Tweets -; Thursday, the weather started bad but then got kind to us. Owling was pretty much rained out, and we had rain for about the first hour of the main walk. But then it all miraculously cleared off revealing quite a bit of blue sky. Not cold or windy either. However, the park was definitely flooded. We had no access along the slough south of the southern-most Dog Swim Beach, and the entire southern half of the Dog Meadow was closed off. Heading towards the boardwalk south from the East Meadow we had water over the trail, and a big Trail Closed sign at the start of the boardwalk. The boardwalk will remain closed until the water recedes, and Parks has a chance to check its condition.

Birds were here and there, but nothing too special showed up:

Highlights:
a.. 9 species of duck
b.. Ring-necked Pheasant -; "Lonesome George II" lives -; it's been weeks and weeks since we saw him
c.. Cedar Waxwing -; at least 15 near Dog Area porta potties. Could not find a Bohemian with them though
d.. Purple Finch -; about 4, first in several weeks
e.. White-throated Sparrow -; continues with zonotrichia flock below the weir
f.. Western Meadowlark -; one in the East Meadow flew towards the model airplane field
For the day, we managed 54 species.

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