Tweets - despite weather reports and the general appearance of the morning,
we actually had a really nice day at Marymoor. It was warm (45-56 degrees),
pretty much windless, and we had only a moment of not-even-drizzle. There
were 11 of us birding, and (especially early on) it was quite birdy. There
weren't too many surprizes in terms of unusual species, but it was a good
day nonetheless.

Highlights:

The BALD EAGLES were seen bringing sticks to the new nest in the Big
Cottonwood Forest. Both adults were in the nest for a little while. We'd
seen no activity there for a few weeks, so this was a nice confirmation that
they seem intent on nesting in such a visible location. After the Rowing
Club, I went over and walked the Redmond portion of the East Lake Sammamish
Trail. There were two adult Bald Eagles hanging around in the SE corner of
the park, even while I could see at least one of the pair from the SW
corner. I was able to verify that the SE nest still exists, so it appears
there will be two breeding pairs of Bald Eagle at Marymoor this year! The
nests are only a half mile (maybe 0.6 miles) apart.

Matt heard WILSON'S SNIPE predawn in the East Meadow, and we saw one flush
from below the weir.

Flyby goldeneyes heading downriver included one male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE - a
very rare species for the park, though I've seen them at Lake Samm State
Park and in the slough near Redmond City Hall and Woodinville quite often.

We had a male HAIRY WOODPECKER near the first bench (just a bit south of the
dog area portapotties). Always nice to see.

Hugh identified one male PURPLE FINCH which gave us good looks a bit south
of Dog Central.

An adult NORTHERN SHRIKE was working the areas north of the Compost Piles
and north of the grass soccer fields.

BAND-TAILED PIGEONS were flying west of the park when we were near the
windmill.

There were also many species singing. There was one SONG SPARROW which
repeatedly sang a song reminiscent of a Black-throated Green Warbler - very
bizarre. Other species singing: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, DARK-EYED JUNCO,
MARSH WREN, HOUSE FINCH, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, BEWICK'S WREN, and I had a
WINTER WREN singing on the ELS trail.

For the day, 57 species. The year count, adding Barrow's Goldeneye and
Band-tailed Pigeon, is up to 77.

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