Tweets ? It was drizzly and sometimes breezy, rather chilly and damp, and not totally pleasant this morning. The birds felt the same way, and generally hid inside the bushes, except for the American Robins which streamed and swirled overhead in large numbers all day ? hundreds of them. Still, we managed to find low numbers of quite a few species.

Highlights:
a.. Ring-necked Duck ? Four from the Lake Platform ? First of Fall (FOF)
b.. Common Merganser ? one at weir again
c.. Virginia Rail ? at least one heard across the slough near the start of the boardwalk
d.. Double-crested Cormorants ? 2nd of fall, and numbers perhaps beginning to ramp up
e.. Bald Eagle ? more than just our local pair ? perhaps 7 birds
f.. Cooper?s Hawk ? multiple sightings
g.. Barn Owl ? one giving us nice looks until about 7:00 a.m., East Meadow
h.. Merlin ? one seen twice, or two
i.. PEREGRINE FALCON ? one doing lazy circles over the Rowing Club
j.. VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW ? at least 6, briefly seen over Big Cottonwood Forest
k.. Varied Thrush ? a couple near the mansion, at least 5 at Rowing Club
l.. PINE SISKIN ? first confirmed flock of Fall
m.. COMMON YELLOWTHROAT ? still one heard, one seen
n.. Yellow-rumped Warbler ? a few about, Audubon?s for sure, maybe a Myrtle?s
o.. WESTERN MEADOWLARK ? five on fields near eastern softball fields
Good day for mammals, with AMERICAN BEAVER heard pre-dawn from the slough, a mother and fawn MULE DEER seen from the Lake Platform, and at least 2 RIVER OTTERS at the Rowing Club pond. Plus the usual Eastern Gray Squirrels and and Eastern Cottontail.

For the day, an even 60 species of bird. Not bad for drizzly, breezy weather in mid-October. Misses included Hooded Merganser, Green Heron, Northern Harrier (often a migrant at this time of year), Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Purple Finch.

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