Tweets ? What a glorious day! There were 20 of us at Marymoor today, and with that many eyes, on this birdy a day, it?s no surprise that we turned up lots of good stuff. The early morning fog burned off quickly, and the sunny morning warmed fast too. It was birdy all morning long, with unusually high counts for several species and even quite a bit of singing.

Highlights:

SNOW GOOSE Flock of 11 flying north, 7:30 a.m. First of Fall
Cacking Goose Flock of 30-40 before 7. FOF
Northern Shoveler 1-2 males near weir
Horned Grebe One swam right past us down the slough
Western Grebe One on lake
Osprey Still one over lake
Band-tailed Pigeon Jim & Nancy reported 4 in a tree early
Barn Owl Several pre-dawn looks
Short-eared Owl One look, NE corner of East Meadow, early
Red-breasted Sapsucker Two at Rowing Club; last birds of the day
Pileated Woodpecker One flew over boardwalk
Violet-green Swallow 4+ over boardwalk, East Meadow
Barn Swallow Over a dozen still
Swainson?s/Hermit Thrush Hoping Ollie?s photos will clarify
VARIED THRUSH At least 2. FOF
Orange-crowned Warbler 3, west edge of Dog Meadow
Common Yellowthroat 2+ Last of the year?
WH.-THR. SPARROW One with a large flock of GCSP near weir
Western Meadowlark One, East Meadow. FOF
BREWER?S BLACKBIRD Male, East Meadow. First for 2014
Evening Grosbeak Heard overhead

We had extraordinary numbers of ANNA?S HUMMINGBIRD (12+), NORTHERN FLICKER (maybe 10), STELLER?S JAY (20-30), SPOTTED TOWHEE (15-20), SAVANNAH SPARROW (40+), and DARK-EYED JUNCO (100+).

This was our earliest fall sighting of SNOW GOOSE by four days, and only the third October sighting prior to the 4th week in October. It was our 4th earliest WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

For the day, 68 species. For the year, adding BREWER?S BLACKBIRD, I think we're up to 154 species ? that?s high, and a new record is possible this year.

I will be giving a data-rich summary of the last 20 years of birding at Marymoor Park at Monday?s WOS meeting in Seattle. See www.wos.org for more information.

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