Tweets - today featured a cold wind, but it didn't rain. Eight of us
started at 6:30 on a rather leisurely walk. The birds were a bit tough to
find, so we searched a bit harder. Good thing, too, since there were some
to find:

Green Heron Stunning looks near the Rowing Club dock
Red-tailed Hawk Active nest building at the Rowing Club nest
Hairy Woodpecker Incredible looks at a male (from < 10 feet)
Belted Kingfisher 3 together. They've been scarce recently
Rufous Hummingbird Back in numbers - 4-5 seen or heard
Violet-green Swallow First huge flocks, 50+ over weir, 100+ over lake
Yellow-rumped Warbler About 5 scattered birds, all Myrtles where ID'd
Townsend's Warbler Male near picnic shelter SW of mansion
B-HEADED COWBIRD 1 male, first of spring. Oh Joy!
Western Meadowlark 2 in E. Meadow, 6 there 3/24

Last Monday, 3/24, while my wife and I pulled Scot's Broom in the East
Meadow:
Tree Swallow 2 investigating nest boxes
SAVANNAH SPARROW At least 3, quite bright-looking birds

Monday night:
BARN OWL 2 near new grass soccer fields

Saturday 3/22, on my Seattle Audubon field trip
BARN SWALLOW 1 near 3rd dog beach
Purple Finch Great looks at a male
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 in East Meadow in the afternoon

Saturday's BARN SWALLOW was notably early; previous early dates were
06-Apr-95, 10-Apr-02, 11-Apr-96. Most years, they haven't shown up until
the 3rd week in April!

Today's BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD was the second earliest sighting we've had,
beaten only by one on 25-Mar-99.

Today's WINTER WRENS were notably late; one singing 20-Mar-02 was the
previous latest date in the spring, and most years they've disappeared in
the first week in March.

BUSHTITS were notable today for being scattered everywhere throughout the
park, in groups of 1-4 (mostly pairs).

NORTHERN FLICKER were also notably visible, including a "flock" of 5 near
the Rowing Club, 3 of which spent a lot of time and energy chasing each
other about.

Lots of bachelor ducks today (males, either alone or in small groups, with
no females seen), including 2 COMMON MERGANSER, 2 COMMON GOLDENEYE,
4 GADWALL (together near weir), a single RING-NECKED DUCK, and possibly
some BUFFLEHEAD and MALLARD, though that's hard to tell.

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS seemed less numerous than recently, though there are
still some, and they're still singing.

Also singing: AMERICAN ROBIN, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, SONG SPARROW, WINTER
WREN, MARSH WREN, NORTHERN FLICKER, FOX SPARROW, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD,
BEWICK'S WREN, PURPLE FINCH, and HOUSE FINCH. At least one of the RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRDS displayed.

The Indian Plum (Oso Berry) has almost completed blooming, with just a few
hanging on. We found maybe 5 Salmonberry blossoms - they're just about to
get started.

There were a couple of turtles out at the Rowing Club (a Painted, and
probably a Red-eared Slider). Pacific Tree Frogs were peeping Monday
night, and some kind of frog(s) were heard today.

For the day, 54 species. For the year, adding BARN SWALLOW and
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, we're up to 80.

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