Tweets - the weather wasn't exactly the nice spring day that we'd all hoped
for. It rained hard, especially before 7:00. But after that, we really
didn't have any precipitation. The wind died down frequently, and there
were a few moments of sun, so really not bad at all. It was birdy, too,
though the birds could have been more cooperative. Several heard-only or
seen-poorly or seen-only-by-a-few on the list.

Highlights:
Common Loon One on lake
Bald Eagle At least 5 birds, many sightings
Northern Harrier Sharp-looking male flew high to the NE
Sharp-shinned Hawk One flying lazy circles over Dog Meadow
MERLIN Sharon saw one around 7:00
Virginia Rail Heard east of East Meadow
Barn Owl Matt & Brian, early, model airplane field
Great Horned Owl Matt had one early - first since Feb.
4 woodpecker day Missed pileated. Pretty R.-breasted Sapsuckers
SAY'S PHOEBE NE corner of East Meadow
N. R.-winged Swallow 2+ seen
Pacific Wren Still 3 singing
Townsend's Warbler 2+, NE of mansion
C. Yellowthroat Many back, singing, not being seen
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 along west edge of Dog Meadow

BUSHTITS were seen building 2 or 3 nests; there's another completed nest at
the Rowing Club. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES were excavating two nests. One
is on the underside of a branch on a Big-leafed Maple NE of the mansion.
The other is on the end of the upraised vane of the windmill. Odd locations
both.

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (both races) and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were
everywhere and abundant.

A juvenile BALD EAGLE flew too close to the odd-snag nest. The adult
RED-TAILED HAWK came down off the nest in hot pursuit. We wondered if the
Red-tail would be as eager to chase and attack an adult eagle...

I noted 21 species of bird singing. Additionally, we had drumming
Red-breasted Sapsuckers and Downy Woodpecker, winnowing Wilson's Snipe, and
a display flight from Pine Siskin.

New for the year were NORTHERN HARRIER, SAY'S PHOEBE, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED
SWALLOW, and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, to bring the 2011 total to 103 species.

For the day, 69 species.

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