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Friends of Marymoor Park
Recent Bird Sightings
Report for May 7, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
Broken clouds today made for some hazy light, and there were a few mosquitoes. Otherwise, it was a fine morning to be out. In some ways it was quite a birdy day, but in other ways, it felt quite flat. Part of this is the Week 18 to Week 19 transition. Week 18 (April 30-May 6) has had a cumulative 155 species, while Week 19 (May 7-13) has had only 133. That 22-species decrease is mostly the final exit of almost all "winter" birds. So our Week 19 trips always seem to have far fewer species than our Week 18 trips. Most of the time, though, new arrivals are so numerous as to make the dip in species
count less important. Today, though, we only had two new species for the survey for 2026.
Highlights:
- Mallard - The first ducklings of the season were out below the weir
- Western Warbling Vireo - At least 8, and quite possibly more, with lots of singing and quite a few sightings
- Swainson's Thrush - Right on schedule, but only heard pre-dawn (as if often the case the first week or two of presence). No songs yet either. First of Year (FOY)
- American Goldfinch - Several sightings of these bright yellow gems
- Orange-crowned Warbler - One glimpsed, but a total of about 5 singing
- Northern Yellow Warbler - One or two seen, but numbers seemed low
- Yellow-rumped Warbler - Only one or two heard-only; the rush of them seems over
- Wilson's Warbler - Lots of singing, and several views
- Black-headed Grosbeak - Some singing, but only a couple of very poor looks
- Lazuli Bunting - At least two males near the Compost Piles. (FOY) for the survey, though they were seen by others earlier in the week
Misses today included Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Cliff Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Pine Siskin, and Bullock's Oriole.
Birds that we were hoping to see, but didn't, included Blue-winged Teal (possible throughout May), shorebirds such as Solitary Sandpiper & Greater Yellowlegs, Common Loon (often present late-April to mid-May), Turkey Vulture, flycatchers (at least four pass-through species were quite reasonably possible), Cassin's Vireo, Chipping Sparrow, and warblers such as Nashville, MacGillivray's, Black-throated Gray, and Townsend's. While none of these were really expected, it was the complete absence of ANY pass-through migrants that made the day seem flat.
We did manage 57 species, seven fewer than last week. Adding Swainson's Thrush and Lazuli Bunting, the survey stands at 103 species for the year.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for April 30, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
It was sunny, and mostly not too hot. Windless too. And we were just before Beltane, the spring cross quarter, which in some ways
marks the actual start of summer. It was amazingly not super-birdy, yet we ended up finding a good list of birds.
Highlights:
- Cinnamon Teal - Three males, seen a couple of times. First of Year (FOY) for the survey
- Green-winged Teal - Two, probably our last until fall
- Killdeer - Adults with chicks, on the grass/gravel parking area
- Green Heron - One flying down the slough fairly high (thanks, Karen). (FOY)
- Barred Owl - Matt got serenaded along the boardwalk, pre-dawn
- Pileated Woodpecker - Observed what appeared to be a nest exchange in a dead cottonwood a little before the start of the boardwalk
- Hutton's Vireo - One singing, south of the windmill
- White-throated Sparrow - One SINGING in the middle of the Dog Meadow. 3rd latest spring sighting ever, and only the 4th time we've heard one sing at the park
- NASHVILLE WARBLER - One seen through the willows from the boardwalk (FOY)
- Wilson's Warbler - One singing, unseen, at the Rowing Club (FOY)
- Western Tanager - One high atop a fir ENE of the mansion (FOY)
- Black-headed Grosbeak - One seen singing (FOY)
Misses included Hooded Merganser, Vaux's Swift, Pied-billed Grebe, Cooper's Hawk, Hairy Woodpecker, Western Warbling Vireo, Barn Swallow, and Pine Siskin
For the day, 64 species (best yet for the year). Adding six new species, we're at 101 for the survey this year.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for April 23, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
It was darkly overcast and cool this morning, with temps in the 40's. It was not the magical spring morning one might hope for, but it wasn't too bad either.
Highlights:
- Common Goldeneye - One (maybe two) females. Just our 10th COGO sighting ever for late-April and May
- Hooded Merganser - At least two, and shockingly only our second since late February
- Band-tailed Pigeon - Our second time this spring, but they should become regular starting next week, through at least July
- Vaux's Swift - A few amongst the horde of Tree/Violet-green Swallows. First of Spring (FOS), and on the earlier side for first sighting
- Great Blue Heron - Young big enough to be visible on some of the nests
- Five Woodpecker Day - All seen
- Merlin - At least one, probably two. Fourth week in a row
- Western Warbling Vireo - One heard singing, but not seen, at the Rowing Club. (FOS), and tied for the earliest ever !!!
- Tree & Violet-green Swallows - Large numbers overhead just about everywhere
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Several over the slough below the weir, late
- American Robin - Adult sitting on a nest at the very south end of the Dog Meadow
- Brown-headed Cowbird - (FOS) and a very late return. They're typically around all of April. Many today, though
- Northern Yellow Warbler - One heard singing, but unseen, east from the SE part of the East Meadow (FOS). 2nd earliest return ever, and that by only one day !!!
- Yellow-rumped Warbler - Many, many, many, and all I was able to see well were "Audubon's", and virtually all male
Misses today included American Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Green Heron, Belted
Kingfisher (may have heard late), Cliff Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Pine Siskin, and "Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Despite that rather lengthy list of Misses, we did manage 61 species today.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for April 16, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
Six of us joined forces for this week’s Marymoor survey. Early on, it was cold and rainy - but the rain mostly stopped by about sunrise - it remained cool all morning, but the birds were pretty active once they woke up and it got a little bit warmer.
As with last week, we were watching for spring arrivals and winter departures.
Highlights:
- Cackling Goose - Eric had a small flock fly over before 6:30 - pretty late for Marymoor
- Wilson’s Snipe - still one around
- Great Blue Heron - this week several young birds were heard ‘grum grum-ing’ at the rookery
- Barn Owl - one seen right around sunrise
- All 5 regular woodpeckers eventually showed up, though Sapsucker managed to hide until the Rowing Club
- 5 swallow species, including our first Purple Martins of the year (FOY), with several inspecting the gourds at the lake platform
- Ruby-crowned Kinglets - still a couple around, singing
- Varied Thrush - one late, at the mansion area
Misses today included: Ring-necked Duck, Band-tailed Pigeon, American Coot, Cliff Swallow, Brown Creeper, Pine Siskin, Fox Sparrow, and Brown-headed Cowbird. [And we did not see the Brewer’s Sparrow that was reported at the park on eBird today]
For the day, 61 species
Matt Bartels |
Report for April 9, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
Eight of us enjoyed a beautiful spring day today at Marymoor - We didn’t turn up any rarities, but it was too pleasant to mind too much.
Highlights included:
- Greater White-fronted Goose - still a group hanging out at the weir - getting late for them here
- Eurasian Collared-Dove - one flew in and perched by the east meadow viewing mound for nice looks. First of Year (FOY)
- Wilson’s Snipe - just one still around
- Great Blue Heron - at the heronry we heard the ‘grum grum grum’ sounds of new borns - most of the nests appeared to have incubating adults on them
- Osprey - after a couple weeks of reports but nothing enduring, they are back repeated display flights, one at the nest and one perhaps building a new nest on the light poles. For the survey, (FOY)
- Bushtit - nice views of a pair attending a nest
- Ruby-crowned Kinglets - still a few around, singing
- American Pipit - nice flock of 20+ flying around the gravel parking on the north lots (FOY)
- Fox Sparrow - several still singing
- Golden-crowned Sparrows - still quite a few around up in trees and singing
- Yellow-rumped Warblers - good looks at both Audubon’s and Myrtle
Notable misses included: Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Rock Pigeon, American Coot, Glaucous-winged Gull, Brown Creeper, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and Brown-headed Cowbird.
For the day, 59 species
Matt Bartels |
Report for April 2, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
We had such high hopes for this mornings' survey, but the day was Dark, Drippy, and Dull. Overcast, with mizzle, and mid-40's temps that felt colder.
Highlights:
- Band-tailed Pigeon - Finally got good looks at two flying birds. First of Year (FOY) for the survey
- Virginia Rail - None seen, of course, but many "singing" the "Kiddick-kiddick"
- Double-crested Cormorant - A flock of ~40 a little before 7:00 was just about all that we found
- Merlin - A quick view of a bird in full attack mode on some poor bird, Dog Meadow
- Tree Swallow - Had only 1-2 we could identify
- Violet-green Swallow - Huge numbers high, later over the lake low, and still later low over the slough
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow - One spotted over the slough below the weir around 10:30
- Barn Swallow - One over the lake, one over the slough below the weir later (FOY)
- Bushtit - Seen building nest(s)
- Western Meadowlark - Five, including some song, on the grass/gravel lot near the Climbing Rock
- Common Yellowthroat - One song heard once from the boardwalk, a little more pre-dawn (FOY)
- Yellow-rumped Warbler - Both "Audubon's" and "Myrtle" males looking pretty sharp
We also had a deer in the SE part of the park.
Misses today included Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, American Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Osprey (though there have been several reports other days), Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Brown-headed Cowbird.
For the day, 58 species. Adding Band-tailed Pigeon, Barn Swallow, and Common Yellowthroat, we're up to 87 species for the survey this year.
= Michael Hobbs |
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