Tweets ? it was overcast, with light precipitation about 1/3 of the time. Since it was fairly warm (60 degrees) and since the rain only rarely reached ?rain?, and stayed mostly at ?drizzle? or ?mizzle?, things weren?t too bad. It was BIRDY, especially with all of the juvenile birds about. Lots of different, unfamiliar, vocalizations and strange looking birds. It?s been a productive year at the park.

The oddest highlight was a NEW BIRD FOR THE PARK, though not one that we can count. As we neared the Lake Platform, I saw a flash of yellow and green streak past, and noticed a long tail. We were able to find the bird later when it was being chased by an American Robin. It then landed in a willow across the slough, where we could squint at it for quite a while. BUDGERIGAR (i.e. someone?s lost pet Budgie). It had a lemon-yellow head, and it was florescent green over most of the rest of the body. The wings were finely striped in black. I couldn?t tell the color of the tail streamer ? either blue or green. It did not seem to have obvious black barring on the nape, but it might just have been hard to see, or the bird might be one of those domesticated forms whose colors differ from the native birds. Definitely not native around here, as Budgies are from Australia. This one must have been blown off course (Yeah, right).

Highlights:

Wood Duck Very large number of independent juveniles
Great Blue Heron Some nests still active
Spotted Sandpiper Two at weir
California Gull One; rare at this time of year
Caspian Tern Three overhead at 5:30 a.m.
Barn Owl Sharon had one before 5 am
Black Swift Two, or one seen twice
R.-br. Sapsucker Several, including at least 3 juveniles
MERLIN Quick flyby; rare at this time of year
Purple Martin Heard at 4 a.m., active at gourds
Western Tanager One male at Compost Piles; out of season
Lazuli Bunting 2+ singing males
Bullock?s Oriole Adults feeding juveniles

Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats feeding juvenile cowbirds; for both host species, we saw multiple cowbird chicks with a single host parent at least once.

We also had a MINK cross the path at the Rowing Club.

For the day, 61 species plus the Budgie. Nothing new for the year (except the Budgie), so we?re still at 139 for 2014.

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