Tweets - The 4th Annual Marymoor Big Morning will be Wednesday, May 12th,
starting at 6:30.

The idea is to get a bunch of people together, split into several groups,
and simultaneously blanket the park with birdwatchers in an attempt to see
EVERY species present.

And it's great fun - each group gets an FRS radio so that we can brag
about our sightings to each other (but they're also good for Heads Up kind
of announcements like "There's an Osprey heading east over the dog area
with a Bald Eagle in hot pursuit", and we can all try to catch a glimpse
of the action.

Birds we're likely to see include:

Green Heron
Vaux's Swift
Red-breasted Sapsucker
An early flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Swainson's Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Western Tanager
Black-headed Grosbeak
Bullock's Oriole

....plus many, many more. As a group, I easily expect 70 species. This
really is the best time to catch the last of the winter birds and the
first of the summer birds. Over the last 12 years, we've recorded a total
of 97 species for Week 19 at Marymoor (let's try to add 3 new ones for the
week, huh?)

Week 19 "rarities" have included Cinnamon Teal, Mourning Dove, Western
Kingbird, Hutton's Vireo, American Pipit, Nashville Warbler, MacGillivray's
Warbler, and Evening Grosbeak, so almost ANYTHING might show up, and
especially this year when things seem to be showing up early.

I will make sure to match up experienced Marymoor birdwatchers with any
newbies (either new to the park or new to birding or both), so nobody
should feel lost.

If you'd like to join us, drop me an email. We'll start at 6:30 a.m., and
some of us will go on until at least 1:00 p.m. BUT if you can only stay
for a few hours, that's fine too. You're never more than about a mile
from your car (and usually closer) no matter where you are in the park, so
a quick getaway merely requires you to put down your binos long enough to
race to your car.

I hope to see you all there.

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