Yesterday, five ELWAS birders did the May survey of two areas on the Sammamish Plateau. We survey each area once a month for a year. The Sammamish Commons Park which is just west of the city hall was especially good. We recorded 40 species, 11 which were new for the year. We saw five species of Warblers - Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Wilson's and Common Yellowthroat. We had five species of sparrows, 22 Evening Grosbeaks, three species of swallows and Vaux's Swifts, Killdeer, California Quail, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens and three Warbling Vireos.

Our second area was the QueensLake Bog in Klahanie. Here we had 29 species with 9 new for the year. Our highlight for the morning was an Osprey flying overhead with a fish in its talons. We also saw a Cooper's Hawk. Eight Band-tailed Pigeons also flew over. We saw the Anna's Hummingbird which was in the same location we have seen it every month. Vaux's Swifts were seen here also, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers. We saw Warbling Vireo and Nashville Warbler here as well, and heard five Pacific-slope Flycatchers. Also seen, were Purple Finch and American Goldfinch, Bewick's & Winter Wren, five species of sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird. If anyone is interested, I can send a PDF file with the total results for each month this year.

Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
hughbirder at earthlink.net