Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park Report (Redmond, King Co., WA) 2009-08-06
Date: Aug 6 14:20:53 2009
From: Michael Hobbs - birdmarymoor at verizon.net


Tweets - About a dozen of us met this morning at 6:00 a.m. to bird a rather
quiet Marymoor under heavy overcast skies. There wasn't much about, but the
more we scoured the bushes, the more we found. We proceeded slowly, because
there were lots of unfamiliar bird calls and song fragments. In most cases,
these were traced to various juvenile birds trying out their voices. We had
BEWICK'S WRENS making barely recognizable broken fragments of songs and
calls, a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD juvenile sounding like a calling Black-headed
Grosbeak, and other vocal oddities. It made for slow going, as we kept
having to ask ourselves "what the heck was that???"

Highlights:

Osprey 5 minimum, maybe several more
MERLIN One in the Community Gardens
Spotted Sandpiper 4 on the railing of the lake platform
CASPIAN TERN Over the lake, our latest sighting ever
Barn Owl Scott had one in the wee hours
Hairy Woodpecker One heard and glimpsed near the weir
P.-slope Flycatcher One bird along west edge of Dog Meadow
Purple Martins Parents feeding 3 young at nearest gourd
Brown Creeper 4-5, including begging young following parent
Swainson's Thrush One obvious juvenile, several others
Yellow Warbler Two across from Dog Central, singing
Bl.-throated Grey 2-3 along west edge of Dog Meadow
Wilson's Warbler 3-4
Western Tanager 2-3 males - First of Fall

At one point, there were two OSPREY perched in large firs near the mansion,
calling incessantly. Juveniles? Two more Osprey flew northward, ignoring
the youngsters. Then another Osprey came flyign north with a fish, again
ignoring the two in the tree. At least 1 Osprey was at the nest platform
for much of the day, and multiple birds were seen over the lake. Hard to
count...

Before 6:00 a.m., Matt and Scott had a falcon fly by the east end of Snag
Row. They tentatively identified it as a Peregrine, though Matt was
second-thinking that ID after the definitive Merlin sighting at the Pea
Patch. Scott also thought he had a NORTHERN HARRIER near the Compost
Piles, but nobody else got more than glimpses of the bird.

We had baby BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS doing their best to insist on getting fed
by: WILLOW FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, WILSON'S
WARBLER, and, I think, SONG SPARROW.

For the day, 60 species (not counting the possible harrier and/or
peregrine). Not bad at all for the August doldrums...

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



WILLOW FLYCATCHERS were singing everywhere - I estimate 15-20 birds.
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE were another commonly heard singer. BUSHTITS were also
noted many times.