Tweets -; we were supposed to get a break from the rain by 8 or by 9 or by 10 according to various hourly weather forecasts, but that never happened. We had on-and-off drizzle all morning. For the first hour-and-a-half, the world was dominated by AMERICAN ROBINS on every tree and bush. Otherwise, birds were a bit hard to come up with, but small surprises kept popping up.

Highlights:
a.. TRUMPETER SWAN -; seven flew south over the Lake Platform
b.. American Wigeon -; one male below the weir
c.. SHORT-BILLED GULL -; approximately 160 flew south as we approached the Viewing Mound
d.. Sharp-shinned Hawk -; one dove under the blackberries below the Viewing Mound and emerged with prey
e.. RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER -; 1 or 2 before the start of the boardwalk. First in 10 weeks
f.. PILEATED WOODPECKER -; one flew up the Dog Meadow. First in 6 weeks
g.. American Crow -; hundreds emerged from night roosts just before sunrise. Debatable whether we had more crows or more robins, but around 400 each I'd say
h.. Cedar Waxwing -; a few (probably less than 10) mixed in with the robins
i.. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW -; two together in the NW part of the Dog Area
j.. Western Meadowlark -; one flew over the Pea Patch
We had at least 1 Downy, a heard-only Hairy east of the East Meadow and one seen from the Rowing Club dock, and a handful of Northern Flickers, to give us a FIVE WOODPECKER DAY.

Misses today included Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Northern Shrike, Bushtit, Pine Siskin (might have heard one), American Goldfinch (might have heard one or two), and Lincoln's Sparrow.

We wished Ruth Godding a Happy 75th Birthday today, in absentia since she just moved to Scotland. We all miss her presence after 10 years of Marymoor surveys together.

Next week starts the seven weeks of 8:00 a.m. starts, the darkest eighth of the year. Also quite likely the coldest and wettest. But these are good weeks for waterfowl, Dunlin, loons, owls, shrike, Varied Thrush, etc. All one needs are sweaters, full rain gear, tall rubber boots, gloves, Li'l Hotties, and a touch of intrepid spirit.

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