akirlu | Raptor City (Reply)

There's a couple of cell phone towers near the velodrome in Marymoor Park, just by my freeway onramp. Both towers have a triangular platform at the top, and one has an enormous bird's nest on top of that. For the third year in a row, there are ospreys nesting. Friday, on the way to the Clarion West party at

alanro and

shikzoid's place, I noticed an osprey glide in for a landing. First time I've seen this year that the pair were both overseeing the nest. This morning I only saw one parent, but it seems as if one or the other is always there now. I'm guessing that means hatchlings, at least.

Yesterday, driving through Bothell on the way to the Tun, I spotted an eagle being harried by a crow -- I couldn't tell if it was a juvenile whose head and legs had not yet gone white, or simply a bad angle for the light. The eagle had a jagged-looking right wing, as if he was missing some pinion feathers, but I don't know if that means it's likelier to be a mature bird or not. I spotted no white patches, though.

I'm generally much cheered by the way the local animal population manages to integrate with the incursion of humanity. We still see mule deer in the meadow and spinney by Bear Creek now and again, and even on the lawns of our complex. But the number of raccoons winding up as roadkill seems high this year. Someone needs to teach them not to play on the freeway.