Tweets -; It was a lot wetter than last night's forecasts showed. We birded under very gray skies, and for the first several hours we had intermittent mizzle and drizzle. Lighting conditions were terrible for viewing, and temps stayed resolutely below 50 degrees. It was pretty birdy, but there was a lot of heard-only or heard-and-glimpsed birding going on. Late in the morning, the weather got a little better.

Highlights:
a.. Caspian Tern -; one from the Lake Platform -; only our 2nd of the year
b.. Osprey -; seem to be sitting on eggs on both nests
c.. Cooper's Hawk -; one over grass soccer fields
d.. Barn Owl -; Matt saw one a little after 5 a.m.
e.. Barred Owl -; I heard one calling a little before 5 a.m. Sounded like it was near the west end of the boardwalk
f.. Pileated Woodpecker -; thought we heard one. Later, we had one fly right over our heads near the cars
g.. Western Wood-Pewee -; they're back, and they're back in numbers. Probably had 8 at a minimum. First of Year (FOY)
h.. Northern Rough-winged Swallow -; at least one below the weir
i.. Swainson's Thrush -; some nice actual views again this week
j.. Red Crossbill -; some heard overhead twice
k.. Bullock's Oriole -; probably at least 4, with a pair at the Pea Patch gathering nesting material
l.. Orange-crowned Warbler -; a few heard singing
m.. Yellow Warbler -; at least 10 heard, a few seen
n.. Yellow-rumped Warbler -; only about three, all heard-only
o.. Townsend's Warbler -; at least 1 singing along west edge of Dog Meadow
p.. Wilson's Warbler -; at least 4 males
q.. Western Tanager -; two females at Rowing Club, a male seen later near the tennis courts as I left the park
r.. Lazuli Bunting -; a minimum of two males and a female, East Meadow
A late scan of the lake was very productive. First I was able to confirm a BANK SWALLOW (FOY); earlier we'd thought we might have seen one from the Lake Platform. There was also a CLIFF SWALLOW, which makes for a SEVEN SWALLOW DAY! Over the Lake Platform I also found at least eleven BLACK SWIFT (FOY). And looking across the lake I found a non-breeding plumage COMMON LOON.

Finally, as I was leaving the park, I spotted a GREEN HERON (FOY) being chased by a ROCK PIGEON near the intersection of SR-520 and West Lake Samm Parkway.

Misses today included Red-tailed Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, and Downy Woodpecker. For the day, 74 species. For the year, adding 4, we're at 137 species.

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