Tweets ? It was distinctly damp this morning, especially for the first three hours. The rain was fairly steady, and definitely counted as rain, not just drizzle. By about 10, though, it eased off a bit, and the day became fairly nice, albeit with overcast and occasional drops. It was also warm ? 51 degrees at 7:00 a.m. It never felt terribly birdy, and we missed several ?common? species, but had a pretty good species list by the end.

Highlights:

Gr. Wh.-fronted Goose 1 flyby with Cacklers
Cackling Goose Several large flocks, minimas
American Wigeon A dozen+ flew towards the lake
Bufflehead First of Fall, 4 females
Common Merganser Male on lake
COMMON LOON Far out on lake, confirmed later
Cooper?s Hawk Many sightings, 3+ individuals
MERLIN 6th time in last 8 weeks
Virginia Rail One heard from bend in boardwalk
Mew Gull First large flocks of fall
Barn Owl Great looks as late as 7:40, 3+
Northern Shrike Two birds, calling
White-throated Sparrow With many sparrows near weir
Red Crossbill A couple of flyovers

We had no woodpeckers except NORTHERN FLICKER. and no Belted Kingfisher, Brown Creeper, or Marsh Wren.

There was a RIVER OTTER out on the lake.

For the day, 60 species!

== Michael Hobbs
== www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
== BirdMarymoor at frontier.com