Tweeters,

I'm late with this report, but decided to post the trip leader's (edited)
note, mainly because I like the way she writes up the trips taken by the UW
Retirement Association birding group:



Tuesday, fifteen of us had a morning of good weather at Marymoor, cloudy,
with no wind. The birds were slow to appear, so our late start wasn't an
issue. Walking along the slough, we had a great show of about 120
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS and 10 or so TREE SWALLOWS swirling above, around us
and over the slough. We had wonderful views of 20 GREAT BLUE HERON nests
under construction. Sticks were being flown in as we watched, put carefully
in place, and actually, some being rejected by the females. Very clear
views with the leaves off the trees. The park folks said that this is the
third year for these nests, and they so far have been successful.


The trail (boardwalk) past the unleashed dog area was under water so we
walked about 200 feet and had to return, instead of walking on to the lake
and the southern loop of birding trail. The high point of the trip was in
that location, as Ellen spotted a female ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD sitting on a
nest, and we all had great views of her and her little lichen creation.
Thanks to Ellen, Tom and Denis for their scopes. A beautiful part of the
trail with flowering Indian Plum and Salmon berries surrounding us.



Walking east, we had good views of GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS, a male RUFOUS
HUMMINGBIRD and a tree full of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS.



There were no birds on the soccer fields and we didn't get to the community
garden (on the left) to check it out. It was past noon and lunchtime, so
Mary, thank you for the incredibly decadent cookies!



We then went on to the Rowing Club parking lot, which turned out to be quite
birdy. A number of GOLDEN-CROWNED and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS worked the
trees next to us and the pond had a pair of BUFFLEHEADS and beautiful HOODED
MERGANSERS that put on a show as they hopped up on a log and fluffed their
feathers. Finally a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, ignoring us, moved between
trees on the right side of the parking lot. No sign of the White-throated
Sparrows noted last week.



The water table in the park was really high, with NORTHERN SHOVELERS
swimming in the standing water in the unleashed dog area. And if you wanted
to get to the dock at the rowing club, you would have had to swim.



The park office confirmed that we did see one of their resident River
Otters, and that there were lots of fish in the river, good eating. The
other mammals we heard from the east high point were coyotes, which gave us
a chorus at the sound of distant fire engines.



It was great to see all the birds in their breeding colors. And for those
of us who like dogs, the assortment rivaled the Westminster Club show.



Tom kept track of the birds, and with the additions at the Rowing Club, we
totaled 40 species. A good trip!



Here is the bird list for Marymoor, March 18th:

Pied-Billed Grebe

Mallard

Common Goldeneye

Northern Shoveler

Canada Goose

Red-tailed Hawk

Bald Eagle

Great Blue Heron

Double-Crested Cormorant

Glaucous-winged Gull

Mew Gull

Violet-green Swallow

Tree Swallow

Northern Flicker

Downy Woodpecker

Rufous Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird (on nest!)

Bushtit

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Bewick's Wren (heard)

Marsh Wren

Pacific Wren (heard)

American Crow

Stellar's Jay (heard)

American Robin

Red-winged Blackbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

House Finch

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Dark-eyed Junco


Plus at the Rowing Club site:



Red-breasted Sapsucker

Hooded Merganser

Bufflehead

Total: 40



For Bettimae and the UWRA birders, and may all your birds be identified,



Denis DeSilvis

Avnacrs4birds at outlook.com