Tweets,

I got to Marymoor about 9:45 AM and the bird was singing happily up in the cottonwoods on the east side of Sammamish Slough just past the gate leaving the off-leash area, as described by Kathy. I was able to imitate the whistle well enough to bring it right in close overhead, still singing. I got a poor recording because the battery on my good mike was dead.

I would judge it to be a first springBaltimore Oriole. The song is nothing like Bullock's or Scott's, though I don't have a Baltimore Oriole recording handy. It was singing ca. 9 clear whistled notes, rising and falling three times, nicely syncopated, and highly consistent. The bird looks mostly like the "maximum black spring adult female" in the National Geographic guide, but it's obviously a male, as it's singing, plus the hood is completely blackish (but not pure black, to my eye). The wingbars are whitish and like what is illustrated for a female, the upper bar rather broader than the lower. I was unable to get a clear view of the back, but the exposed wing panel was not solid black but somewhat patterned.. The tail from below appears all dull yellow, while the underparts generally were a sort of dull salmonish yellow. Note that the Geo guide states that the "maximum black spring adult female" resembles the first-spring male. The bird seemed shorter-tailed and a bit stockier overall than a Bullock's. I see no reason that it's not a perfectly typical first spring male Baltimore.

Gene Hunn
18476 47th Pl. NE
Lake Forest Park, WA
enhunn323 at comcast.net

PS: The Northern Mocking bird was conspicuous at the site noted by Alan Knue yesterday evening. It was silent this morning at ca. 10:30 AM but flopping about from bush to bush. It favored a park bench by a picnic table just back of the lake shore just east of the Orca sculpture garden and the kite hill.