Tweets - I meant to add a reminder when I sent out my Marymoor Park report
yesterday, so here it is:

Next Thursday, May 16, will be the 2nd Annual Marymoor Big Morning.

The idea is to blanket the park with birders to see just how many bird species
there are.

Of course, having fun is a big part of it. We'll break into groups (the number
and size of the groups will be determined based on turnout), each birding a
different route through the park. Last year, 9 birders in 5 groups found 71
species. This year I'm hoping for a bigger turnout and more routes. I'm
hoping to get access to some of the normally off-limits portions in the eastern
end of Marymoor.

Last year, each group had an FRS radio, and we all kept in contact with those
radios, allowing each group to brag about their latest find. Since some of the
routes criss-crossed, it also allowed other groups to also see good birds.
Thus, three groups got to see the baby Brown Creepers last year.

If you'd like to join us, please drop me an email (hummer at isomedia.com). We'll
be meeting at 6:30 a.m. at the SW corner of the Dog Area parking lot. The
event will run until about noon, or longer if there's interest, BUT you needn't
commit to staying for the whole morning. At Marymoor, you're never more than
about 3/4ths of a mile away from your car (and often much closer) allowing for
easy escape. Even if you can only stay for a couple of hours, it would be
great to have you out.

Next week is Week 20. Looking through my 8+ years of data, we've seen a
cumulative 104 species during Weeks 19-21, and 81 species just in Week 20.
Lots of things are possible - the Week 20 list includes the following
"surprises" (includes early arrivals):

American Bittern
Wood Duck
American Kestrel
Spotted Sandpiper
Mourning Dove
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Western Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Brown Creeper
Western Bluebird
Townsend's Warbler
MacGilllivray's Warbler
Lazuli Bunting
Western Meadowlark
Bullock's Oriole

Regularly occuring birds for Week 20 include:

Green Heron
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Vaux's Swift
Warbling Vireo
Swainson's Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak

Finally, we've added 5 species to the Marymoor list already in 2002, including
4 in the last 5 weeks. So come out and join us. You know how green with envy
I'll get if you add a species and I don't get to see it :)

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