Tweets - eight of us had a very enjoyable morning today (except for the
mosquitoes) under mostly overcast skies. Lots of different stuff this week!

Highlights:

Wood Duck Probably 6 in all, most at RC
COMMON LOON Flying south over dog meadow, calling
Bald Eagle NINE in a kettle over n. end of lake
Cooper's Hawk Immature near windmill
Barn Owl Seen near windmill early
VAUX'S SWIFT One seen briefly
R.-b. Sapsucker Several sightings
CASSIN'S VIREO Great looks in cherries near weir
Hermit Thrush One along w. edge of dog meadow
Cedar Waxwing 3 just south of dog area
O.-c. Warbler Saw 2+, heard more
Wilson's Warbler Saw 1, heard 1-2 more
Lincoln's Sparrow Still a couple
B.-h. Grosbeak One brief glimpse
Purple Finch 2-3 singing, not seen

The best bird of the day was one of the first - a CASSIN'S VIREO that was
especially cooperative, spending several minutes on the front side of some
cherry trees right next to the path, north of the weir. Even those who were
accidentally looking at YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS instead of the vireo had time
to switch to the vireo for good looks. It didn't sing, unfortunately. We
last saw CAVI at Marymoor in 2002.

We had a magical few minutes in the row of willows south of the dog area
porta-potties. It started with Matt hearing something, so even though the
rest of the group had passed, he lingered. Soon he had gathered us back to
see WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Then we heard, and saw, a male WILSON'S
WARBLER. While watching that, BUSHTIT, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEE, and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET showed up, in the same 4 small willows.
Then an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER started singing, and most of us got a glimse
or two! I'm sure I'm missing a few (Song Sparrow? American Robin? Spotted
Towhee?). In any case, it was great.

I only got a glimpse of a flying bird shortly afterwards, but it sure looked
like a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK (male) to me. Laura Pinter, who saw the Great
Egret flying north through the park on Monday, said she'd seen and heard
several BHGR at Marymoor on Monday as well.

While we made a quick visit to the interior dog meadow, we heard a strange
call. Nobody recognized it for a second, and people started tossing out
crazy ideas about what it might be. Then Hugh Jennings said the craziest
thing of all. "It sounded to me like a loon." What a crazy idea. But if
it *was* a loon, then it would have to be "...FLYING RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS,
COMMON LOON!" I called out, having belatedly looked up.

For the day we had something like 65 species. For the week, including
Laura's GREAT EGRET on Monday (first new bird added to the park list in
2005), and several sightings by Ollie Oliver, the total is closer to 70.

New for the year this week: Cinnamon Teal (Saturday), Great Egret, Vaux's
Swift, Cassin's Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Wilson's Warbler, and Black-headed
Grosbeak, for a year total of (I *think*) 108 species.

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland, WA
== http://www.scn.org/fomp/birding.htm
== birdmarymoor at verizon.net