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The birds (and a raccoon) of Green Lake

What do you think? (10 Comments) February 19, 2010 at 8:54PM

Earlier today we received the following query from new Green Lake residents Ray and Janet:

We are new to Seattle and GreenLake and in our daily walks enjoy watching the ducks etc. so much. However we do not know what the species other than the Mallards and Widgeons are. Could someone just list the common species we see?

Also, does anyone know what happened to the Raccoon with the injured front leg that was hunting food at the water edge for a long time midmorning about 2-3 weeks ago?

We love to answer readers’ questions about the neighborhood.  Thank you for writing, Ray and Janet, and welcome to Green Lake!

Regarding the birds of Green Lake, check out the Birds Checklist of Green Lake 2009 [pdf], compiled by expert birder Martin Muller for the Friends of Green Lake.  The Birds Checklist identifies 168 species of birds in Green Lake Park.

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard anything about the fate of the raccoon with the injured front leg.  If anybody can help answer this query, please leave a comment on this post, and we’ll make sure that the answer gets back to Ray to Janet.

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Technomancy

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What do you think? (10 Comments)
  • Mary Griffin

    Hi,

    The bird checklist is helpful, but it does not give much in the way of a description. As far as ducks go this time of year, there is quite a variety. The dabbling ducks identified in the original query are easier because they come on shore. In addition to these, there is the gadwall, which is a brown duck with intricate black markings and a black beak. Most of the rest that you probably notice are diving ducks. The hooded merganser is probably the most unique, with the male having a large rounded black and white crest, a brown body with black stripes on a white breast. The female is similar and size, but brown with a similar size but more irregular crest. These are usually spotted 10-30 feet off shore on the west side of the lake. The bufflehead is similar in size, with what appears to be a black (actually iridescent blue) head with a white triangle, a black back and the rest of the body white. It hangs out further off shore near the boathouse. The common merganser is larger than the hooded merganser with a thin, serrated looking beak. The male has a green head and the female has a crested rusty brown head. I ahve seen these over most of the west side of the lake. There are more ducks than this, but these are the more commons ones that I notice right now.

  • mygreenlake

    Thank you, Mary!

  • Ray Fredell

    Thanks Mary. I recognize the ducks you mention. The little Brown Duck, probabily a Rail of some type, smaller than the Coots I'd like to find out about.

    Ray and Janet

  • Raymond Fredell

    I've identified the small brown “duck”…it's a “Pie Billed Grebe”. There are just several pairs at Green Lake that we are aware of. They build a floating nest and both sexes incubate the eggs.

  • Ray Fredell

    Thanks Mary. I recognize the ducks you mention. The little Brown Duck, probabily a Rail of some type, smaller than the Coots I'd like to find out about.

    Ray and Janet

  • Raymond Fredell

    I've identified the small brown “duck”…it's a “Pie Billed Grebe”. There are just several pairs at Green Lake that we are aware of. They build a floating nest and both sexes incubate the eggs.