Hi Tweets,

For those who like to follow the birds being seen at Lake Sammamish State Park, here's my monthly bird walk eBird report:

Lake Sammamish State Park, King, US-WA
Dec 23, 2014 7:50 AM - 12:19 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Comments: Sharon Aagaard and Stan Wood birded with 14 others at Eastside Audubon's monthly bird walk at Lake Sammamish State Park on Dec 23, 2014, from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. The walk started with cloudy, wet skies and ended with dry weather with a hint of blue in the skies, 47-51F, 2-8 mph. HIGHLIGHTS : Sharon went owling predawn at the large meadow to the south of the Lake Sammammish State Park boat launch, and saw 1 BARN OWL, 2 SHORT-EARED OWLS (same seen in this location on 12/20/14), 3 WILSON SNIPE & 2 MARSH WREN. During the group walk, we enjoyed 2 NORTHERN SHOVELER, 6 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 2 CANVASBACK, 11 RING-NECKED DUCK, 6 GREATER SCAUP, 5 LESSER SCAUP, 37 BUFFLEHEAD, 7 COMMON GOLDENEYE, 1 HOODED MERGANSER, 2 COMMON MERGANSER, 1 COMMON LOON, 2 PIED-BILLED, 1 HORNED AND 20 WESTERN GREBE, 51 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (it appears the trees to the left of the herony as viewed from the boat launch are a night roost because this large number of Cormorants were perched in 3-4 trees at dawn), 1 RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER tending sapwells in one of several Liquid Amber Trees along the parkway and just outside the boat launch entrance--thanks to Grace and Ollie who told me to watch for this bird here. We also had a 5 WOODPECKER morning; watched 1 MERLIN fly through the parking lot, and saw 1 lone PURPLE FINCH. 53 species for the day and 141 species for the year. The next bird walk is JANUARY 27. No pre-registration, just show up depending on your mood or the weather. Since this is a state park, a Discover Pass is necessary to park ($10 daily, $30 annual). We meet in the large parking lot to the left just inside the main park entrance, now signed as the Costco Parking lot, but we meet at the far end towards the lake (not the boat launch entrance).Submitted from BirdLog NA for Android v1.9.6
53 species (+2 other taxa)

Cackling Goose 233
Canada Goose 19
Mallard 72
Northern Shoveler 2 females
Green-winged Teal 6 males and females
Canvasback 2
Ring-necked Duck 11
Greater Scaup 6 males and females
Lesser Scaup 5 males
Bufflehead 37
Common Goldeneye 7
Hooded Merganser 1 male
Common Merganser 2 females
Common Loon 1 boat launch, close in
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Horned Grebe 1
Western Grebe 20
Double-crested Cormorant 51 roosting in 3-4 trees in south cove of boat launch
Great Blue Heron 8
Bald Eagle 2 a pair flying near each other in the distant sky--female larger than the male
Red-tailed Hawk 6 saw two birds in 3 separate areas where we suspect there are likely 3 nesting areas
American Coot 151
Killdeer 1 heard only
Mew Gull 111
Ring-billed Gull 5
Glaucous-winged Gull 10
gull sp. 100 While driving by a sports field just before 8 am, saw large flock of gulls land and begin foraging.
Anna's Hummingbird 4
Belted Kingfisher 2 male at boat launch, could only see the backside of the bird at the west beach
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 on the trunk of a Liquid Amber Tree with LOTS of sapwells (seen on this same tree two other times, 12/19 and 12/20
Downy Woodpecker 1 female
Hairy Woodpecker 2 female, heard another in a different area
Northern Flicker 7 likely Red-shafted but didn't take the time to confirm color
Pileated Woodpecker 2 male and female
Merlin 1 Ken got us on this bird's quick fly through the boat launch parking lot
Steller's Jay 1
American Crow 32
Black-capped Chickadee 23
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 heard only
Brown Creeper 2 heard one, saw one
Pacific Wren 2
Bewick's Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 11
American Robin 37
European Starling 69
Spotted Towhee 2
Fox Sparrow (Sooty) 1 large, dark brown sparrow with chevrons on breast and making its distinctive loud, sharp chip notes
Song Sparrow 10
Golden-crowned Sparrow 12
Dark-eyed Junco 8 heard or brief sightings
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 15
Purple Finch 1 female
American Goldfinch 32

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21000380

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Sharon Aagaard
Bellevue WA
scormieraa001 at hotmail.com