Tweets -; We had a very interesting day. We had a layer of fog under the smoke, which made the light dim and visibility sometimes difficult. The birds were in clumps, and we'd walk long stretches of quiet and then we'd come across a mixed flock of 5+ species. This happened many times. Migration seems to have stalled -; we had many more lingering "summer" birds than we had returning "fall" birds, though I'm sure all of the lingering birds were pausing at Marymoor on their migration from further north.

Highlights:
a.. Hooded Merganser -; male at Rowing Club. First since early July, though they usually breed in or near the park
b.. Mourning Dove -; one literally at the Viewing Mound. Third week of sightings of a single bird; probably the same one
c.. Vaux's Swift -; two or three seen from near the East Meadow. First in 5 weeks. We don't usually see them after this week
d.. American Coot -; at least 13; our first group of the fall, following our summer of one bird
e.. CASPIAN TERN -; two; latest sighting ever, only our second September sighting, and more than 10 days later than the previous late record
f.. Osprey -; still at least two. Will be leaving soon
g.. Western Screech-Owl -; one mocked us pre-dawn, calling from very near the boardwalk but never seen
h.. Hairy Woodpecker -; one on far side of slough west of Big Cottonwood Forest
i.. Pileated Woodpecker -; ditto
j.. Western Wood-Pewee -; one south of the East Meadow. Only 4 later sightings ever
k.. Willow Flycatcher -; at least two. Only 8 later sightings
l.. Warbling Vireo -; four or five. Only 4 later sightings
m.. Barn Swallow -; several still around. These get rare after the first week in October
n.. Swainson's Thrush -; maybe three, all heard pre-dawn
o.. Golden-crowned Sparrow -; Two or more, East Meadow and south, First of Fall (FOF)
p.. Orange-crowned Warbler -; Maybe four or five
q.. Yellow Warbler -; three
r.. Black-throated Gray Warbler -; one scruffy-looking bird
s.. WESTERN TANAGER -; two. Only 5 later sightings
t.. BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK -; one. Only 5 later sightings as well
So Hoodie, Coot, and Golden-crowned Sparrow were the only birds that seem to be fall arrivals, while Vaux's Swift, Caspian Tern, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Western Tanager, and Black-headed Grosbeak were lingering later than typical.

We had one TANATALIZING MAYBE. When we found the BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, it was being mobbed by hummingbirds. There were clearly ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS involved, but one hummingbird paused for about 10 seconds, and gave us a pose and appearance that looked far more like BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD... BUT, we never could find the bird again for confirmation. The posture, the crisp white collar, and other aspects made BCHU seem really likely, but it was chased off by an Anna's just too soon. Would have been a park first, if confirmed. Matt and I went back and forth and back and forth about whether to count this bird. I feel the sighting was just too brief to check and recheck field marks.

Misses today included Green Heron, Fox Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler (three more missing "fall" birds).

For the day, 64 species. With the coming weather change, I expect next Thursday's bird list to be very different from today's.

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