Subject: [Tweeters] Lake Sammamish State Park on July 22,
Date: Jul 22 14:29:44 2011
From: Sharon Cormier-Aagaard - scormieraa001 at hotmail.com



Stan and I were joined by 7 other birders at our monthly walk for Eastside Audubon at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah WA. The morning was sunny and warm with temps in the mid 50's to high 60's, with very light wind.....perfect birding weather. We expected it to be a very quiet, non-birdy July morning, but the birds surprised us! Many were flying about and/or perched up and singing. We saw and heard many of the usual suspects for this time of year, such as a family of Warbling Vireos, a pair of Cedar Waxwings building a nest, a Spotted Sandpiper on Issaquah Creek, a juvenile Bald Eagle perched on a snag overlooking the lake, a pair of Belted Kingfishers flying quietly up the creek, a juvenile Red-breasted Sapsucker preening on a branch in the shade, several Willow Flycatchers still fitz bewing, about a dozen Swainson's Thrushes still singing in the bushes, several singing Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats, one quiet, male Black-headed Grosbeak, and a family of Bullock's Orioles. For me, the best bird species of the day was 4 BLACK SWIFTS bugcatching overhead about 80 feet up in the bright blue, sunny sky. It was a good morning with delightful, enthusiastic birders, and 48 species seen/heard for the day.

Sharon Aagaard
Bellevue WA
scormieraa001 at hotmail.com