There was a thick layer of fog that hung like a quilt above the trees all morning, leaving us in the dark. It was a strange morning, as some birds seemed more numerous that usual, while others were remarkably absent or barely there. A surprising amount of singing may have made me think it was birdier than it was. [Oh, come on, Spell Check, ?birdier? is too a word]. We?re definitely getting into winter now, with very few birds of summer remaining. That said, duck numbers were pathetic, with less than a dozen seen total.

Highlights:

Cackling Goose Sixteen with Canadas, NE corner of park
Gadwall First of Fall ? two glimpsed flying downslough
Cooper?s Hawk Four sightings, juvenile 3 times, adult once
Merlin One seen near Compost Piles
Pacific Wren First of Fall ? one under heronry
American Pipit Several, including 7 that landed next to us below weir
Evening Grosbeak Two flew overhead calling

Singing birds included Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Fox Sparrow (many), Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, and American Goldfinch.

The fog burned off right as we were done, so I did something I almost NEVER do, which was to walk the loop again (just the main loop, not the mansion or rowing club). I did this quite quickly and didn?t find too much for most of it. At the lake, I was able to verify WESTERN GREBE, which had been too far out to identify for sure previously. A the East Meadow, I found two WESTERN MEADOWLARKS and a juvenile NORTHERN SHRIKE. This is a bit early for shrike, but there were a couple of reports of shrike at Marymoor this weekend. I?d love specific details (Saturday or Sunday???) since either way, that?s the earliest fall shrike record for the park, as there are only two sightings earlier than today?s ? one from October 7, 2010, and one from October 8, 2007 (and a tying one from October 9, 1997)

At the base of the Viewing Mound, I added a lingering COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. There are only 5 previous sightings later than this date, with the latest being October 21, 1999.

So, a fairly mundane day, but not too bad, especially with my late additions. For the extended day, 58 species.

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