A gorgeous morning: bright, sunny, a bit chilly at first, no wind. Like last
year, I was joined by 8 other birders at 6:30 A.M, and we split up into pairs
(with poor Robin having to bird alone). Hugh Jennings and Kathy Hornbien did
the usual loop, Joyce Meyers and Jim Ganley did the loop backwards, the Brian
Bell and Karla Grimwood birded west of the slough, including at the Rowing
Club, Robin walked the Mansion area and the new ponds north of the main loop.
Ollie Oliver and I walked the first mile of the East Lake Samm. Trail (ELST)
(via special permission from KC Parks), and bushwacked through the SE corner of
the park. All groups had FRS radios which seemed to work very well. We had no
problem, even communicating from the ELST to the Rowing Club.

Birdwise, things were much less active than last week. Next year, I will have
to do the Big Morning on Week 19 instead of Week 20... Warbler numbers were
WAY down, though we did manage 5 species. The complete list of 66 species
follows. Species in bold have previously been seen on less than 25% of Week 20
visits.

Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Canada Goose
WOOD DUCK - several sightings by several groups
Gadwall
Mallard
BUFFLEHEAD - notably late - probably our last 'til fall
HOODED MERGANSER - latest spring sighting ever
COMMON MERGANSER - at least 3 pair
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
CALIFORNIA QUAIL - 2 pair along ELST
VIRGINIA RAIL - heard from boardwalk
Killdeer
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Dove
BAND-TAILED PIGEON - seen by several groups
MOURNING DOVE - 1 in SE corner of park
BARN OWL - one in known day roost location
Vaux's Swift
Rufous Hummingbird
BELTED KINGFISHER
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Warbling Vireo
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE
Bushtit
BROWN CREEPER - 1 from ELST
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER - at start of Interpretive Trail
Yellow Warbler
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER - at start of Interpretive Trail & ELST
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
LINCOLN'S SPARROW - latest spring sighting ever
White-crowned Sparrow
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW
DARK-EYED JUNCO
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE - gorgeous male near lake from ELST
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

SWAINSON'S THRUSH and CEDAR WAXWING were new to the 2002 list, bringing the
year total to 112.

I think everyone had some personal "quality views", to use Ollie's phrase. For
Ollie and me, the highlight might have been the close flyby deep inside the
woods in the SE corner of the park of an adult BALD EAGLE, only about 25 feet
up. A neighbor reported that they are nesting again somewhere in the SE
corner, and there was some indication of it. But we did not find the nest.

Anyway, a good day seemed to be had by all. We'll do it again next year.

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