Tweets -; A fabulous day at Marymoor this morning, as expected. This week, Week 17, is one of the top-3 for total number of species ever reported (though well short of Week 18). It's also historically been a week where many species show up as First of Year (FOY). With the light overcast, comfortable temperatures (48-63), and no wind, the weather was just about perfect. We had many participants, and so again split into Team Jordan and Team Michael.

Highlights:
a.. Cackling Goose -; fairly sizable flock flying north. This is about as late as we've ever had them
b.. Vaux's Swift -; my group had one, but this is still early-ish for them. More will arrive by mid-May
c.. Wilson's Snipe -; each group saw one, maybe the same one
d.. LEAST SANDPIPER -; Jordan's group had 4 at the weir. Unfortunately they soon flew, before my group could see them (FOY)
e.. SOLITARY SANDPIPER -; my group had great looks at one below the weir. Unfortunately it flew towards the lake before Jordan's group could arrive (FOY)
f.. Greater Yellowlegs -; one below weir
g.. Common Loon -; my group had one from the Lake Platform
h.. Cooper's Hawk -; one near the Viewing Mound before 6 a.m.
i.. Barn Owl -; one from the Viewing Mound at about 5:25 a.m.
j.. 5 Woodpecker Day -; though my group missed Hairy Woodpecker. Red-breasted Sapsucker was excavating a hole at the Rowing Club dock
k.. Merlin -; Team Jordan scored one
l.. WESTERN KINGBIRD -; one in the East Meadow (FOY)
m.. Warbling Vireo -; Each group saw two (FOY)
n.. Hermit Thrush -; Team Jordan scored one. Historically, this is the best week of the year for Hermits
o.. American Pipit -; my group had a couple fly over
p.. Evening Grosbeak -; my group had a couple fly over
q.. Red Crossbill -; my group had about 15 fly over
r.. CHIPPING SPARROW -; John Puschock found one which my group enjoyed, NE of the mansion (FOY)
s.. Western Meadowlark -; Jordan's group had two near Field 9
t.. YELLOW WARBLER -; both groups at least heard one singing at the south end of the East Meadow. This is the 4th earliest spring record for the Marymoor survey (FOY)
u.. Black-throated Gray Warbler -; both groups at least heard one singing west of the windmill
v.. WILSON'S WARBLER -; one near the Dog Area portapotties (FOY)
w.. WESTERN TANAGER -; Team Jordan saw one. This is the 3rd earliest spring sighting for the survey (FOY)
A late scan of the lake turned up BUFFLEHEAD (Jordan's group had a couple, the late scan turned up dozens), and at least 5 LESSER SCAUP.

This was just the 7th sighting of SOLITARY SANDPIPER, and the earliest. We've had three May sightings (May 5th, 8th, and 10th), one late-July sighting, and two late-August sightings previously. LEAST SANDPIPERS have been seen a little more commonly, but this was still only about our 15th sighting. We've now seen them in 12 years out of the 28 years of the survey.

So, a 5 shorebird day (counting Killdeer); a 5 woodpecker day; a 6 finch day (Evening Grosbeak, House Finch, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch); a 7 sparrow day (Spotted Towhee, Chipping, Savannah, Song, White-crowned, and Golden-crowned Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Junco); and a 6 warbler day (Orange-crowned, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, and Wilson's Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat).

Misses included Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Lincoln's Sparrow, all seen at least half of the previous years for this week.

Today, Team Jordan notched 64 species, Team Michael reached 69 species, there were two species pre-dawn, and one added in the late scan of the lake, to make AN EVEN 80 SPECIES for the day. Yesterday, I had two COMMON GOLDENEYE to make 81 for the week.

Adding EIGHT SPECIES to our 2021 list, we're now at 122 species for the year.

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