Tweets -; a remarkable day today at the park. It started out a *c*h*i*l*l*y* 46 degrees, and many of us were underdressed. It did warm up though. Crystal clear skies and no wind, great pre-dawn stars, and lots of birds were the order of the day. Uncooperative birds, however, were many. They either wouldn't sit still, or they would sit still in a terrible (for us) location. But there were lots of birds to see, and surprises.

Highlights:
a.. Greater White-fronted Goose -; two landed on the grass soccer fields right at 6:30. First of Fall (FOF), and our 4th earliest fall record ever
b.. Northern Pintail -; one flew south about 6:35. FOF, and our 2nd earliest fall record ever
c.. Mourning Dove -; one sat, looking very cold, near the Viewing Mound just before sunrise
d.. Virginia Rail -; one seen across the slough south of the Dog Area, while we were hearing 2-3 more
e.. *five woodpecker day* -; a Pileated seen at the Rowing Club confirmed the 5th species; we'd only *thought* we'd heard one earlier
f.. AMERICAN KESTREL -; adult male landed briefly near Dog Central -; First of Year (FOY)
g.. Western Wood-Pewee -; several seen, with one singing full song. Not seen last week
h.. Willow Flycatcher -; 2-3 seen, not seen last week
i.. Warbling Vireo -; many (8?), pretty much all in crisp, contrasty plumage
j.. Violet-green Swallow -; one
k.. Swainson's Thrush -; many SEEN, a few more doing "wheet" calls
l.. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD -; female seen across the slough. FOY, and first fall sighting ever. This is only the 10th record I have for this species in my database
m.. Yellow Warbler -; very active flock with 5+ along edge of Dog Meadow, plus a few more. No breeding-plumage males noted
n.. Wilson's Warbler -; one or two
o.. Black-throated Gray Warbler -; one nice male, plus a female at the Rowing Club
p.. Western Tanager -; many, with many quick views of each. Not good at sitting still, but then almost nothing sat still
q.. Black-headed Grosbeak -; two glimpsed
Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Glaucous-winged Gull (though we did have about 6 Larus sp.), Green Heron, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Orange-crowned Warbler.

For the day, 62 species plus Larus sp. For the year, adding Kestrel and the Yellow-headed Blackbird, we're up over 150 species for 2021 already.

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



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