Tweets ? another glorious day. The temp. started out at 32, but even the smallest puddles had no ice. By the time we left, it was 50 degrees. Hazy sunshine all morning, and BIRDY.

Highlights:

Cackling Goose One flyby flock of about 35
Wood Duck Pair across from Dog Central
Northern Pintail One flushed by an eagle well below weir
Green-winged Teal High numbers - 32+, most below weir
Horned Grebe One on lake, seen after the walk
Sharp-shinned Hawk A couple of sightings, possibly all the same large juvenile
Cooper?s Hawk Ditto
Eurasian Collared-Dove First of Year, flying over NW part of Dog Meadow
Northern Saw-whet Owl Matt & Brian heard one very early, again
Anna?s Hummingbird Female on nest near start of boardwalk
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD 2 males. Ties earliest Marymoor record with 2014
Red-breasted Sapsucker Numerous drumming males
MERLIN Landed in Snag Row. Probable ?taiga? ? quite pale
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW 5+ after it warmed up. 3rd earliest sighting
Red Crossbill Small number around mansion

There were an unusually large number of BALD EAGLES, including at least 5 adults (I saw them simultaneously after the walk) and a juvenile (maybe more than one). We saw two adults fly over the heronry, which of course resulted in all of the herons taking flight. Twice I observed a juvenile eagle scatter the herons. We didn?t see any overt moves by any of the eagles to try and hunt the herons. We also saw many herons on the nests, and at least one bringing in nesting material.

Two male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS were seen, and both did their ?J?-display flights. One was near the southernmost official dog swim area near the footbridge. The second was at the southeast corner of the East Meadow. As I noted above, this ties the record for earliest RUHU at Marymoor with 2014. In only four years have we had them before March 15.

Our only earlier sightings of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW were 2002-02-28 and 2006-03-03, and it?s only our 5th year with a sighting before March 10.

We had an astounding 67 species for the day. Adding EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, our 2015 list is up to 84, I believe.

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