Tweets - sorry for the late posting. Wednesday, 14 of us enjoyed a
beautiful, sunny day. I was also out with 2 fairly new birders on a
Seattle Audubon trip to Marymoor on Tuesday, a day that began with a bit
of overcast, but cleared off by about 9:00. Today, Brian Bell,
MaryFrances Mathis, and I went over to see the Purple Martins nesting at
the NE corner of Lake Samm.

All three days were pretty good birding, even though we're getting into
the "summer doldrums". LOTS of young birds about, and some good sightings
both days:

Double-crested Cormorant 4 flying north on Tuesday
Caspian Tern 5 over lake, Wednesday
Rufous Hummingbird Large numbers (20+), esp. Tuesday
Red-breasted Sapsucker Juveniles & adults, both days - 3 locations
Hairy Woodpecker Female, Tuesday, in Snag Row
Pileated Woodpecker Male, Tuesday, in Snag Row
Warbling Vireo One heard, deep woods, Wednesday
Red-eyed Vireo One heard, deep woods, Wednesday
PURPLE MARTIN 4 at NE corner of Lk. 6/27
Brown Creeper Both days, near boardwalk AND near
mansion
Bullock's Oriole Male at Rowing Club Tuesday

Breeding & Babies:

Pied-billed Grebe Stripe-headed young at lake 6/24
Mallard Female with 2 ducklings, F w/3
Common Merganser F w/9, F w/11 at NE corner of Lake, 6/27
Wood Duck F w/1, F w/2
Osprey Pair on nest, with at least 1 young
6/27
Red-tailed Hawk Begging juvenile at RC
Red-breasted Sapsucker Adult with young
Western Wood-Pewee Adult at nest in deep woods
Purple Martin Adult stuffing twigs into nest box
Tree Swallow Nest w/young, adults feeding young in
mid-air
Violet-green Swallow Juveniles noted
Barn Swallow Adults feeding young in mid-air
Golden-crowned Kinglet Juveniles noted
Black-capped Chicadee Adult feeding young
Ch.-backed Chickadee Adult bringing food to nest
Bushtit Family groups
American Robin On nest, lots of fledged young
European Starling At nest site, lots of fledged young
Cedar Waxwing Occupied nest along slough
Spotted Towhee Juveniles seen
Dark-eyed Junco Juveniles noted
Red-winged Blackbird Adults feeding young
Brown-headed Cowbird Juvenile, host unknown
House Finch Juveniles with prominent gapes noted

Just an incredible amount of successful breeding observed. Approximately
35 species are confirmed breeders in/near the park this year, with another
10+ as probable breeders.

Cool sightings?

Five species of woodpecker on 6/24 - RBSA, DOWO, HAWO, NOFL, PIWO. The
PILEATED and the HAIRY WOODPECKERS were in side-by-side snags in the snag
row. Both 6/24 and 6/25 there were adult and juvenile RED-BREASTED
SAPSUCKERS near the start of the boardwalk (west end). 6/25, two
juveniles were seen there. Both days, RBSA were also seen near the
windmill (with a juv. there 6/24), and at the Rowing Club.

At the Rowing Club, 6/25, an adult Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead with a
snake. A juvenile flew after it, begging piteously. The adult didn't
seem to pay much attention to the young bird.

Incredible numbers of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, especially on 6/24. Many were
chasing each other around. A few were clearly adult males, but most were
adult females and/or juveniles (they weren't very good about posing for
us).

Today, 6/27, four PURPLE MARTINS were seen simultaneously at the nest
boxes at the NE corner of Lake Sammamish. Looking in Sibley didn't really
clarify what ages/genders we were seeing. Some birds looked like the
"western adult female" and some looked distinctly different - somewhere
between the "eastern adult female" and the "juvenile". None of the birds
was male, as all had light foreheads.

We had a great time watching them, because we also got to see two clutches
of COMMON MERGANSER ducklings at close range (oh, for a camera!), GREEN
HERONS, a CASPIAN TERN, about a dozen probable CALIFORNIA GULLS, lots of
GREAT BLUE HERONS, a couple of BALD EAGLE adults, an OSPREY catching a
fish, etc., etc., etc.

For mammals, I had a brief look at a LONG-TAILED WEASEL on 6/24, a nice
look at a MUSKRAT with a mouthFUL of grassses on 6/25, and a RIVER OTTER
6/27.

In all, a very enjoyable week of birding at Marymoor: 54 species on 6/25,
62 species for the week, still at 122 species for the year.

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