Tweets - it was clear and cold today (36-50 degrees), and it was hopping
with birds. Especially early on, there were just heaps of warblers in every
bush, which made for slow going. It took a while for the species count to
climb, but then we started to find the rarities, making for a really great
day.

Highlights:

Wood Ducks Pair with several ducklings at lake
Mallard At least 2 females with ducklings
Great Blue Heron Several young on nests at heronry
PEREGRINE FALCON 1 flew over the Rowing Club parking lot
Mourning Dove Two flew over the lake platform
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER One across from Rowing Club dock
Hammond's/Dusky Flyc. 1-2 birds, frustratingly silent
Swainson's Thrush First of Spring. Saw 1, Matt heard singing
early
NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD At Pea Patch community gardens
Nashville Warbler At least a couple seen
Yellow Warbler First of Spring - 3+ seen/heard
CHIPPING SPARROW Near restrooms east of mansion
Western Tanager A half-dozen or so
Evening Grosbeak Heard/glimpsed several times

This was only our 11th confirmed sighting of OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, and the
5th we've had in May. We've also had 2 sightings in June, 1 in July, 2 in
August, and 1 in September (plus 3 possible sightings scattered).

This was just our 2nd sighing of NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, the other sighting
being September 21-22, 2006. It's the first time I, personally, have seen
the species in the park. Graham Hutchinson said he'd glimpsed the bird in
the Pea Patch yesterday, but hadn't been positive of the ID. Today it was
along the north fence line of the gardens.

I'm presuming we have a temporarily-resident CHIPPING SPARROW this year, as
there have been occasional sightings for several weeks now, all generally
south/east of the mansion.

Houston and Austin (it's great having birders who work at the park) reported
WESTERN MEADOWLARK and AMERICAN PIPIT.

For the day, that puts the list at 67. For the year, adding PEREGRINE
FALCON, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD,
YELLOW WARBLER, and WESTERN TANAGER, I think we're at 129 species.

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