Tweets - the most notable things about today's walk were the large number of
participants (11) and the FOG. We had thick fog until almost 11:00 a.m.,
which greatly cut down on our viewing. Here and there, though, we were able
to see a few things. Once the fog finally lifted, six of us headed over to
the Rowing Club where a few more species were added, then I spent another
hour retracing the main loop one more time, and that was very rewarding:

Main loop (1st):

Canada Goose 100's, plus 1 Cackling & 2 of mid-size dark race
Cooper's Hawk Mobbed by crows when we returned to cars
Wilson's Snipe Flushed 1 at the weir
Virginia Rail 2 heard in slough near start of boardwalk
Winter Wren 3 together with a BEWR at the S end of the Dog
Area
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4+; all that we saw well were Myrtle's race
Fox Sparrow Many sightings, and some of us got good looks
Lincoln's Sparrow Great looks in Pea Patch
PURPLE FINCH Flock of about 12, M&F, eating Oregon Ash seeds
Pine Siskin Brian Bell had one near compost piles. First
of fall

Rowing Club (Marymoor West):

Bufflehead Female on main pond. First of fall
Red-tailed Hawk Two
C-backed Chickadee One near boathouse

Main loop (2nd time around):

Western Grebe One well out on the lake
Green Heron One near weir, one at lake
Northern Shoveler Two on the lake
MERLIN Flew slowly over weir, great look
American Coot A few on the lake

I may have been imagining things, but it seemed to me that the EUROPEAN
STARLINGS were flying around like swallows. I couldn't quite tell if they
were feeding in the air, but they were flying individually over the fields
at about swallow height, seemingly with no particular destination in mind,
and occasionally changing course for no apparent reason. No swallows were
seen.

Non-bird highlights included an enormous (5") CRAYFISH at the last (closed
off) dog swim area, a WOOLY CATERPILLAR, and one of the bright red
MEADOWHAWK dragonflies (maybe a Yellow-legged?). Perhaps 2 weeks ago I had
what I think was a Cherry-faced Meadowhawk male at the Rowing Club. One
RED-EARED SLIDER turtle came out to sun at the Rowing Club, and one small
Garter Snake was sunning on the east end of the trail my second time around.

For the day, a nice total of 50 species.

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