Tweets -; We were under cloudy skies today, but the rain held off until we were about done for the day, which was excellent. Not too terribly birdy, but pretty good anyway. This is February, after all... The snow is almost completely gone from the park, and we did not see any notable damage.

Highlights:
a.. Wood Duck -; again, two pairs near the lake. We seldom get them, most winters, but so far we've had 1 or 2 pair each week in 2021
b.. Barn Owl -; one in East Meadow, predawn. One in meadow on west side of slough, predawn
c.. Barred Owl -; Matt saw one near the east end of the boardwalk. Later, I heard one at the Rowing Club parking lot, possibly the same bird -; First of Year (FOY)
d.. Northern Shrike -; one ENE of the Viewing Mound, seen by half the group
e.. Marsh Wren -; one was spontaneously singing east of the East Meadow -; first songs I've heard from MAWR this year
f.. Varied Thrush -; at least two singing at the Rowing Club, one seen poorly
g.. Western Meadowlark -; at least two, north end of the East Meadow
A late scan of the lake turned up one HORNED GREBE.

As I was driving home, I saw a flock of geese looking like they would land in the NW corner of the park, so I made a quick right turn back into the park. Sure enough, I found a flock of CACKLING GEESE on the grass softball fields west of the tennis courts. Among them was an adult GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE -; (FOY). While I was viewing them, I heard a call, turned around, and found six AMERICAN GOLDFINCH in a tree in the parking lot. So that quick stop yielded 3 new birds for the day .

Misses today included Mew Gull, Bushtit, and White-crowned Sparrow.

For the day, 59 species, with two new for 2021.

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