Tweets ? we were out on our annual Wednesday walk that precedes Thanksgiving. The weather was chilly early, and there was a breeze up the East Meadow, but otherwise there was mostly just a thin overcast. The only rain we got was while we drove to the Rowing Club. It was very birdy early, followed by a long stretch without much of anything. Things got more interesting near the park office again.

Highlights:

Trumpeter Swan ? Two distant, silent swans with VERY long necks
Northern Pintail Large flying flock contained at least 1 Pintail.
Rest of flock: ?Am. Wigeon/N. Pintail? and some ?duck spp.?
Green Heron One on beaver lodge caught a fish
Cooper?s Hawk Adult on same branch of same tree as last week
Barn Owl Early birders had 1 at windmill, 1 at East Meadow
W. Screech-Owl Early birders heard 2 near west end of boardwalk
N. Saw-whet Owl E. B.?s heard 2 (glimpsed 1) near east end of boardwalk
Hairy Woodpecker 1 a little north of weir
Pileated Woodpecker 1 flying north, far side of slough, north of weir
Merlin 1 near weir. Possible 2nd sighting before walk, East Meadow
Northern Shrike 1 harassing Red-tailed Hawk, n. of Fields 7-8-9 at 7:30 a.m.
Townsend?s Warbler 1 between Park Office and Clise Mansion

We had a GYNANDROMORPHIC MALLARD below the weir. Her bill was the orange with dark blotches of a female, and she was hanging out with a male Mallard as if they were paired. But her plumage looked like female plumage dusted over with male coloration. The head was greenish, especially on the crown, but with a hint of green all over. There was a whitish neck collar at the bottom of the greenish head. The breast was faintly but distinctly washed with chestnut. The back was frosted with pale gray. The tail feathers were curled like a male?s.

The ?Odd Snag? is the tallest object anywhere around Marymoor. It is an enormous broken-off Doug Fir that sticks up above the forest, west of West Lake Sammamish Parkway, across from the windmill. We call it the ?odd snag? because there is a spike of wood that sticks up from the top like a giant toothpick. Red-tailed Hawks have nested at the base of the toothpick for many years. Today, a BELTED KINGFISHER perched at the very top of the toothpick, which seemed a very odd (and very high) place for a kingfisher.

For the day, 63 species.

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