Marymoor Bird Blog

Friends of Marymoor Park

Recent Bird Sightings

Report for November 20, 2025 Birding at Marymoor

The night's rain ended around 6:30 a.m., and the weather was somewhere between really nice and delightful the rest of the morning. Temps averaged about 50 degrees, no wind :) It was birdy too, making for a wonderful fall survey.

Highlights:

Greater White-fronted Goose - Six below the weir
Trumpeter Swan - Three flew south, calling, heading over the Viewing Mound. First of Fall (FOF)
Green-winged Teal - Two drakes at the Rowing Club were our first since mid-October
Scaup sp. - Several seen briefly from the Lake Platform. Jordan thought Lesser based on his photos
Short-billed Gull - Only mentioning because there were so many today
Horned Grebe - One or two visible from Lake Platform
Common Loon - A late scan of the lake turned up one. Right when we got to the slough, though, we may also have heard one. (FOF)
Double-crested Cormorant - Flock after flock flying towards the lake. 40+
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Adult, seen twice, caused consternation amongst a variety of birds
Barn Owl - I saw one just after 6:30 at the model airplane field
American Robin - Utterly ubiquitous. Impossible to count, but over 100, and probably over 200
Cedar Waxwing - Three near the Dog Area portapotties
Western Meadowlark - Three or more, with one singing
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD - Male near the Dog Area portapotties. Only our 2nd ever for November, and only our 5th ever for Oct-Feb.

We had no White-throated Sparrows, despite having had 3-4 last week (which I forgot to mention in my Tweeters post - we had three at the same moment near the Dog Area portapotties with another sighting 100 yards+ further north).

Misses today included Common Merganser, American Coot, Killdeer, Cooper's Hawk, Pine Siskin, and Lincoln's Sparrow.

For the day, 60 species.

= Michael Hobbs

Report for November 13, 2025 Birding at Marymoor

It was in the 50's with no wind, and we had no precipitation for over two hours of the survey, before it started to mizzle. At 10:15, it started to rain. It was pretty birdy until around 10:00, and then we found some water birds later.

Highlights:
     Seven species of duck, with AMERICAN WIGEON, RING-NECKED DUCK, and HOODED MERGANSER at the Rowing Club pond
     Wilson's Snipe - Great looks at ~8 below the weir
     Good flock of gulls, though only the most expected four species
     Pileated Woodpecker - A pair flew north up the Dog Meadow silently
     Merlin - Quick flyby a little downstream of the weir
     WHITE-THROATED SPARROW - THREE+! Three in a single view near the Dog Area portapotties, after seeing one 150 yards north of there
     Western Meadowlark - ~15 on grass/gravel parking area south of the Climbing Rock *again*

A late scan of the lake turned up two RUDDY DUCKS, First of Year (FOY), and two HORNED GREBE, First of Fall (FOF).

Misses today included Green-winged Teal, Cooper's Hawk, Northern Shrike, Steller's Jay, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin.

For the day, 56 species. Adding Ruddy Duck, we're at 134 species for the survey in 2025.

= Michael Hobbs

Report for November 6, 2025 Birding at Marymoor

Startlingly, we had very nice weather pre-dawn, and for the first TWO HOURS of our survey today. The weather then slid into drizzle and rain, but still without high winds nor fog nor cold. It really wasn't a bad morning to be out.

The birds, though, were somewhat few. Nothing much unexpected at all. We did have a few mixed flocks, though none of them yielded a surprise.

Highlights:

Gadwall - EIGHTEEN in the slough above the weir, with a few additional sightings. More than usual for Marymoor
Bufflehead - A handful visible from the Lake Platform. The only previous fall sighting, back in mid-October, was one far out on the lake
Great Blue Heron - We've never missed GBHE in Week 45 during the 31 years of the survey, but today we hung on to that string by finding ONE, below the weir
Pileated Woodpecker - Female being very obvious again this morning
Northern Shrike - East of the East Meadow
Western Meadowlark - Five on the grass/gravel parking lot with starlings

Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Anna's Hummingbird, Killdeer, Western Grebe, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Cedar Waxwing, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and Lincoln's Sparrow.

We managed just 49 species.

= Michael Hobbs

Report for October 30, 2025 Birding at Marymoor

There's nothing quite as penetrating as cold fog, and that's what we had this morning. Otherwise, we had nice weather and a fine walk for my birthday. Birds were somewhat plentiful, but hard to see.

Highlights:

Greater White-fronted Goose - Two adults with Canadas near the mansion
Greater Scaup - At least one, maybe four, flying past the Rowing Club dock. Others could have been other Aythya ducks. First of Year for GRSC for the survey! (FOY)
Hooded Merganser - Lone male showed up at the Rowing Club pond. First in 10 weeks!
Pileated Woodpecker - Female calling from INSIDE the nest hole! Joined later by a 2nd bird
Merlin - One or two quick flybys
Northern Shrike - Adult in East Meadow, briefly
White-throated Sparrow - Glimpsed in the NW corner of the Dog Area
Western Meadowlark - 10+ continue
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD - Pair south of the Velodrome (FOY)

BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS are not frequently seen at Marymoor, and have been completely absent some years.

Misses today included Bufflehead, American Coot, California Gull (possibly present among fog-shrouded flock at sunrise), Western Grebe, Pine Siskin, and Lincoln's Sparrow.

For the day, 59 species, though 10+ were heard-only. Adding the two FOY birds, we're at 133 species for 2025 for the survey.

= Michael Hobbs

Can you spot the bird through the fog?

Male Belted Kingfisher

Report for October 23, 2025 Birding at Marymoor

Perhaps we should have started at 8:00 a.m. instead of 7:30. With sunrise not until 7:38, and with overcast skies, it was quite a while before the birds were awake and visible. It never did get birdy, though it did get nearly sunny before the end of the walk. Windless and warm, with no precipitation, but quiet except for the robins and crows.

Highlights:

Short-billed Gull - One or maybe a few among the dawn gulls on the grass fields. First of Fall (FOF)
Northern Shrike - "Other Matt" photographed one at the south end of the East Meadow, the rest of us missed it
American Robin - Super-ubiquitous. 20+ seen every time we looked anywhere
Western Meadowlark - 19, or maybe 20, on the grass/gravel parking area north of the Viewing Mound

And that's about it for highlights, except for two COYOTES across the slough below the weir.

Misses today included Hooded Merganser, California Gull (though there may well have been some in the gulls while it was still too dark to really see), Pine Siskin, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler (!).

We did manage 54 species today, but at least 9 of those were heard-only, and about 15 were represented by only 1 or 2 individuals.

= Michael Hobbs

Report for October 16, 2025 Birding at Marymoor

My car reported 34 degrees pre-dawn, but in patches it was below freezing. There was frost on the boardwalk railings and on the grass in the East Meadow. Once the sun rose it did warm up well (20 degree shift by noon). It was a really beautiful day, though it did slowly cloud up. Birdy at times. Several First of Fall (FOF) birds.

Highlights:

Green-winged Teal - 3+ in the slough (FOF)
American Coot - 2 in the slough near the lake (FOF)
Double-crested Cormorant - About 20 flew up the slough towards the lake (FOF)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Juvenile near the start of the boardwalk
Cooper's Hawk - One juvenile harassing (and harassed by) crows. We also had 1-2 accipidrine hawks we could not get to species
Pileated Woodpecker - Heard several times, seen both at the beginning and towards the end of the walk
Bushtit - Flock of ~50 near the mansion. It can be hard to count that long a stream of tiny birds
White-throated Sparrow - One in blackberries and alders near Dog Area portapotties. First of Year (FOY)
Western Meadowlark - Several in the NE part of the park, including some vocalizing
Orange-crowned Warbler - One near southernmost dog swim beach - Quite bright

A late scan of the lake turned up a single male BUFFLEHEAD (FOF).

Misses today included Hooded Merganser, California Gull, Western Grebe, Merlin, and Cedar Waxwing.

For the day, 58 species. For the year, adding White-throated Sparrow, we're at 131 species for the survey

= Michael Hobbs

Savannah Sparrow, Pea Patch. Photo by Kris Anderson

Bushtit near the mansion. Photo by Kris Anderson

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