Tweets - The weather today was something else - every half hour it changed
into something else. First was heavy rain, then light rain, then just wind,
then some sun, then more wind, then more clouds and light rain, then a
sudden and ferocious squall, followed by more sun, more clouds, and another
squall. Throughout it all, though, there were birds to see. Most everybody
left during the first squall. Ollie and I both ended up at the Rowing Club
after that squall had blown itself out. I then grabbed a bite to eat, then
returned to the mansion area to finish the loop solo before being driven off
by the second squall.

(For those who left early, we had Green-winged Teal, House Finch, and House
Sparrow at the RC, and I had Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, Pine Siskin, and Dark-eyed Junco after lunch. Also see note
about RTHA.)

Highlights:

GREEN HERON First of 2004, a bit south of Dog Central
Wood Duck Pair seen, and once a male near a nestbox
Lesser Scaup Lone adult male with 3 Common Goldeneye females
Red-tailed Hawk Adult seen atop odd-snag as if sitting on egg(s)
American Kestrel Hunting over model airplane field
Merlin Seen over slough, later off to the northwest
Wilson's Snipe One at the weir
GR. HORNED OWL Pair nesting near the mansion!
Northern Shrike Adult hunting in East Meadow
Winter Wren One singing. Should be leaving soon.
Wh.-throated Sparrow Tan-stripe bird near parking lot early again
Purple Finch Heard singing, finally tracked down. 1st yr
male.

The KESTREL and the SHRIKE were each hunting their own fields side by side,
the Kestrel hovering in the wind for long periods of time, while the Shrike
moved from perch to perch, occasionally dropping to the ground. Yesterday,
Jude saw the shrike eat a vole.

The MERLIN was seen streaking up the slough around 9:30. An hour or so
later, looking to the northwest of the park, we saw a Red-tailed Hawk and a
Bald Eagle circling. There were swallows in the air too, but eventually I
realized that one of the "swallows" was much bigger and much further away,
and was in fact the Merlin. A crow or two decided to take a few swipes at
the Merlin, but the Merlin was too fast for them. A crow *cannot* out-stoop
a Merlin.

This was our first-ever sighting of GREAT-HORNED OWL at Marymoor -
previously the species appeared on my list courtesy only of a report from a
knowledgeable park visitor who had seen one while walking her dog in
December 2000. We had also found some GHOW feathers and bones the first
week in February this year. What we saw today (thanks Andy) was a nest with
a tail sticking out one side and a couple of "ears" sticking up at the
other. In the next tree over was another owl.

For the day, 58 species. Green Heron, Lesser Scaup (*maybe* seen
previously), and of course the Great Horned Owl were new for 2004, bringing
the year total to 85 species. GHOW and the Pine Siskins I saw building a
nest yesterday add two to the list of birds known to nest at Marymoor.

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