Tweets -; we were mostly under glorious clear skies, and the setting full moon was bright pre-dawn. A great day for walking, with no wind and no rain, and mostly sunny conditions. Fairly warm too, getting into the low 40's pretty fast. It was quieter at times than I'd thought it would be, but maybe birds were just busy getting warm and dry, and eating up after days of less-good weather. We were joined by Jim McCoy, previously a Marymoor regular who moved out of state several years ago. Great to see him again, and to help him get a good collection of west coast specialties he doesn't get in his current home.

Highlights:
a.. SNOW GOOSE -; First for 2018, one with a few Canadas, ON THE LAKE
b.. Cackling Goose -; Three flocks overhead, maybe 650 birds total
c.. Scaup sp. -; one in the slough that disappeared before ID'd
d.. California Gull -; only 2nd for 2018
e.. Barn Owl -; flying the East Meadow from 6:38 until 6:50-something
f.. - All 5 common woodpeckers -; 2 Red-breasted Sapsuckers were first since Jan.
g.. House Finch again the only finch, and few of those to boot.
The SNOW GOOSE was our first March sighting, and by far the latest winter sighting ever. Also, none of us could remember seeing a Snow Goose actually *on* Lake Sammamish; they usually show up either flying overhead, or landing with other geese on the grass fields.

The GREAT BLUE HERONS were adding twigs to nests. The heronry is really active right now; Brian counted 41 birds in the heronry tree and its immediate neighbors. I'd expect we'll see some additional nests this year.

Misses today included Ring-necked Duck, Rock Pigeon, Virginia Rail, Northern Shrike, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, and Western Meadowlark, all of which have been seen at least 12 of the last 24 years for this week. Most of these species have been notably absent or rare this winter though, so (except for the pigeon) it wasn't a surprise to miss them today.

No swallows today, unless a single bird I saw flying north was one.

A late look at the lake added HOODED MERGANSER and HORNED GREBE to the day's list, raising the total to 57 species, best so far for 2018. The year list is up to 81 species.

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