Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 19:34:44 -0800 (PST) 
From: Kelly Mcallister 
To: Tweeters@u.washington.edu 
Subject: Re: Capitol Lake estuary 

Over the last several years, when I do my annual waterfowl surveys in January, Capitol Lake has had the second highest waterfowl count of any lake in my District which includes Pierce and Thurston counties (Lawrence Lake is number 1). Steve Shanewise has apparently argued for the discontinuance of the saltwater flushing that used to occur annually and he has often pointed out that aquatic plants (more than just Eurasian milfoil) and freshwater molluscs have increased in abundance each year since the saltwater flushing was discontinued. 

Last summer, Greg Falxa did some bat telemetry, putting transmitters on bats at the Woodard Bay colony of Yuma Myotis. He was surprised to find that bats (at least two of them, if I remember correctly) were traveling to Capitol Lake to forage each night. Greg made lots of observations of bats foraging over Capitol Lake, taking video of some of the activity as viewed in the lights from some of the nearby buildings. The numbers were remarkable. The lake attracts thousands of bats each night during summer. 

I believe that the activities of humans usually don't destroy wildlife habitat. The habitat is just changed so that it is functions for a different community of organisms. Sometimes, it's an undesireable (from a human perspective) community. Even an open cesspool has a community of life. It's just not one we would consider of any aesthetic or economic value. For me, the future of Capitol Lake involves similar questions about what we consider to be a desireable community. Right now there are undesireable and highly desireable elements to the Capitol Lake community of life. 

I spent two days last week helping with scoter captures in south Sound and didn't see any scaup out on the saltwater. On Friday, 5 Trumpeter Swans flew over as we waited by the mist nets at the south end of Eld Inlet. In the dark, as we headed south in Eld Inlet, I saw more Bufflehead flushing ahead of us than I've ever seen in one place (although Capitol Lake has impressive numbers of Bufflehead each winter). 

One last thing I will mention comes from my formative years as a teenager in Olympia (1970s). I well remember the flights of goldeneyes going over 4th Ave bridge each winter evening at dusk. The flocks went over one after the other in such rapid succession that the whistling of their wings never left the air waves. It was absolutely a happening each winter. I miss it. 

Kelly McAllister 
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 
Olympia, Washington