The weather wasn?t horrible. It was dark. It was occasionally gusty. We got our first drops of rain right at our 8:00 a.m. start time, it was raining when we left the Rowing Club at noon, and it was raining for much of the time in between. It wasn?t horrible, not really. But after about 9:30, it was QUIET. Most of the birding highlights involved birds flying overhead, as if in search of a safe haven.

Highlights:

SNOW GOOSE One with a small flock of Cacklers overhead
American Wigeon Large flock passed overhead
Northern Pintail Large flock passed overhead
Cooper?s Hawk Several sightings
Virginia Rail Heard from boardwalk
California Gull First in a month
Barn Owl Nice looks, East Meadow, well after 7:00 a.m.
N. SAW-WHET OWL Matt had 1 in Snag Row, 1 from boardwalk, before 6:00 a.m.
American Kestrel Male between Viewing Mound and model airplane field
MERLIN Perched atop fir NE of mansion
Northern Shrike Juvenile north of Fields 7-8-9

Notable were the misses today: Ring-billed Gull, Northern Flicker, and Steller?s Jay.

And today?s near-misses: Spotted Towhee not *seen* until the Rowing Club. Ditto for Song Sparrow, though both had been heard once or twice. European Starling reported only by Ollie Oliver. House Finch and Red-breasted Nuthatch only heard by Matt.

For the day, 54 species, which isn?t a horrible total.

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