Urban Birdwatching

There was quite a bit of excitement and chatter a few weeks back when we mentioned seeing a Flicker in our backyard, so we thought readers might be interested in a talk we saw mentioned on My Green Lake: Master Birder Martin Muller will be talking about the birds of Green Lake at the chapel at The Heartstone (6720 E. Green Lake Way N) on Tuesday, November 24th, 7 – 9 p.m:

Audubon Society Master Birder Martin Muller lived in the Green Lake neighborhood from 1983 to 2003, and studied the bird life of the lake extensively. His list of bird species [pdf] seen at the lake includes both common year-round residents and rare migrants flying over the lake. This list is based on monthly counts from November 1987 through 1988 and weekly counts from January 1988 through May 1999 by Martin J. Muller with additional data from Eugene Hunn, Scott Richardson, and Ruth Taylor.

Martin periodically leads popular bird walks at Green Lake and has given presentations and slide shows on Green Lake birds under sponsorship of Friends of Green Lake, with images selected from his extensive collection of more than 2,000 photos. He is also an active member of the Falcon Research Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of field research, public education, and the conservation of raptors. They are currently involved in banding Peregrine Falcons to follow their migration and survival – a project involving participants from several countries. The Falcon Research Group has banded a total of 253 eyass Peregrine Falcons in the Pacific Northwest since 1995. See Martin’s story about a Peregrine Falcon at Green Lake [pdf].

Also worth a read, the Capitol Hill Blog has an interesting history of the Vanished Nighthawks of First Hill.