Tweets ? it was bloody COLD this morning, especially pre-dawn when we also had a stiff wind in our faces (okay, okay, it was 59, but with the wind chill, that?s cold). I arrived 30 seconds too late to see the BARN OWL the others were watching. So much for getting up at 4:00 a.m. There wasn?t much else around pre-dawn except for the crows that appeared just after I arrived. As our walk started, the wind died down a bit, but the clouds thickened, and it never really got warm. Pretty quiet too, and one of the most notable things was the decrease in singing from last week; e.g. very few WILLOW FLYCATCHERS singing, and no BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK songs, though we did see both species.

Highlights:

Great Blue Heron Seem to have finished nesting; fencing already removed
Spotted Sandpiper One at the weir
- gull sp. - One bird early, with black wing-tips. Ring-billed?
Caspian Tern A few of us had a quick glimpse of 1 bird flying north over slough
Rufous Hummingbird Still at least 3; should tail off through August
Pac.-slope Flycatcher One at south end of Dog Meadow, silent
Or.-crowned Warbler? Juvenile warbler(s) gave us many terrible looks
Y.-rumped Warbler At least 2
Bl.-thr. Gray Warbler At least 3, near PSFL and the questionable warbler(s)
Wilson?s Warbler 1-2, also with flock at south end of Dog Meadow

The mixed flock at the south end of the Dog Meadow was the highlight of the day. Great look at the Pacific-slope Flycatcher and then it disappeared, leaving us with BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS. We were following these north along the west edge of the meadow and found the WILSON?S WARBLER(s) and the mystery warbler(s). Many birds were present, and it was a real challenge to stay on any one bird. Things got way worse when the warbler/chickadee flock merged with a flock of BUSHTITS and headed back south. Now there were twice as many really active birds birds.

Our mystery warbler(s) never gave us more than partial looks. At various times, I saw white undertail coverts; wings with either wing-bars or at least some feathers with white edges; yellow wash over the head, throat, and breast; plain greenish wings (hence my belief that there was more than one bird); a grayish head; a yellowish head; a thickish, longish, blackish warbler bill; kind-of-maybe-an-eye-line. None of the views of this presumed hatch-year bird looked right for Yellow nor for Wilson?s. Sometimes the plumage looked right for Tennessee, but the bill and body looked too big. Our last look seemed really good for Orange-crowned Warbler, except for the whitish undertail coverts. Dang birds.

Ollie went back after the walk to try and refind the bird, but found no flock at all. His only consolation prize was a COMMON MERGANSER (rare for this time of year at Marymoor) which, along with my lone ROCK PIGEON under SR-520 as I left, brought our day total to 61 species. I believe we?re still at 139 for 2014.

Our best other sighting was a LONG-TAILED WEASEL which popped out repeatedly while we were busy looking at the warbler flock!

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