Interesting natural history account.
Well done, thank you for sharing.
On Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 8:24 PM Michael Hobbs via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:
>
I wanted to add some notes, because several people have commented
>
about both Osprey and Band-tailed Pigeon occurrences in fall.
>
>
First, my comments about the likelihood of these species was strictly
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relevant only to Marymoor and specifically to the Marymoor Survey.
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>
With regards to Osprey, our next survey is not until October 2. While
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it is likely that Osprey might be seen during the next 6 days, we've
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only had Osprey sightings in 9 out of 31 years after October 1st, so
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it's quite likely we've seen our last for the 2025 Survey. Also, even
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though we've had Osprey as late as December 15th, there's no reason to
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believe any Osprey that nested at Marymoor are still around by
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October. What we've noted in those 9 years are almost certainly birds
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from further north who are migrating south. They may catch a fish to
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eat while at the park, but they aren't living at the park. If they
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were still resident, we'd see them more often during the 4-5 hours
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we're at the park each Thursday morning.
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>
BTW, this is true of many species. Our nesting Savannah Sparrows seem
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to clear out pretty quickly after nesting season, and we have a big
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drop in numbers and even gaps in occurance. Then, in late August and
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September, we get a push of Savannahs through the park. These birds
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tend to be in locks of up to a dozen, and appear larger and brighter
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than our nesting birds. I've heard that the American Robins that nest
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around Seattle mostly leave, being replaced during winter by robins
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who nested further north. The breeding Fox Sparrows in our mountains
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are a different subspecies than our wintering lowland Fox Sparrows, so
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even though Fox Sparrows are present all year round in the state,
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there may be no individual which lives in the state all the time.
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>
As for Band-tailed Pigeons, Marymoor is not at all an ideal habitat
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for them; not for breeding, and especially not in winter. There are
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wintering Band-tails in the county, and several people have them at
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their feeders in the winter, but they are pretty much only at (or
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often just flying over) Marymoor during the summer when they are
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nesting in nearby areas. We've had no indication that they nest in
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the park. And many Band-tailed Pigeons do migrate south. We were
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just in Klickitat County on the Columbia River over the weekend, and 3
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or 4 times we saw tight flocks of dozens of Band-tailed Pigeons flying
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around. These are almost certainly migrants who were massing for the
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flight across the river, something they likely do at night to avoid
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Peregrine Falcons.
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>
One of the things that make Washington a great place to bird is the
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incredible number of micro-habitats. Even at the county level, we
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typically have great diversity of habitats, such that every county has
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a long list of species possible. Within King County, birds are very
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definitely not uniformly distributed, even when you adjust for
>
elevation. What's true about Marymoor is not necessarily true about
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other places that are quite close to the park. Marymoor has no
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natural conifer forest, with pretty much all of the conifers being in
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an equal-aged stand of Doug Firs around the mansion. Parks mows under
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those trees, so there isn't a trace of the typical understory of a
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conifer forest. Thus, Marymoor has no breeding Pacific Wrens,
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although they nest in forested areas just upslope from Lake Sammamish.
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For Marymoor, Pac wrens are only a winter species (probably comprising
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individuals that nested in areas of the Cascades that get covered by
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snow). The lack of conifers extends to the park not having any good
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mixed forest areas, so Hutton's Vireos are very unusual in the park.
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Hutton's seem to prefer wet forests with a mix of deciduous trees
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,madrones, and conifers (especially Red Cedars). Hutton's are common
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on Mercer Island and at Lincoln Park, but not at Marymoor.
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>
Marymoor does, itself, have a great mix of habitats. We make up for
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the absence of good conifer forests by having better grasslands than
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much of the county. Thus we have a pretty good chance for meadowlarks,
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shrikes, Savannah Sparrows, etc. than many parts of the county. Lake
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Sammamish is a large enough lake to lure in some diversity of water
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birds. Marymoor is also large enough to be visible to fly-over birds
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as a bit of a green oasis. That likely explains how we can have a
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park list currently at 246 species.
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>
And all of this is why I can still find great interest and enjoyment
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in birding at the park, even after more than 31 years.
>
>
= Michael Hobbs
>
= BirdMarymoor at gmail.com
>
= www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
>
>
On Thu, Sep 25, 2025 at 12:31 PM Michael Hobbs <birdmarymoor at gmail.com>
>
wrote:
>
>
>
> Tweets - A pretty good day at Marymoor. Though a bit nippy (49
>
> degrees at the start), it was sunny and windless. Fairly birdy too.
>
>
>
> Highlights:
>
> Band-tailed Pigeon - Two sightings of a single bird. We get
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> fairly few sightings after mid-September
>
> Wilson's Snipe - Two landed in the mud on the far side of the
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> slough opposite one of the Dog Beaches. Great looks, unusual location
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> Osprey - Only one silent bird; nests are empty. We are unlikely
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> to get another sighting this year
>
> American Kestrel - One in the East Meadow
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> Merlin - One streaked by us near the start of our walk; thus a
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> two falcon day
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> Ruby-crowned Kinglet - At least one, singing weakly near Dog
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> Central, never seen. First of Fall (FOF)
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> Pacific Wren - One at the Rowing Club, heard calling but not seen
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(FOF)
>
> Swainson's Thrush - One heard pre-dawn, probably the last for the
>
year
>
> Western Meadowlark - Five in the East Meadow (FOF)
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>
>
> We also had a tight flock of more than a dozen pale-bellied ducks
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> flying down the slough fairly high - possibly American Wigeon, but
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> hard to be sure.
>
>
>
> Misses today included Hooded Merganser, American Coot, California
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> Gull, Green Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Bushtit (though I had some
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> yesterday in the Dog Meadow), American Pipit (though we might have
>
> heard one), Savannah Sparrow, and Orange-crowned Warbler.
>
>
>
> Despite the rather long list of misses, we still managed 56 species
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> (not counting the mystery ducks). Not a bad day.
>
>
>
> = Michael Hobbs
>
> = BirdMarymoor at gmail.com
>
> = www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
>
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