Tweets - Another summer day at Marymoor, though thankfully it was a bit
overcast at the start, and the heat didn't get troublesome until we were
nearly done. The birds were mostly too busy, I think, to be posing for us,
so there was a bit of frustration with the quick views we had of birds. We
had quite a few heard-only, several flybys, and a number of glimpses.

We were also, I'm afraid, rushing the walk just a bit, as several of us were
eager to get to Snoqualmie to find the Indigo Bunting and Least Flycatcher.
We shouldn't have worried, since those birds proved relatively easy to find.
:)

Marymoor Highlights:

Wood Duck 4 or 5 females with young, several sizes
Hooded Merganser 2+ unsupervised ducklings
Green Heron At least 4 chicks being fed at the nest
Bald Eagle 3 newly fledged birds east of the boardwalk
Western Screech-Owl Scott had one early near the windmill
R.-breasted Sapsucker 1 flew past Compost Piles, 1 at Rowing Club
Belted Kingfisher Several sightings - we haven't had many in 2009
Black Swift One appeared briefly over the slough
American Crow Two dead babies under the nest tree :(
Bushtit Parent(s) feeding young near RC nest
Lazuli Bunting 2-4 males, 1 female, lots of bad looks
Bullock's Oriole Male in Big Cottonwood Forest

CEDAR WAXWINGS were everywhere.

The LAZULI BUNTINGS were singing, but mostly posing only when entirely
back-lit. This was actually pretty typical for the day - birds popping up
backlit or at distance or both. We had YELLOW WARBLER on a birch far across
the river, for example. And a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER hid amongst the
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES above the Barn Owl nest box, and only 2 people
managed to glimpse the bird before it flew away.

We did manage 56 species for the day, though.

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