Tweets -; For a long stretch, this morning was the worst of the July doldrums. Dark overcast made seeing birds almost impossible. And the birds were also mostly silent. And there didn't seem to be many of them in the first place. Later in the morning, the light improved slightly, and we actually found some birds, but it was a bit of a slog until then. At least we didn't have precipitation.

Highlights:
a.. Spotted Sandpiper -; one of our late morning birds; one flew down the slough, seen from the Rowing Club
b.. Caspian Tern -; one from the Lake Platform
c.. Western Screech-Owl -; Matt heard one predawn from near the Lake Platform
d.. GREAT HORNED OWL -; We followed the mobbing calls of crows to find this bird in the dense trees SE of the mansion
e.. PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER -; One at the Rowing Club in a mixed flock; this is the first for the Survey in 2020, though others have reported them at Marymoor this year
f.. Orange-crowned Warbler -; one photographed, another glimpsed. Not a common bird at Marymoor in late July
g.. Black-throated Gray Warbler -; at least one, west edge of Dog Meadow
The biggest highlights were the mammals:
a.. Virginia Opossum -; one in the slough below the weir
b.. Eastern Gray Squirrel -; near the mansion
c.. Muskrat -; one in the slough south of the Dog Area
d.. Eastern Cottontail -; many
e.. Townsend's Mole -; one freshly dead one
f.. Bat sp. -; Matt had at least one pre-dawn
g.. River Otter -; presumed family group of 3 at the weir being very cute
h.. Mule Deer -; one seen from the Viewing Mound
No sign of any Rufous Hummingbirds, Bullock's Orioles, nor buntings. Misses for the day included Hooded Merganser, Killdeer, Green Heron, Steller's Jay, Cliff Swallow, and Yellow Warbler.

For the day, we eked out 60 species, many of them heard only and/or represented by only 1-2 birds.

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