Tweets - yesterday seven of us gathered at Marymoor for the weekly walk, this
time on a hot sunny day. But before the others had arrived, I'd already had
some excitement.

I showed up around 6:00 a.m., and stopped by the BARN OWL tree to see if I
could see a juvenile. Several times last week there was a young bird nestled
against the trunk of the tree, visible in broad daylight. Yesterday morning,
however, there was no sign of owls. I headed over to my usual parking spot at
the southwest corner of the Dog Area lot, and sitting on the sign in front of
me was a Barn Owl! I reached behind me and grabbed my camera. Opening the
window, I snapped a shot, and then another. As I clicked off the second frame,
a crow nailed the Owl on the back of the head and knocked it headlong into the
grass!

I got out of the car and scared off the crows. Approaching, I found a fully
fledged, but apparently very young owl awkwardly swimming through 2-foot-tall
grass. I took one more picture, then contemplated what to do. While I though,
a dog came by and desperately wanted to go off in the direction of the owl, but
luckily the owner was training the dog to heel, and wouldn't allow the
diversion. I felt it could be unsafe to take the time to get Animal Control
out to help (besides, they'd probably take it away, which I didn't think was
necessary). I thought I might try to grab the owl, using my coat like a large
blanket, and then I'd carry the owl to somewhere where it could spend the day
crow-free. That was the idea, anyway. When I approached it with my coat, the
owl turned over on it's back, hissing, and showing me its very sharp-looking
talons. Hmmm. This wasn't going to work. I went back to the car to cogitate,
then returned to the owl to apprise the situation again. Voila - threatening
the owl with the coat had pushed the owl low enough into the grass that there
was a clear and obvious way for it to crawl under the large mound of
blackberries. Safe for the day! (and see my final notes below).

A couple of minutes later, the other birders showed up, and off we went. It
was a remarkably quiet day, with just a couple of glimpses at some unusual
birds, but pleasant none-the-less. Highlights:

Blue-winged Teal Quick look at drake near weir
Bald Eagle Adult over lake, subadult over Rowing Club
Red-tailed Hawk At least 2 downy young in each nest
Virginia Rail In slough near cars
Spotted Sandpiper Two flew down to slough near the Rail
Willow Flycatcher Heard several, saw a couple
Cedar Waxwing Incredibly Abundant - 100+
Swainson's Thrush Much "whit"ting, some singing, a couple of looks
Bl.-headed Grosbeak Many males, 1 or 2 females
Lazuli Bunting Male across from Dog Central for a moment
Bullock's Oriole Male made a brief appearance near the cars

There are at least 6 Tree Swallow nests in various nest boxes in the park, and
2-4 Black-capped Chickadee nests as well. Both species were also observed
nesting in natural cavities as well. American Goldfinch were seen copulating,
and several species were seen building nests, including Cedar Waxwing and
Bushtit.

We had several Yellow Warbler, but only 1 female Wilson's Warbler, and no
Western Tanager or vireos. No Green Heron either, though I saw 3 on Tuesday.

We had 47 species on the day, though many of the best birds were seen by only
one or two people.

After the Friends of Marymoor Park meeting last night, I stopped back at the
Barn Owl tree just at dusk to see what was up. In one short cottonwood stub
was a downy young squawking incessantly. Next to it was a fully fledged but
very uncoordinated presumed sibling, which I assume was the same bird as I saw
in the morning. The fledged bird flew awkwardly to another tree (landing was
difficult and looked painful). A few minutes later, a much more coordinated
bird flew overhead with all three birds calling out as only Barn Owls can.
Ain't raising kids fun...

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