Tweets - the weather was almost too nice this morning, not that you caught any
of the 5 of us complaining much. Gorgeous warm sunshine and blue skies, just a
hint of breeze (only enough to make you wonder why the leaves were rustling
occasionally). It was fairly birdy too, with a few seasonal surprises.

Highlights:

D-crested Cormorant One on lake*
Green Heron Several sightings
Wood Duck 2 clutches of young (both 7 'lings), plus a lone
'ling
Hooded Merganser Female at Rowing Club
Rufous Hummingbird 2 females, several males. F on nest at RC.
Red-eyed Vireo Incredibly close looks at a silent bird
STELLER'S JAY 1 at Rowing Club**
R-BREAST'D NUTHATCH Heard from west end of boardwalk.***
Yellow Warbler Males and at least 1 female, maybe 8 total
Black-headed Grosbeak Incredibly close looks at a female.
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE One adult male near weir, one subadult male at RC

*This was only the second June record for DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT. In fact,
there have been only 3 previous records for the period from May 25 to October
9.

The RED-TAILED HAWK babies (2?) from the nest just west of the Rowing Club
parking lot may have branched out from the nest. We could not see them on the
nest itself, but we heard their cries from around the same area.

**Ths was the first record for STELLER'S JAY between May 23 and July 18. I
suspect those dates match nesting season fairly closely, though. They probably
do not nest inside Marymoor at all. Today's bird was just west of the Rowing
Club parking lot; they probably do nest on that conifer slope. We've only been
birding the Rowing Club area for a few years.

***This was only the second June record for RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. The
previous June record was from June 3, 1999, also a heard-only record from the
west end of the boardwalk.

We continue to see a pair of BELTED KINGFISHER, often seen flying up slough to
the lake with fish in beak. They are presumably nesting somewhere along the
lakeshore...

Also, I saw two LONG-TAILED(?) WEASEL, though I don't think anyone else managed
to see either. One was near the weir, the other near the east end of the
boardwalk.

All told. 50-51 species today, plus two more yesterday (BAND-TAILED PIGEON and
LAZULI BUNTING) For the year, the bunting brings the total to 119 species of
bird.

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