Hi Tweets -

Michael and family are off gallivanting for a couple of days, so I got
to"lead" the Marymoor walk this morning. The day dawned dark and cloudy,
turned drizzly and then rainy, and then it poured for a few minutes. In
spite of this it was a reasonably birdy morning. A couple of the best
birds were Swainson's Thrushes along the interpretive trail - the first
of the year. One of the Ospreys was on the nest tower. We had several
Common Merganser flyovers and four on the river by the weir. We must
have had at least 8 Rufous Hummingbirds, including 3 either
female/juveniles. We had four swallow species today, with Barn and Cliff
out over the lake joining the Tree and Violet-green. We had at least
three Bald Eagles, one adult and two immatures. At the west end of the
boardwalk we had a female Downy Woodpecker fly out of the nest hole that
the male has been building. She perched on a nearby limb, and was joined
by the male and copulation took place. near the east end of the
boardwalk a bright male Purple Finch was singing from the top of an ash
tree. The Common Yellowthroats and Savannah Sparrow were singing
everywhere. A Sharp-shinned Hawk made an unsuccesful pass at a House
Finch along the entrance road. Finally, one of the Great Horned Owls was
perched near the nest, and at first glance it did not look like there
was any activity at the nest. A little patience revealed at least one
downy white head poking up from time to time - nice to know that owlets
will be visible soon. By the way, the area around the nest tree has been
cordoned off with caution tape - please don't enter the area and only
observe from the perimeter.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia.com