Tweets ? Today was definitely one of those days where, if we got to pick the day of the week for the survey, we would have chosen a different day. But we go out EVERY Thursday, regardless. Heedless, even. Blustery and squalling, sun breaks on the side. Sometimes even winder than ?blustery?. At least the rain we got, while often horizontal, was not hard. The wind WAS often hard, though not gale force. Several trees fell or were damaged overnight, including the old willow near the East Footbridge which almost completely blocked our path. All in all, it made the birding difficult, but by no means impossible.

Highlights:

Cackling Goose Several distant flocks
Ring-necked Duck Three well below weir ? first since Week 3
Virginia Rail Continuing to ?sing? from east of East Meadow
California Gull A couple of breeding adults
Band-tailed Pigeon Single fly-by like last week, though closer
Barn Owl Flying the East Meadow at ~5:45 a.m.
Rufous Hummingbird Three males guarding territories
R.-breasted Sapsucker One at very fresh workings at Rowing Club
Northern Shrike Huddled atop soccer goal
Western Meadowlark One in East Meadow

Surprisingly, we managed 60 species today, although that included quite a few birds seen by only one or a few people. My personal list was only 54 species, for instance. Nothing new for the year.

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