Tweets - the weather was actually decent this morning. Well, not windy, not
too cold, no precipitation. It was overcast, especially early on, and we
were beset with thick fog for the first couple of hours. But really,
compared to - say - yesterday, it was a delight. There were LOTS of
birders, and luckily there were also LOTS of birds to look at and listen
to., There were quite a few things that were seen/heard by only a few
people, but that's the way it goes when you approach 20 people in the group.

Highlights:

We had a female COMMON MERGANSER with 8 ducklings. At first, she was on the
far bank of the slough, with her wings drooped by her side, and a cluster of
babies under her breast. When we were all pointing our binoculars at her,
she decided to take to the water, with the little ones scurrying to catch
up. About 3-4 managed to get close enough to her to climb on her back.
VERY CUTE.

BALD EAGLE numbers remain extremely high. We had 10 at one time, and
probably quite a few more. Some rowers reported counting 25-30 birds! It's
a good mix of adults and sub-adults.

A BONAPARTE'S GULL was out on the lake. The bird appeared to be in
non-breeding plumage, and was quite probably a very bleached juvenile.

Matt had an adult BARN OWL over the East Meadow before 5AM. There were at
least 2 babies in the nest box.

There were at least a couple of dozen BLACK SWIFTS overhead above most of
the south end of the park all morning, giving great views. In contrast,
only a couple of people managed to see just a few (3-4) VAUX'S SWIFT.

At the HAIRY WOODPECKER nest, visible from the Rowing Club dock, looking
across the slough, we watched as both parents brought food to a very large
juvenile.

Evan Houston had a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER south of the windmill.

Other highlights:

Green Heron One glimpsed at the Rowing Club
Cooper's Hawk One, distantly seen
Spotted Sandpiper One from the lake platform
Western Wood-Pewee Around 6, up from 2 last week
Willow Flycatcher They're back - maybe 4 singing
Pacific-Slope Flycatcher Maybe 2 heard singing
WESTERN KINGBIRD One flew east over East Meadow
Chickadees - both With young
Bushtits Feeding young
Cedar Waxwing Building nests
Western Tanager One male seen
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE One male seen

For the day, 71 species. The year list is up to 124, I believe.

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