We have had some reports on BBSs from Eastern Washington and I thought I
would report on one that is a little different in that it is done in an
urban area in the Redmond-Woodinville-Bothell area. Joyce Meyer and I have
done this for six years. We meet at Marymoor Park in Redmond at 4:30 a.m.
and start the survey with our first stop at Evan's Creek marsh along the
"red brick road" (196th Ave. NE in Redmond). This is one of our best stops
with a chorus of birds singing at first light. We work our way north past
Avondale & Farrel-McWhirter Parks, Bear Creek Road to 165th, then west to
Woodinville with a stop at McDonald's for a bite to eat about 0815. We
continue north on 131st & 132nd Ave. to 240th St. SE and then south to the
north end of North Creek Park in Bothell, and then finish at the south end
of the park at 195th St. NE. This is a 17.8 mile route with 29
stops.Following is a list of birds seen on a nice day on June 17, 2003. We
use the standard protocol of a one minute wait, then count for five minutes
with the first 3 minutes counted separately from the last 2 minutes, and
birds reportedly separately for <50 meters and >50 meters.

Mallard - 12
Great Blue Heron - 1
Green Heron - 1
American Bittern - 2 heard at first stop
Bald Eagle - 1, first year we have seen one
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
California Quail - 2 heard
Killdeer - 2
Rock Dove - 3
Band-tailed Pigeon - 4
Red-breasted Sapsucker - 2
Northern Flicker - 9
Willow Flycatcher - 3
Steller's Jay - 4
American Crow - 46, a record high
Cedar Waxwing - 9
Swainson's Thrush - 6 heard
American Robin - 49
European Starling - 18, lowest number, usually have 60-80
Brown Creeper - 2
Marsh Wren - 9
Violet-green Swallow - 11
Barn Swallow - 11
Cliff Swallow - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 5
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 5
House Sparrow - 5
Purple Finch - 1 very vocal bird that sang continuously
House Finch - 9
Common Yellowthroat - 7
Song Sparrow - 20
White-crowned Sparrow - 8
Savannah Sparrow - 2
Spotted Towhee - 17
Western Tanager - 1
Black-headed Grosbeak - 4
Red-winged Blackbird - 8
Brewer's Blackbird - 1
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1

Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
hughbirder at bigzoo.net