Tweets - Thirteen of us spent an enjoyable morning on our usual rounds.
The morning was mostly overcast, but there was a bit of clearing right
over the park. The birds were pretty quiet, but the diversity was pretty
good. There were a few surprises, none shocking, but nice.

Highlights:

Bufflehead One female on lake, very out of season
Bald Eagle Adult and 3 believed to be year-old birds
Cooper's Hawk One over East Meadow
Spotted Sandpiper 1 seen flying
CASPIAN TERN At least 2 over the slough
Band-tailed Pigeon Encountered a flock of at least 25!
BLACK SWIFT 3 over East Meadow
Western Wood-Pewee One building a nest south of dog area
Red-eyed Vireo Got to see two, one pretty well
Bullock's Oriole 1 male near windmill
Purple Finch 1-2 heard

Many MALLARD females with ducklings, at least 3 female WOOD DUCKS with
ducklings.

Lots of birds nesting or feeding young:

Osprey Occupied nest
Red-tailed Hawk Nest with young
B-capped Chickadee Feeding young
Bewick's Wren Feeding BHCO young
American Robin Occupied nest
Spotted Towhee Feeding young
Song Sparrow Feeding BHCO young
Dark-eyed Junco Feeding young
Red-winged Blackbird Feeding young
House Finch Nest materials
House Sparrow Feeding young

Only a single YELLOW WARBLER seen, no other warblers seen or heard except
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.

I had a LONG-TAILED WEASEL in the compost piles before 6:30, we had a
MUSKRAT in the slough, plus the usual Garter Snake, Bullfrog, & Red-eared
Slider.

The Himalayan Blackberry is beginning to bloom, as is the Hardhack (Spirea
douglasii), Snowberry, and Reed Canary-Grass.

For the day, including the House Sparrows I saw this afternoon, 61
species. Nothing new for 2003, so still at 122 species for the year.

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