Tweets ? we seem to be on the cusp, with the end of breeding lingering on, while post-breeding dispersal and migration are only just creeping in. Combine that will early morning fog, and a plethora of juvenile birds making odd sounds ? well, the morning was frustrating at times trying to get looks. Especially for the first couple of hours, there were a lot of glimpses of birds, rather that great looks for everybody. The REALLY early birders had some Perseid meteors to dazzle them until it got too light around 5:00. Thick fog from then until sunrise meant no owls. By the end of the day, though, there had been some good birds and interesting sightings.

Highlights:

Gr. White-fronted Goose One near climbing rock. Very early!
Gadwall One at lake; first since early May
Common Merganser Lone duckling at weir, 14 larger ones in slough
Great Blue Heron One nest has 2 babies ? 2nd clutch?
Green Heron A couple (or more) juveniles along the slough
Eurasian Collared-Dove Sharon saw one near the White-fronted Goose
Pileated Woodpecker One heard many times west of the slough
Warbling Vireo A *flock* near the heronry ? numbers nearing 10
Purple Martin Gourd nest young fledged. Only a couple of birds overhead
N. Rough-winged Swallow 1-2 over East Meadow
Bewick?s Wren Notably many ? 20+
Swainson?s Thrush Juvenile seen eating dogwood berries
Orange-crowned Warbler 1-2 at Rowing Club
Yellow-rumped Warbler More than a handful
Black-thr. Gray Warbler 3+
Wilson?s Warbler 1 near start of boardwalk
Western Tanager At least a couple

The GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE is by far our earliest fall record. We?ve only had one other August record, back on 2004-08-25, and only two other records prior to mid-September.

We had no Rufous Hummingbirds ? they may be done for the year. No Vaux?s Swift either, though I expect we?ll see some migrants later. Also missing were Violet-green Swallows, but they get sporadic at this time of year. We?ve had pretty regular sightings into October of previous years, but from here on out, we miss them more often that we see them. No Cliff Swallows, and they may be done for the year at Marymoor.

With sightings of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER last week and this week, we now have records of this species from every week of the year. YRWA is the 42nd such species, and there are 5 more species that are missing only one or two weeks.

It was also an excellent day for non-bird sightings, with EASTERN GRAY SQUIRREL, AMERICAN BEAVER, MUSKRAT, EASTERN COTTONTAIL, COYOTE, LONG-TAILED WEASEL, PAINTED TURTLE, RED-EARED SLIDER, and GARTER SNAKE.

For the day, 62 species of bird. For 2015, we?re up to 140 species. We?ve got about a dozen more that we?re still likely to get this year, plus hopefully a few rarities. In recent years, we?ve been tallying in the high 150s per year.

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