It?s so nice to have photos (THANKS, OLLIE), from which it was easy to see that this morning?s mystery sparrow was, in fact, a VESPER SPARROW. This is just our 6th sighting of Vesper Sparrow at Marymoor, and first since 2012. But 5 of the 6 sightings have been between mid-August and mid-September.

Some of Ollie?s photos will be on the blog, hopefully later tonight.

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

From: Michael Hobbs
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2016 3:16 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2016-08-25

Tweets ? Our last August walk was warm and sunny (really nice dawn), and not overly birdy, but pretty good nonetheless.

Highlights:

Green Heron 1 nearly invisible at Rowing Club pond
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 calling unseen to the NE just before sunrise
Band-tailed Pigeon Several sightings
Mourning Dove 1 on far side of slough
Barn Owl Flew past Viewing Mound at 5:40 a.m.
W. Screech-Owl Matt had one around 5am at start of boardwalk
- all 5 woodpeckers - Few good looks, though
Warbling Vireo Two, presumably migrants
Purple Martin Young have fledged from gourd nest
Or.-crowned Warbler Maybe 4
Yellow Warbler 1-2
Bl.-thr. Gray Warbler 4-6
Wilson?s Warbler 1
Bl.-headed Grosbeak 1 adult female, 1 juvenile male, I believe

We also had an as-yet UNIDENTIFIED SPARROW (photos were obtained) that could have been VESPER SPARROW perhaps. A nice eye-ring was the most obvious feature of the bird.

The two just-fledged PURPLE MARTINS hatched in the gourd nest were sitting in the nearest tree. When we got to the lake, both parents were sitting on the gourd cross-arm. Nice to see successful fledging.

After the walk, I took another look at the north end of the lake, finding a juvenile CALIFORNIA GULL, two NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS, and two juvenile BALD EAGLES, all species new for the day?s list.

Misses today included Spotted Sandpiper (this year?s babies appear to have grown and flown), Rock Pigeon, and Brown-headed Cowbird (unusually, no August sightings this year).

For the day, 62 species, plus the mystery sparrow.

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


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