Hi tweets,

Yesterday, May 5, Adrian Lee, Spencer Hildie, Scott Ramos, and I scoured
King County to find as many species as possible. We had a newish route, an
ambitious schedule, and hopes that we might come close to the county big
day record of 126 species. With lots of lucky finds and many new arrivals,
we ended the day with a remarkable total of 137 species!

We started out owling in and around Marymoor, then moved east to the
Snoqualmie Valley. Around sunrise, we headed up Stossel Creek Rd, a really
birdy area that was a revelation to me. We spent most of the morning
looking for migrants and the open-country specialties of the Snoqualmie
Valley, before heading south to the Kent Valley via the Snoqualmie area.
We made a bunch of quick stops around Auburn and Kent, then moved on to the
saltwater sites of West Seattle. We finished up at Magnuson Park and the
Montlake Fill, with our last bird, a Barn Owl, obligingly sitting in the
opening of the nest box at Magnuson at 8:52 p.m.

Some highlights:
- 5 species of owls, vocal marsh birds, and a winnowing Snipe
- fantastic shorebirds: Long-billed Curlew, American Avocet, Wilson's
Phalarope, and Solitary Sandpiper among them
- finding nearly all our targets in the Snoqualmie Valley, thanks to luck
and good local knowledge
- finally getting to the shores of West Seattle around 5:00 p.m., and
immediately finding a bunch of new birds for the day
- pulling a few more species out in the last hour of daylight at the
Montlake Fill

Thank you to Spencer, Scott, and Adrian for an amazing day. And thanks to
Matt Bartels and Michael Hobbs for sharing specific information and general
advice on King Co. big days.

I'm already thinking about next year!

Good birding,
Matt Dufort
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