Tweeters - As is often the case, the forecast for RAIN ALL DAY proved to be
completely off the mark. It was a very pleasant day, with only a
scattering of drops now and then (never got near to drizzle). Neither cold
nor windy, and mostly with pretty good light, so a great December day to be
out. The boardwalk has a couple of inches of water over it and it is
officially closed for now.

Not necessarily a great day to be birding, though, as there were LONG
stretches of quiet. But we did have a few good sightings. The dozen+ of
us had a good time, I think.

Highlights:

- Cackling Goose - Skein after skein flying high overhead, but none
landed
- Horned Grebe - I saw one at the lake, but it swam around the point out
of sight almost immediately
- Wilson's Snipe - Only one along the edge of the slough where last week
we had 15+, but it gave us great looks
- Great Horned Owl - I saw one pre-dawn in the trees along the slough
just south of the gate from the Dog Area
- Pileated Woodpecker - At least two birds, with some close looks
- Northern Shrike - Adult north of Fields 7-8-9
- Bushtit - I *heard* a flock in the East Meadow pre-dawn, our first in
almost two months!
- Varied Thrush - Two or three at the Rowing Club parking lot
- American Robin - Hundreds
- White-throated Sparrow - One between slough trail and Dog Meadow with
many other sparrows
- Savannah Sparrow - One or two along the west edge of the East Meadow

We had a very nice mixed flock in the grove with the apple trees, east of
the 2nd Dog Swim Beach. Three species of Zonotrichia sparrows, including
the WHITE-THROATED, plus Song and Fox Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Downy and Pileated
Woodpecker, and probably more.

A riot of five RIVER OTTERS was in the slough, and COYOTES howled along
with the fire truck siren.

Finches were almost completely AWOL; we had a few very small groups of
flying finches, and heard a very few faint calls. HOUSE FINCH was
definitely heard, American Goldfinch might possibly have been heard, but
not a single finch was seen perched nor heard well.

Misses today included Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Ring-billed Gull
(though we had at least 75 unidentified flying gulls), Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and Lincoln's Sparrow.

For the day, though, 53 species.

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