Tweets - it was overcast, but not too chilly, nor windy, nor did it rain.
Conditions were perfect -- for MOSQUITOES. They also must have been perfect
for CEDAR WAXWINGS, because they were everywhere. It seemed that every
single bird we ever saw perched up and visible was a waxwing. In general,
sightings of birds were tough to come by today, but we glimpsed a lot and
heard a lot.

Biggest highlight was a BREWER'S SPARROW at the Compost Piles. Our
in-the-field assessment was that it was NOT a "timberline" subspecies, but
I'd like to sit down with some photos and some books. This is just the 2nd
time Brewer's Sparrow has been seen at Marymoor. The other sighting was
from 2000-04-30.

Other highlights:

Green Heron Many sightings
Virginia Rail Matt actually saw 1, boardwalk, predawn
CASPIAN TERN Two flying north, twice. 4 birds?
Barn Owl Matt had 3 predawn - young birds?
Black Swift 2-3 over Big Cottonwood Forest
Red-breasted Sapsucker Many sightings
RED-EYED VIREO Singing, not seen, N of Dog Central
Purple Martin Female in gourd, M&F at Compost Piles
Western Tanager Maybe our last for this spring

We also had a DEER, a LONG-TAILED WEASEL, and 4 GARTER SNAKES at the Rowing
Club.

For the day, 64 species of bird. Evan Houston birded last Tuesday, 6/7, and
had six species we didn't have today: Hooded Merganser, Cooper's Hawk,
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, Lazuli Bunting, Bullock's Oriole, and Evening
Grosbeak, so the week total is 70.

New for the park year list were the Caspian Terns, Red-eyed Vireo, and of
course the Brewer's Sparrow. Evan's Pacific-slope Flycatcher was also new
for the year list, to put us at 146.

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