Hi Tweets,

Bill and I had misgivings about going to Magnuson Park this
morning because of the moderately high wind, but we went anyway and just
stayed away from the lake shore. Overall we only saw about 35 species, but
some were good! We were wandering around on some muddy trails just to the
north and down from Kite Hill when Bill spotted a Western Kingbird in a dead
tree (about the size of a Hawthorne tree). As soon as he spotted it, it
flew away. We loitered around for a while, but it didn't come back. We
wandered on up this trail (which eventually dead-ended in the paved path
leading up to Kite Hill). Before that junction and at a point where we
could look down on the dog off leash area we looked back at the dead tree
and now there were two Western Kingbirds there. We quietly went back and
managed to get some photos.

Just before we spotted the kingbirds, we had seen a FOY Wilson's
Warbler. The whole area was full of Yellow-rumped Warblers and a few
Orange-crowned Warblers (heard only).

The other sighting of note is one that I'm not sure is notable.
In one of ponds back near the big parking lots near the main entrance, we
noticed a female duck with lots of babies. We normally see Mallard babies
around here, but this female was not a Mallard. She had a uniform colored
head and an all-dark bill. I also thought she was large for a Mallard. So
I wondered if it might be a Pintail with an early brood. Do we normally
have Pintails breeding around here?



Cheers, Charlotte Byers, Seattle