Sorry for the belated report.

Yesterday was extremely pleasant at Marymoor -- it hardly rained at all, it was
warm, and the winds all passed overhead. The light was even pretty good.
Surprisingly, I didn't need my snorkle, as the water was only at the 5 foot
level (which translates into needing 12 inch tall boots to walk the whole loop
trail.

Best sighting of the day were 3 RIVER OTTER in the slough opposite the first
dog swim area. Two of them were cavorting on the bank, then all three slowly
swam up the slough towards the lake.

For birds, it was mostly the usual suspects for this time of year, but there
were a few notables:

Green Heron 1 on the far side of the slough near the
lake
Northern Pintail A flock of 38 flew overhead
Downy Woodpecker Notably many - perhaps 5
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 at the Rowing Club
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 at the Rowing Club
Purple Finch Flock of ~25 !!! at the southwest end
of the dog area

I believe that is the most Purple Finch I have seen anywhere anytime --
certainly the most I've ever seen at Marymoor.

AND LAST WEEK...

I never sent out a report, but it was also unexpectedly nice, and like
yesterday, nobody joined me but the birds. For highlights, there was a
NORTHERN SHRIKE in the Pea Patch, and a HAIRY WOODPECKER at the Rowing Club.

Both weeks, I had 44 species each day. Not bad for December... (and the
combined list was 50 species).

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== hummer at isomedia.com