East Point at the Montlake Fill, Saturday morning.

It’s been a great winter for bird watchers.

First there was the irruption of Snowy Owls, who are still dotting the landscape mostly to the north of us. One was reported in Maple Leaf in early December. Here’s a photo of one sitting on the roof of the Ballard Library.

Now there’s a Tufted Duck (TUDU, to bird banders) at the Montlake Fill. And dozens of birders there watching him. (If you want to find him, look for the crowd.)

Classic Collection of North American Birds

Here’s what bird guru David Allen Sibley has to say about Tufted Ducks, in his Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.

Very rare visitor from Eurasia, mostly along coast; records are of single birds on ponds or sheltered bays….Male distinctive: black back and rounded black head with long dangling tuft.

I last saw a Tufted Duck in 1999, but not in Seattle. In Reykjavik.

The duck was first reported Friday by Constance Sidles, the guru of the Montlake Fill (aka Union Bay Natural Area). She says the bird is often just off the Fill’s East Point.

“It’s a male TUDU with quite a long tuft and black back, just a classic Tufted Duck straight out of the bird books…..

“Something I did not know: He can control his tuft. Sometimes he would stick it out from his head, other times he would flatten it against his head and neck. Sometimes he would make his tuft smooth; other times he let it get ragged. Before he dove, he would always flatten it so tightly he looked like a regular duck, not the exotic stranger he really is.”

The Seattle Public Library can help! Starting Feb. 2, free tax assistance will be available from 4-7:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Northeast Branch, 6801 35th Ave. N.E., through April 12. Exceptions: Hours are 2-6 p.m. Feb. 9, March 8 and April 12.

Free tax assistance will be available at various other branches as well. For more information, see the library’s news release.

A week’s worth of ice and snow have made the problem worse. Here’s an overview from the city’s pothole map. Green means a fixed pothole, blue means a request to fill one is  “pending”  (?). We don’t seem to have any yellow (not fixed for the last half year) or red (not fixed for a year).

But I suspect we have more potholes than this.

Mayor Mike McGinn says the city’s transportation department has $9 million available to address street surface repairs, which includes potholes. About $8.5 million of that is earmarked for main arterials.

“Freezing weather and heavy precipitation mean that we’re seeing more potholes. We’ve added dollars to respond to pothole repair requests,” McGinn says.

So let’s help out. Report potholes to the city here. Call in the rangers!

(Thanks to My Wallingford for some of this information.)

Photo courtesy Dane Doerflinger Photography

SPS is asking the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for a waiver for the January 19th and January 20th snow days. During the storm Governor Gregoire declared a State of Emergency for those days. “This [the waiver] is contingent on a decision allowing the Emergency Proclamation to apply to schools in King County,” the release states. “OSPI officials said they will have more information next month on how to apply for waivers.”

One of the days was made up last Friday, leaving the other two. According to the district, they cannot make up the days during mid-winter break because families and staff have already arranged their schedules around the time off.

As a side note, next year’s mid-winter break is not a full week, but a four-day weekend with the Friday before President’s Day a day off and that Monday.

Our news partners at The Seattle Times have the story about the attack, at 3003 N.E. 75th St.,  here.

The bus driver, who was taking a walk around the school before heading to another school, suffered puncture wounds to his hands, according to a recorded message sent to all Eckstein families. All students and staff were told to remain in their classrooms out of concern the dogs would strike again.

Police detained the dogs, said Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Lesley Rogers, who did not know what type of dogs they were.

Feb. 11 is Seattle’s 18th annual Neighbor Appreciation Day, a special day to reach out to neighbors, create new friends, and express thanks to those who help make your neighborhood a great place to live.

The city suggests several ways to participate:

• Plan an activity for your neighborhood such as a block party, potluck, or work party. The city’s Neighbor Appreciation Day website provides ideas, tools, resources and templates to help community members organize an activity. Once organized, the event can be posted to the online calendar (the submission can be made public or private).
• Send out Neighbor Appreciation Day greeting e-cards to your neighbors. The selection of e-cards feature artwork from past winners of the Neighbor Appreciation Day Student Art Contest.
• Share a story or two about your favorite neighbors. Community members can visit the Neighbor Appreciation Day website to post stories about great neighbors or their neighborhood.
• Attend one of the many community activities listed on the online calendar. Seattle Fire stations, Seattle Parks and Recreation community centers and pools, and other organizations have special Neighbor Appreciation Day events and work parties planned.

For information, contact Wendy Watson at wendy.watson@seattle.gov.

This cafe and bakery in Wedgwood and Maple Leaf has god-awesome crepes. Enough said.

Enough said indeed.

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Shortly after 2:30 p.m. the National Weather Service issued a new wind advisory that’s in effect until 10 p.m. increasing today’s predicted wind gusts to 45 mph.

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…EVERETT…SEATTLE…TACOMA.

* TIMING…WINDS WILL INCREASE EARLY THIS EVENING.

* WIND…SOUTH 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH.

* IMPACTS…WINDS THIS STRONG CAN SNAP SMALL BRANCHES AND CAUSE

LOCAL POWER OUTAGES. TREES THAT HAVE BEEN DAMAGED BY THE

RECENT ICE STORM MAY BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO LOSING LARGE BRANCHES.

It’s 34 degrees outside at 8 a.m., and rising through the day. In fact, there are no freezing temperatures in the National Weather Service forecast.

It’s still a mess out there, though. The arterials are better – but the snow on sidewalks and side streets is compacted and slipperier than Thursday.

No residential garbage collection today and only limited commercial service.

Road conditions permitting, garbage, recycling, and food/yard waste service will resume tomorrow — with customers scheduled for pickup today collected Saturday.

If your materials are not picked up, please put them out on your next regularly scheduled pickup day. Missed customers will be allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage, recycling and yard waste at no additional charge.

Oh, and the city wants YOUR help clearing storm drains. Video here.

City urges residents to get home before dark.

2 p.m.: National Weather Service issues Winter Weather Advisory until 4 a.m. Friday.

Noon: We now have a half-inch of new snow atop the ice atop the old snow.

Cliff Mass has posted: “Well folks, this is not my profession’s finest hour.”

9:30 a.m.: The neighborhoods have a quarter-inch of ice on top of a half-foot of old snow. And it’s now snowing steadily.

Icy tree limbs over power lines.

7:50 a.m.: One Sea-Tac runway now open. But massive delays.

5:45 a.m. The three runways at Sea-Tac airport are closed because of the icy conditions.

The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning until noon 2 p.m.:

ICE ACCUMULATIONS…ICE ACCUMULATIONS TWO TO FOUR TENTHS OF AN

INCH THIS MORNING.

MAIN IMPACT…TRAVEL WILL BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. POWER OUTAGES ARE

LIKELY.

Seattle Public Libraries are closed today due to the extreme weather conditions.

Metro continues on weather routes. Check this site for changes to your bus route.

See snow plow routes here.

Live traffic cams here.

Garbage collection has been postponed by at least a day.

From Cliff Mass this morning: “Over the past day and particularly this morning, something relatively unusual and, quite frankly, dangerous is going on outside–a freezing rain/sleet storm.”