It was another one of those days that convinces me of the wisdom of going birding despite ?the weather?. Yeah, it rained all night, and it was blowing bits of rain from 7:00 until maybe 8:00, but the rest of the morning was actually pretty nice, with only a few sprinkles and showers. As for birds, nothing dramatic, but there are almost always some notable sightings, and today was no exception.

Highlights:

Turkey Vulture Two after the walk ? latest ever for Marymoor
Sharp-shinned Hawk One at the south end of the Dog Meadow
Killdeer 15-20 in one flock, NE corner of park
Band-tailed Pigeon Sharon saw a few
BARN OWL Flew around from 7:05-7:27 or later!!!
Northern Flicker Many, including a pure-looking ?Yellow-shafted?
Merlin West of the slough
Northern Shrike Juvenile, East Meadow
Common Raven Sharon saw/heard one over the Rowing Club
- swallow sp. - Sharon saw one over the slough near the windmill
Bushtit Sharon saw a few, East Meadow, first in 5 weeks
American Pipit ~5, looking to land, NE corner of park
Or.-cr. Warbler One along west edge of East Meadow
W. MEADOWLARK 12-13, NE corner of park
Pine Siskin Several large flocks, one very large flock

The BARN OWL was out way too late, giving us startlingly good looks in dim daylight. You could see every feather. The crows slept in, but still...

Today?s was the first time we?ve noted a pure ?YELLOW-SHAFTED? FLICKER at Marymoor! Today we had a female with a tan face, a red crescent on the gray nape, and bright yellow feathers on wings and tail. There were ALSO 1-2 intergrade males with red malars AND red on the nape. A juvenile that was with the YSFL also may have been an intergrade. We?ve noted intergrades a handful of times before, though we don?t usually scrutinize flickers that closely, and we?ve probably missed many. There were quite a few flickers today (10+), so there must have been some kind of passage of them through the park.

After the walk, I went back to the East Meadow, trying to scare up either a Savannah Sparrow or a Common Yellowthroat. Savannah?s might still be around, but I couldn?t find any. Common Yellowthroat should be gone by now, but both Sharon and I had independently thought we?d heard a call or two along the East Meadow grassy trail. I couldn?t turn one up on my return however. The two TURKEY VULTURES were my consolation prize; they appeared to the NE and came south across the park. Last week?s 3 TUVUs were the latest fall sightings on record for the park, but they didn?t keep that record long!

For the day, we managed 58 species, though it was definitely the kind of day where not everybody sees everything!

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