Tweets - It was a very good day today at Marymoor. The weather was cool but sunny, warming gently throughout the morning. There was very little wind (the lake was glassy); the clouds were blowing slowly to the southwest (an unusual direction). Seven of us enjoyed a morning with some big surprises:

WESTERN GREBE 1 on lake - unusual at this time of year
Green Heron 2-3 seen
Caspian Tern 1 flying down slough
California Quail Pair at windmill
Hairy Woodpecker Male on snag SW of Dog Central
Anna's Hummingbird First in many weeks, at Pea Patch
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER - see previous post
N. Rough-winged Swallow 2+ seen, one perched, others flying
Orange-crowned Warbler In trees near parking lot
LAZULI BUNTING Male, and maybe 1 other, at south end of East Meadow
Bullock's Oriole Pair near windmill, 2 other sightings
Purple Finch Heard singing, never seen

We had several sightings of SWAINSON'S THRUSH (plus they were whitting and singing). One, that we saw very well, spent a lot of time raising its tail very high and lowering it again. It was notably pale (and slightly redder than most), with an almost pure white underside. Spotting was quite limited to the upper breast, although there were more spots lower down which seemed to be hidden (maybe with wear they will show?). The flanks were almost white. There was an eye-ring, and when the bird flew across the river to the tree next to us, it began to whit in a very SWTH-like manner. Made me wonder what a Veery x Swainson's would look like...


Breeding Evidence:

Canada Goose - large groups probably containing hatch-year birds
Mallard - seven medium-sized young at lake
Wood Duck - female with 6 young on slough
Hooded Merganser - female with two mid-sized ducklings at Rowing Club
Common Merganser - female seen entering hole in large tree east of mansion
Osprey - adult at nest
Red-tailed Hawk - adult and chick on odd-snag nest
Rufous Hummingbird - one hatch-year bird seen
Red-breasted Sapsucker - adult bringing food to noisy young in tree
- adult feeding young clinging to snag
American Crow - one seen with down and a bright gape
Violet-green Swallow - young being fed below weir
Barn Swallow - 3 young being fed on a branch at lake
Black-capped Chickadee - many short-tailed young, some being fed
Bushtit - large family groups noted
Bewick's Wren - pretty young fledgling seen
American Robin - lots of spot-breasted young
Eurasian Starling - lots of noisy young
Song Sparrow - at least a couple of short-tailed young
Dark-eyed Junco - several hatch-year birds, adults copulating
House Finch - female building nest in cottonwood forest
American Goldfinch - female with nest materials

For the day, 66 species.

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