Tweets - the storm brought loads of rain and wind last night, but cleared
before morning. It dawned mostly clear, with not too much wind, and seven
of us enjoyed a mostly sunny morning with FANTASTIC birding:

GREEN HERON Pair NESTING near Rowing Club
Northern Pintail 6 in flyover. Very uncommon at Marymoor
Common Merganser Several pairs, incl. stunning view at windmill
Wood Duck One or two pairs in flight
OSPREY One on slough near windmill
Sharp-shinned Hawk One over Interpretive Lot, later in snag row
AMERICAN KESTREL Matt Bartels had one around 12:30
PEREGRINE FALCON Going after Mew Gulls
Barn Owl Matt Bartell had 1 ~6:00am near mansion
Red-breasted Sapsucker One at same spot as on CBC
Rufous Hummingbird First female of the year
California Quail Heard one - first of the year
Band-tailed Pigeon 5 - first of the year
VARIED THRUSH 1 at S end of Mansion area
AMERICAN PIPIT 2 on grass soccer fields N of Interp. Lot.
Orange-crowned Warbler ~3, including BRIGHT lutescens
Yellow-rumped Warbler ~20, incl. bright males, Aud. & Myrt.
Common Yellowthroat They're back, several males seen, heard

The GREEN HERON are nesting exactly where we saw them last week, about 12
feet up a willow, just north of the Rowing Club dock, with an exquisite
view from the southernmost dog swim area. Today we watched the male bring
a twig and pass it to the female who added it to the nest. The nest is
currently about 1 foot in diameter, and about 3-4 inches in depth. They
are a stunning pair.

The PEREGRINE FALCON passed close over our heads, traveling so fast that
nobody really saw it at all. But I saw the streak, and I knew it must be
something good, so I marched everyone down the trail until we could see to
the north. As soon as we could see over the Pea Patch into the grass
soccer fields, we saw about 40 MEW GULLS roiling off the field, most
heading south. But one gull was heading north, and rising as fast as it
could. A few seconds later, someone spotted the Peregrine, also rising.
The gull and the falcon spent the next minute or so trying to gain
elevation, the gull frantically trying to stay above the Peregrine. When
the birds were a couple of hundred yards up, the gull seemed to tire, and
the Peregrine gained the upper hand, as it were. As soon as the Peregrine
was above the gull, the gull went into a full dive, with the falcon diving
right behind it. Unfortunately, they disappeared behind the trees, with
the gull still ahead but the falcon closing, and we didn't get to see the
final outcome.

The VARIED THRUSH as just our second spring sighting ever, the other being
March 19, 1998. The AMERICAN PIPIT were our first confirmed spring
sighting, though I had thought I had some last April 30. Today, Ollie
Oliver spotted one pipit on one of the logs keeping people from driving
into the multiuse fields just north of the Interpretive Lot. It soon flew
down to the field to join the other one. Together, they hopped and flew
around, finally getting into the snag zone. One landed almost at Matt's
feet, seemed to be startled by that, and they both flew off to the south.

There were plenty of other birds to see and hear - at least 20 species
were heard singing.

NESTING SIGNS:
American Robin Some carrying nest material, 1 nest found
American Crow Nest material
Savannah Sparrow Nest material
Red-tailed Hawk Adult on odd-snag nest
Black-capped Chicadee Excavating nest hole
Tree Swallow One entering nest box, others investigating
Rufous Hummingbird J-displays
House Finch Nest material
Green Heron Building nest
Bushtit Now know of at least 4 nests

For the day, an astonishing 71 species. The Osprey (earlier reported by
Ned McGarry on the 6th, the earliest park record ever), American Kestrel,
Band-tailed Pigeon, Varied Thrush, American Pipit, Orange-crowned Warbler,
and Common Yellowthroat were all new for 2003, bringing the year list to
90.

Perhaps the most startling statistic: This is our 13th year of surveys
during Week 15. Today we added 12 species to the Week 15 list, bringing
the total to 84!

I love spring.

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