Hi Tweets

I was assisted today by Brian Bell, Charlie Swift, Carol Schultz, Hugh
Jennings, Jim Ganley, Jeff Swift, and Marcus Roening for the first annual
Marymoor Big Morning.

We split into 5 groups, each starting at a different location in the park.
Many of the routes crossed, meaning that most areas were hit twice, once early
and once late. The idea was to try to be in all good places during the best
birding hours of the morning, to see if we really could find more species that
way.

The morning was extremely windy however, and somewhat chilly. The wind really
made things VERY difficult, yet there were many highlights, including the first
WESTERN BLUEBIRD reported from Marymoor that I am aware of. This time I'll
list all the species. We had 68-69 species!

M,F == Male, Female. RC == Rowing Club

C-C == Carol and Charlie, who had the best list. They started in the East
Meadow and were quickly in the lee of the wind where they found many birds.

Pied-billed Grebe Adult on nest with 3 eggs
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron A couple of sightings
Canada Goose
Wood Duck Nice pair in slough near windmill
Gadwall
Mallard MF Including at least 2 sets of 'lings
Common Merganser A couple of males
Osprey Pair
Bald Eagle Adult and subadult
Red-tailed Hawk Adults (incl. at nest), subadult
AM. KESTREL East Meadow, male? (C-C)
Virginia Rail
American Coot Only 1
Killdeer
Gl.-winged Gull Adults and subadults
Rock Dove
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove Jim had one at the Rowing Club
Barn Owl Downy young near base of nest tree
Vaux's Swift
Rufous Hummingbird M
Belted Kingfisher
R.B. SAPSUCKER Near windmill
Downy Woodpecker? A couple of uncertain sightings
Hairy Woodpecker Pair (C-C)
Northern Flicker M
W. Wood-Pewee 1 or 2
P.S. Flycatcher 1
WESTERN KINGBIRD 3 in East Meadow early, 1 later
Warbling Vireo Half-dozen or so
Steller's Jay Mostly at RC
American Crow
Tree Swallow MF, Nesting
V-g. Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
B-c. Chickadee
C-b. Chickadee
Bushtit Found a couple of nests
BROWN CREEPER Pair with FIVE fledglings
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
G-c. Kinglet
WESTERN BLUEBIRD Charlie had a male south of E. Meadow
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin MF
E. Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler M
Yellow-rumped Warbler M - Audubon's
Common Yellowthroat MF
Wilson's Warbler M
Western Tanager MF, Including 10-12 in the mansion area
Spotted Towhee MF
Savannah Sparrow Abundant
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak MF
Red-winged Blackbird MF, young in nest
W. MEADOWLARK 1 in East Meadow - LATE (C-C)
Brown-headed Cowbird MF
Bullock's Oriole 1st year Male (C-C)
House Finch MF
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch MF
House Sparrow MF

The basic principle of this Big Morning was amply demonstrated. Charlie and
Carol had 3 kingbirds, the meadowlark, the kestrel, the oriole, and the
bluebird, all while walking from the East Meadow to the boardwalk. Two hours
later, Brian and Marcus walked from the boardwalk to the East Meadow. Of those
birds listed, they saw only one of the kingbirds. When I walked from the East
Meadow to the boardwalk two hours after that, I saw none of the birds at all.
So it seems likely that on my weekly walks, we miss many great birds that are
present early on the east end of the trail while we walk on the west end.

It was also demostrated by our total of 68-69 species. Our highest previous
species total for any trip any time of the year is 56, I think. Previously we
have had as many as a dozen people walk the normal route with me, so it's not
just a question of the number of eyes and ears. There ARE more birds present
(or at least visible and/or vocalizing) early in the morning than there are
later in the day, and being in more places simultaneously allows more of them
to be detected. This was the eighth trip I've made during week 20 of the year,
and today's trip brought the Week 20 List up from 68 species to 79 species, a
gain of 11.

At least, those appear to be the conclusions I can draw from this single-day
experiment.

Everyone seemed to enjoy this Big Morning (much more than the Big Sit last
October). Carol brought 5 Talkabout radios so we could keep each other
informed about what we were seeing. (Had the bluebird stuck around, I would
have abandoned my trail to race over for it, but the bluebird seems to have
been just passing through.) So we'll do this again next May.

Maybe Marcus or one of the others can write to Tweeters about the baby creepers
(which I missed), which sounded like they were a treat.

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== Hummer at isomedia.com
== http://www.scn.org/fomp/birding.htm