Friday was on of those rare, bonus November days when the sun shines and warms the morning chill and, after a day of heavy rain and wind, the birds seem to express a sense of relief. Much activity in all quarters, even though the large flocks of wintering ducks have yet to arrive. No awe-inspring red-rumped warblers or blue-gray time-wasters, as my Florida friend calls them, but almost all of the park regulars showed up today, making for a fun outing. Some notables:

Hooded Merganser - a pair were on Promontory Pond, the male in striking finery
California Quail - a half dozen in the meadows; clucking continuously; far away from their normal haunts
Sharp-shinned Hawk - escorted out of the Promontory Point woods by a crow
Cooper?s Hawk - a pair of juveniles playing tag in the cottonwoods and an adult male looking surly on a snag in the wetlands (blue leg band)
Virginia Rail - calling from Frog Pond and from the wetlands
Wilson?s Snipe - meadows
Herring Gull - 2 on the platform
Thayer?s Gull - immature bird feeding with the Ring-bills on the sports field
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 1 at the south end, then a pair flying east from Promontory Point
Mourning Dove - flew over wetlands
Barn Owl - 2 birds cruising the central meadows early
Merlin - flew south from Promontory Point into the neighborhoods
Cedar Waxwing - still about 2 dozen, mostly flycatching
Purple Finch - 3 eating Madrona berries
Pine Siskin - at least 40

For the day, 64 species; 134 species for the year.
Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20468861 <http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20468861>
Scott Ramos
Seattle