Very good day of birding today, with several surprises, and many young birds
seen too.

The first surprise was a very nice male LAZULI BUNTING singing in the
cottonwoods at the main dog swimming area. Three weeks ago, we were 95% sure
we saw a female LABU, and two weeks ago, a visiting birder from New Hampshire
reported to us that he had seen one (uncertain whether he'd seen a male or
female, but from the way he spoke, I assume male).

The other big surprise were two CASPIAN TERN catching fish at the lake. This
is only the third time I've seen Caspians at Marymoor; the other two times
were on July 14, 1994, and April 21, 1995.

Again this week, there were around 50 BLACK SWIFT flying over the main meadow.
We also saw BLSW on May 27 and June 5.

On the Bald Eagle nest, we distinctly saw three young - they are now at least
the size of turkeys, and are getting feathers. There is lots of wing flapping
going on. We saw one adult flying over the lake, presumably one of the
parents out hunting.

Other (mostly fledged) young seen were:

Green Heron One downy-headed youngster
Mallard Mostly full-sized young, a few 'lings
Tree Swallow About 5 young near the weir
Black-capped Chickadee Family group with fluttering young
American Robin Many speckled breasts
Savannah Sparrow One fluttering young one on the path
Song Sparrow ditto
Red-winged Blackbird Young one being fed on the lily-pads

The last two weeks, Brian Bell and I have seen Red-winged Blackbirds (M&F) hop
on the lily-pads with their beaks open. Then, using the upper mandible, they
lift the next leaf and peer under. If they see a bug, they reach under and
grab it. This is different from what the Spotted Sandpiper seem to do. They
mostly glean from the top of the leaves. Just an interesting bit of behavior.

Overall, just over 40 species, with some incredible looks at a Red-eyed Vireo,
a male Black-headed Grosbeak, and a Band-tailed Pigeon. The mosquitos were
fierce, however...

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== MJCT_Hobbs at msn.com