Michael and Tweeters,

You were lucky you were able to go birding at all on Friday. Here in
the Vancouver area, only a masochist or an idiot would have attempted
to do so. It rained non-stop from before dawn on Thursday to about 9
P.M. on Friday at Vancouver. The official rainfall total at the
Vancouver airport was 85 mm on Thursday and 55 mm on Friday, for a
total of 140 mm (nearly 6 inches-- more than we usually get in all of
October). Glub, glub!

However, wonder of wonders, the sun is shining now, and I'm going out
birding for the rest of the day-- before it starts raining again!!

Good luck and good birding,

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net


----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Hobbs <hummer at isomedia.com>
To: Tweeters (E-mail) <TWEETERS at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2003 10:16 PM
Subject: Marymoor Park Report (Redmond, King Co., WA) 10/17/03


> Tweets - this is sort of a "this week at Marymoor" report.
Wednesday I
> could not go, and Joyce Meyer filled in on the record-keeping for
me,
> leading 7 others. I did get out yesterday, birding the whole route
solo
> for the first time in a long time. The weather on Wednesday was
fairy
> crappy, apparently, especially later in the morning. For me,
yesterday,
> the weather was quite good actually. The rain stopped right after
7:30,
> and the wind didn't start until about 10:00.
>
> Combined highlights: (W-Wednesday, F-Friday)
>
> Wood Duck W,F - still a few around
> Bufflehead W - first of fall
> Bald Eagle W - first since August
> N. Harrier W - 1 male, 1 female, not together
> Cooper's Hawk W,F - 2 on Wednesday
> Merlin W
> Western Gull F - 2 adults
> N. SHRIKE F - juvenile in E. Meadow
> Varied Thrush W - 2 near mansion
>
> Joyce's BUFFLEHEAD on Wednesday 10/15 were the earliest fall
sightings
> we've had (previous: 10/17/02)
>
> My COOPER'S HAWK on Friday was a juvenile in the Pea Patch. It was
> totally fearless of me, allowing me great looks from as close as 15
feet.
> It actually seemed to be hoping I'd flush a Song Sparrow or
something, as
> it seemed to be following me as I went through the gardens.
>
> This was my first fall record for WESTERN GULL. These birds were
not
> ultra-dark on the mantles, but were distinctly different than even
the
> obvious hybrids. These birds had clean white heads, orangey-yellow
bills
> with a red spot, jet-black wingtips, and dusky primary and secondary
bases
> on the underwing.
>
> The NORTHERN SHRIKE made a pass at the birds in the compost piles
before
> landing in the tree at the north end of the East Meadow for a few
seconds.
> I was able to get pretty good looks at it before it flew off
purposefully
> to the east.
>
> I had tantalizing glimpses of what I believe was a WHITE-THROATED
SPARROW,
> but it disappeared into the bushes and could not be located for a
positive
> ID.
>
> The Barn Owl was not at its roost either day.
>
> Neither Joyce's group nor I broke 45 species, but the combined total
was
> 54 species. The shrike brings the year total to 127.
>
> == Michael Hobbs
> == Kirkland, WA
> == http://www.scn.org/fomp/birding.htm
> == hummer at isomedia.com
>