink and splash in. Yesterday there were chickadees in and out of my birdbath all day long.
Even if you don’t have a birdbath, you can put out a pie plate or other broad container with water for them. The squirrels will appreciate it too. We all need to help each other out during this heat wave!
(added) Trileigh also notes that “birdbaths (formal or informal) should be pretty shallow and not slippery, so that the birds can stand and drink or bathe. You can always put a rock in it if it’s made of something slippery, like glazed ceramic for instance.” We’re working on yet more heat-beating info, including West Seattle places where you’ll find A/C – we were just over at Stor-More (WSB sponsors) and if you have occasion to drop by and chat with them about storage/mail services, they have a very nicely air-conditioned lobby (SW Yancy just east of Avalon Way) – more suggestions welcome!
The original photo of this (apparent) marmot, as identified by WSB’ers after the sighting was shared June 19th by Jennifer from a neighborhood near The Junction, was so memorable that somebody even turned it into a LOLcritter (as noted recently in the WSB Forums). She e-mailed again this morning with this new photo and words of thanks:
It was fun reading all the comments and learning what he is. Here he is again–taken this morning in about the same spot. We’ve seen him a handful of times now. He lives in our laurel hedge.
Thanks to Jim Biava for sharing that photo. We’re not sure if it’s either grown-up Wollet or one of her/his parents (see previous coverage of the Lincoln Park owl family here), but it’s a great photo no matter what. (If you missed earlier discussions – these are barred owls – more info here, from Seattle Audubon.)
Dan Lake came by to say hi during West Seattle Summer Fest last weekend and subsequently sent us that photo from an eagle sighting in South Alki. Meantime, one of the intrepid Lincoln Park barred-owlet watchers, Trileigh, sent us new photos of “Wollet” on Independence Day and we just realized we didn’t run them – this one is particularly eye-catching, as the owlet squawked for a parent to bring breakfast:
Previous Wollet photos can be seen here (May 23), here (May 27), here (May 31), here (June 14), here (June 16) and here (June 24).
(Photo courtesy Robin Lindsey)
We ran that photo a week ago with the announcement of Seal Sitters‘ first volunteer-training session of the season – and now that the meeting’s a few hours away, hard to resist running it again.Alki UCC, tonight at 7. Puget Sound’s baby seals need YOU to protect them when they’re on the beach taking a break while their moms are off finding food. Read more about them at sealsitters.org.
(photo added 2:20 pm – note, they’re still early in the set-up phase)
Two quick notes re: e-mail we just received – First, Stevewrote to ask why video-game machines are being moved into the space that’s been open since Capers consolidated. Answer: West Seattle Summer Fest! Blinky’s Time Warp Video Arcade will occupy that space during the festival (Friday-Saturday-Sunday – read about it here). Second, a coyote alert – Michael just saw one on Genesee Hill near the now-closed school: “Bold as brass, trotting slowly up our driveway … sorry I was too slow to get a pic. Small pet warning!!” (All WSB coyote reports – some with pix and/or video – are archived here, newest to oldest.) ADDED EARLY THURSDAY: Going through e-mail from the incredibly busy holiday weekend, we realize that last Friday night we failed to add this (suspected) coyote report:
At 3:00 AM on July 3, a probable coyote (according to Animal Control, who said it was definitely not a raccoon) killed an orange cat between Walker and Hill on 48th AVE SW.
(Photo courtesy Robin Lindsey)
It’s that time of year again: The local volunteer group Seal Sitters is ready to train new volunteers to help keep watch when seal pups come out of the water and start turning up on local shores. The Seal Sitters’ first volunteer training session is one week from tonight at Alki UCC – read on for the full official announcement:Read More
(photo added 7:27 pm, courtesy of Jade) So says KING5.com, with the photo to prove it. The report says it’s believed to be a Humboldt Squid; this info says those squid used to range further south. ADDED 5:21 PM:Here’s a larger photo from the KOMO website. ADDED 7:27 PM: Thanks to Jade for sending the photo added above – she took it while waiting for the Water Taxi on Friday, apparently after a state crew took the squid away.
Alki photographer Pete Rowen sent photos of our majestic national emblem, seen not only on the near-eve of our national celebration, but with a double shot of symbolism since July 20th is coming up. He writes “… the moon shot took me forever to line up; the upper eagle’s beak is pointing to the location on the moon where the Eagle landed, 40 years ago this month.”
Thanks to everyone who shares photos and info – editor@westseattleblog.com (or if you have a news tip or question to call about, 206-293-6302) any time!
I took this shot of a brave coyote in my driveway, abutting the south side of Schmitz Park, this afternoon about 12:30 PM. He sure seemed confident while making his way to my trash can, as if he was on his way to belly up to his buffet line. Owners of small dogs and cats might want to take notice.
Our previously received coyote reports (some including photos/video) are all archived here, newest to oldest. Not sure what to do to coexist peacefully with them (as advocated by authorities)? Here’s a story we did last year.
Recognize that bird? That’s “Wollet,” the Lincoln Park-dwelling baby barred owl we first met here in photos shared by Kim and Jordan Petram; other photographers have since provided updates, including Trileigh, who shot these two (and has more on Flickr). But even as Wollet starts looking more grownup from one angle, Trileigh points out, from another, the owlet is still a “fluffball”:
Out of the WSB inbox, from LJ, who’s seeking suggestions about a problem she’s noticing three months after the big recycling changes:
I am wondering if any other residents are experiencing an increase in rodent and wildlife issues that appear to be related to food scraps now being placed in yard debris recycling containers. In the past I would see the occasional rat at night and crows will be crows, but as I feared, I have had a huge increase in rat sightings at night in my yard and a huge increase in crow issues. I am convinced this is related to the food scraps in the recycling. I am constantly finding food scraps dropped in my yard by the crows which in turn attracts the rats if it is not picked up immediately. I even had a crow fight to the death in my front yard over food scraps. The crow that was killed died in a large fountain in my front yard, when I tried to remove it I was attacked by the other crows and had to call Animal Control to remove it. I am sorry but this creeps me out. I am all for more recycling but not at risk of disease and pestilence because the containers are not crow-proof and people are uneducated about how to maybe guard against this with the containers that we are issued. Thoughts, suggestions????
Jennifer e-mailed that photo within the past hour with this note:
I just looked out my front window and saw this guy. Any idea what he is? I live in the Alaska Junction.
We had a few guesses but after checking online imagery, can’t reach a conclusion, so hopefully the many expert wildlife-watchers in WSB-land can. Seems a little far from the creeks to be a beaver. Wandering river otter, perhaps, heading quite far uphill from the water? Co-publisher’s vote is for “woodchuck” (groundhog) but we haven’t found evidence yet that they live in this area. 1:53 PM UPDATE: Comment consensus so far – a marmot.
More photos tonight courtesy of Trileigh (you can see additional pix here) – who says:
The owlet seems extraordinarily fluffy these days. He must be getting a pretty good education in crow management, given the amount of time his parent spends dealing with those paparazzi!
That’s “Wollet” the barred owlet above (my, how Wollet has grown! remember this, three weeks ago?) – and one of the watchful grownups here:
First an update on “Leucy,” the leucistic (light-colored) crow that 
It’s a book about your back yard. And your front yard. And the greenbelt down the street.
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