Tweets -; The seasons have changed, and all of a sudden we're into late fall/early winter birding. Summer birds and pass-through migrants were practically non-existent at Marymoor today, but returning winter birds easily filled out the day. We were in the dark, damp, dead zone underneath the fog for much of the morning, and the passerines were pretty scarce and quiet.

Highlights:
a.. Snow Goose -; one, in with Canadas. First for 2020
b.. Greater White-fronted Goose -; flock of seven on grass fields
c.. Cackling Goose -; 21, in two clumps amongst the Canadas
d.. American Wigeon -; one at the weir, five on a late scoping of the lake
e.. BUFFLEHEAD -; two females seen on a late scoping of the lake. First of Fall (FOF), and earliest fall sighting ever
f.. Horned Grebe -; one near Lake Platform -; FOF
g.. RED-NECKED GREBE -; one on late scoping of the lake -; First for 2020
h.. Western Grebe -; two on lake. I had two on Tuesday, 9/29, for FOF
i.. Western Screech-Owl -; very cooperative bird gave us looks, west portion of boardwalk, around 6am
j.. Merlin -; two sightings of fast flybys
k.. American Pipit -; somewhere around 17, grass fields
l.. Western Meadowlark -; at least 10! I had one on Tuesday, 9/29, for FOF
m.. Red-winged Blackbird -; large flock -; maybe 40-50 total
n.. Common Yellowthroat -; still a handful around; pretty much our only "summer" bird
o.. Yellow-rumped Warbler -; a couple of dozen, including at least one Myrtle
The most unusual sighting was at the first footbridge, across the slough from the Rowing Club. We came across a flock of Black-capped Chickadees fairly low in the trees, all agitated. There was also a Bewick's Wren, and two Fox Sparrows, all calling. We eventually spotted the apparent cause of their distress -; a MOUSE (probably a House Mouse, Mus musculus, that was dangling from the very end of a twig above the trail. Soon, the mouse dropped to the ground with an audible splat, and it scurried off. The birds moved around, still agitated, for another minute.

Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Green Heron, Bushtit, Marsh Wren, and Cedar Waxwing. No swifts, Osprey, flycatchers, vireos, or swallows, and warblers were down to just Common Yellowthroat and Yellow-rumped.

For the day, 59 species.

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