Hi Tweets

A large group of us substituted for Michael Hobbs this morning on a beautiful day our at Marymoor. Clear skies, Temp. between 49 and 73F. Fall is in full swing with changes in birds showing up.

We had our first Ruby-crowned Kinglets of the fall this morning, at least one singing. Matt had the Barn Owl in the east meadow early this morning, an unusual for this time of year Adult Bald Eagle flew over, and we had a Wilson's Snipe zoom past at altitude. A Common Raven perched briefly and then flew off to the west. Either one large flock, or several small flocks, of Yellow-rump Warblers (both Audubon's and Myrtles) worked the riparian trees over. A small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets was seen along the trail, the first seen away from the Mansion area. A couple of distant Western Grebes were out on Lake Sammamish. 17 American Pipits were on the soccer fields. An unidentified flycatcher was seen very briefly early on, but didn't stay around to make itself known.

The highlight of the day was an American Kestrel and some Steller's Jays mixing it up in a cottonwood tree see from the eastern leg of the boardwalk. This then translated into a Merlin and the Kestrel chasing each other to the west. The Merlin perched in the Ash trees near the end of the boardwalk, accompanied by four Steller's Jays. We then watched for about 15 minutes as the Melin and jays variously chased each other and interacted. Several of us had just commented that, given that Merlins really have a pugnacious attitude, that we wouldn't want to be a jay egging the Merlin on. Just then, the jays began to leave. One was flying straight away to the east. The Merlin left the tree on a powerful direct flight, overtook the jay and dove on it. It hit it in the back, and the jay took evasive action and seemed to get away. Afterward there were several blue feathers floating down. The Merlin was not the "Black Merlin" that many of us are familiar with during the winter, but was apparently a "Taiga" Merlin (ssp columbarius). It was much too light for a Black Merlin and not nearly light enough for a "Prairie Merlin".

A great day, with 56 bird species seen, and a quick glimpse of a Long-tailed Weasel crossing the main trail along the river.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia dot com