The rather heavy overcast of the early morning slowly thinned to broken sunshine by late morning, and the threatened showers never happened. So it was kind of dark for the first hour which made viewing difficult, but otherwise, the weather was very nice. The birding was great. It was really, really birdy, and it was often difficult to hear the less common species over the cacophony of American Robins, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Warbling Vireos, and Wilson’s Warblers.

Highlights:

Northern Shoveler               At least 1 of a flyby flock of 5; unsure of the rest Great Blue Heron                Several of the young are quite large
Osprey                               1 on nest; 6 simultaneously kettling near windmill!
Spotted Sandpiper              First of Spring; 1 near weir at about 6 a.m.
Vaux’s Swift                       Great looks near weir, maybe 8 total
Hairy Woodpecker             Male bringing food to nest; young chirping inside
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER – 1, silent, across slough from Dog Central
Western Wood-Pewee        Three – FOS
Hammond’s Flycatcher?      Probable, along boardwalk. Silent, poor views
Pacific-slope Flycatcher       1 near 3rd dog swim beach, silent, good looks
Warbling Vireo                    Ubiquitous, singing - 30+
Purple Martin                       2-3, model airplane field, male gathering nest material
Tree Swallow                       Pair copulating
N. Rough-winged Swallow   A couple seen
Pacific Wren                        One singing near dog area portapotty. LATE.
Swainson’s Thrush               Saw about 3; Matt heard singing early
Cedar Waxwing                  Nest being built, west edge of Dog Meadow
Orange-crowned Warbler    Only 1
Bl.-throated Gray Warbler   Female, west edge of Dog Meadow
Townsend’s Warbler           One heard singing, SE of East Meadow
Wilson’s Warbler                Ubiquitous, singing - 25+
Western Tanager                 Flock of 8, maybe 10+ total
BULLOCK’S ORIOLE      Copulating, NW part of Dog Meadow; 3 birds total
Red Crossbill                       Flock of a dozen or more near start of boardwalk
Evening Grosbeak                Heard near mansion

For the day, 71 species! For the year, adding SPOTTED SANDPIPER, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, and PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, I think we’re up to 129 species.

== Michael Hobbs
== BirdMarymoor@frontier.com

Very dark domestic "Mallard" with dark ducklings.  Photo by Hugh Jennings

Common Merganser pair at weir.  Photo by Michael Hobbs

Adult (top) and three young Great Blue Herons on a nest in the heronry.
Photo by Michael Hobbs

Cedar Waxwing building a nest.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Marsh Wren.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Swainson's Thrush.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

The swallows are almost certainly nesting just under the roof in a hole

One of the Ospreys.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Northern Orioles, 2013-05-15.  Photo by Lillian Reis

A big group of us enjoyed a great day at Marymoor, despite the rather dark overcast skies. But it was a comfortable temperature with no wind and it was birdy, so there were few complaints. There were a few birds that could have been more cooperative, but... It was a day of many First of Spring birds (FOS).

Highlights:

Mallard                                At least 3 females with ducklings
Blue-winged Teal                 Pair in slough near start of boardwalk, FOS
Cinnamon Teal                     Pair visible from lake platform, FOS
Common Merganser            Female with 1 duckling near entrance bridge
California Gull                      Rare for us to get a black-wingtip gull in May
Barn Owl                             Matt had one at 5:00 a.m. along road
Vaux’s Swift                        2 over weir, FOS
Belted Kingfisher                 1, after 9 week absence
Hairy Woodpecker              4 seen including pair at hole near windmill
Merlin                                  1 flew past windmill
Peregrine                             1 sped over East Meadow heading east
Warbling Vireo                    Many, singing
N. Rough.-winged Swallow  2 over weir
Swainson’s Thrush                1, brief look along slough, FOS
Cedar Waxwing                    8-10, FOS
Orange-crowned Warbler     Many, singing
Yellow Warbler                    2, FOS
Townsend’s Warbler            1 north of southernmost dog beach
Black-headed Grosbeak       Many singing males, FOS
Bullock’s Oriole                   One heard, FOS
Red Crossbill                        ~6 near mansion, ~8 at Rowing Club

For the day, 70 species. For the year, adding BLUE-WINGED and CINNAMON TEAL, VAUX’S SWIFT, SWAINSON’S THRUSH, CEDAR WAXWING, YELLOW WARBLER, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, and BULLOCK’S ORIOLE, we’re up to 124 species, I believe.

== Michael Hobbs
== BirdMarymoor@frontier.com

Very dark domestic "Mallard" with dark ducklings.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Cedar Waxwings across the slough.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Male Hairy Woodpecker.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Marsh Wren.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Northern Flicker pair on windmill.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Not quite sure what nest this is; probably Anna's Hummingbird.
The nest was at eye level along the slough in the Big Cottonwood Forest.
Photo by Ollie Oliver

We stumbled around (four of us had done a King County Big Day on Wednesday, and had gotten VERY little sleep) for about 4 1/2 hours under too-beautiful sunny skies. It was freezing (literally) when we started, but it warmed up fast. There were definitely birds about, but there weren’t many perched up singing so we had to work at getting looks at just about everything. But it was a very good day.

Highlights:

Common Goldeneye            1 female. Latest spring sighting ever
Least Sandpiper                   Early, there were still 3 in Lot B
Osprey                                3 (!) adults at nest
Red-tailed Hawk                 Definitely nesting on odd-snag nest again
Great Blue Heron                Several young in nests, some with wing feathers
Virginia Rail                         One called along boardwalk
Band-tailed Pigeon               Two flew over us
All 5 typical woodpeckers    (Downy heard-only)
N. R.-winged Swallow         A couple at lake
Warbling Vireo                    Many, with lots of singing
Hermit Thrush                      Saw a couple
American Pipit                    
Orange-crowned Warbler    Many, with lots of singing
Wilson’s Warbler                 Heard several, none would let us see
Western Tanager                  At least 3 (males & female) in heronry cottonwoods
Lincoln’s Sparrow               One east of boardwalk
Red Crossbill                       At least 1

For the day, 69 species. WESTERN TANAGER were new for the year.

== Michael Hobbs
== BirdMarymoor@frontier.com

Warbling Vireo.  Photo by Brian Bell

Female Western Tanager.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Warbling Vireo.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Song Sparrow singing.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Purple Finch at the park office feeder.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Bushtit.  Photo by Lillian Reis

Long-tailed Weasel, 2013-05-01.  Photo by Lillian Reis

Nashville Warbler, 2013-05-01.  Photo by Graham Hutchinson

Least Sandpipers, 2013-04-28.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Warbling Vireo, 2013-04-27.  Photo by Dough Schurman

Great Blue Heron, 2013-04-27.  Photo by Dough Schurman

Not quite from Marymoor Park, this Bobcat photo is from a neighbor directly
across West Lake Sammamish Parkway from Marymoor West on 2013-05-03.
Photo by Bill Dickson

A clear, full-moon night followed by a chilly but sunny morning... It was really pretty, and this time of year there ought to be a lot of birds about, but the morning was amazingly quiet, especially for the first three hours. It was as if all of the birds who were thinking of leaving their wintering grounds decided that the last couple of days and nights were perfect for migration, while everything that was already migrating found no reason to stop. But sometime after about 10 a.m., we started to find some “good” species and more of them. We were a big group today – 17 I think!

Highlights: (LOS – probable last sighting for this spring)

Ring-necked Duck             Still a pair at the Rowing Club – LOS?
Scaup sp.                           After the walk, a few, north end of the lake – LOS? Common Goldeneye           Still one female in the slough – LOS?
COMMON LOON           One pretty far out on the lake
TURKEY VULTURE        One over grass soccer fields around 11:00 a.m.
LEAST SANDPIPER        Eleven(!) at the puddles in Lot B
Hairy Woodpecker            One male Merlin, quick flyby
Pac.-slope(?) Flycatcher     Silent empid, poor looks, tear-drop eye ring
American Pipit                    Four with Least Sandpipers
NASHVILLE WARBLER One west of south end of East Meadow
BL.-THR GRAY WARBLER One a couple of trees over from Nashville

The best early highlight was a MUSKRAT swimming around the slough below the weir, followed by getting great looks at a BEAVER eating willows nearby. The beaver was hugely plump, and we wondered if it might be a pregnant female.

We’re still searching for our first Green Heron of the year, and we haven’t had a Belted Kingfisher for the last eight weeks. Also, no owls this morning, but otherwise we found all of the usual birds for this time of year. Even so, it didn’t seem very birdy much of the time; many species were heard-only, glimpsed-only, seen-by-only-a-few, or seen in small numbers. And there were 11 species seen Monday or Tuesday that we didn’t have today.

But there were lots of new species this week: Since last Thursday, we’d had GREATER YELLOWLEGS, DUNLIN, CASSIN’S VIREO, HERMIT THRUSH, CHIPPING SPARROW, and BREWER’S BLACKBIRD. Today, we added COMMON LOON, TURKEY VULTURE, LEAST SANDPIPER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, which I believe brings the 2013 total to 107.

For the day, 67 species; and if I add in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s birds, it totals 78 species!

== Michael Hobbs
== BirdMarymoor@frontier.com

Beaver eating willows.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Beaver eating willows.  Photo by Ollie Oliver
 

Great Blue Heron on nest.  Photo by Michael Hobbs

Common Loon on the lake.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Tree Swallow.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Male Common Yellowthroat.  Photo by Olllie Oliver

Cliff Swallows.  No matter the angle of the body, the head stays level.
Left photo by Ollie Oliver, right by Lillian Reis

Least Sandpipers.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Least Sandpipers.  Photo by Dasha Gudalewicz

Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Ollie Oliver

Muskrat.  Photo by Michael Hobbs

Mallard ducklings, 2013-04-23.  Photo by Michael Hobbs

Tree Swallow bringing nesting material to new nest box in East Meadow
2013-04-23.  Photo by Michael Hobbs

Hermit Thrush, 2013-04-22.  Photo by Michael Hobbs

Killdeer, 2013-04-22.  Photo by Lillian Reis

Killdeer, 2013-04-20.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Dunlin, 2013-04-20.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Marymoor was dark and cloudy early, did lighten up later, but no rain. Michael was absent on the east coast, so Matt & I substituted. None of this kept the birds from singing - lots and lots of singing today, particularly early.

Matt did have Barn Owl early, first time since March 14th. We also had a high flying Short-eared Owl at about 8 AM over in the direction of the East Meadow, and at the same time a high flying (and then perched) American Kestrel.

Highlights:

Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl
American Kestrel
Osprey
California Quail (singing from within the Great Blue Heron enclosure, probably the most unusual quail sighting in the park)
Hairy Woodpecker from 10 feet
Violet-green Swallows - at least 50
Western Meadowlark
 

It was a good day with 66 species for the day, but nothing new for the year.

Brian H. Bell Woodinville, WA

Short-eared Owl.  Photo by Ollie Oliver
 

American Kestrel.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

"Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler, male.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Rufous Hummingbird.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Male California Quail.  Photo by Dasha Gudalewicz

Red-breasted Sapsucker.  Photo by Hugh Jennings

Common Mergansers.  Photo by Dasha Gudalewicz

Muskrat.  Photo by Dasha Gudalewicz

Photo by Hugh Jennings

American Pipit, 2013-04-14.  Photo by Lillian Reis

...3 photos, 2013-04-14 by Lillian Reis

Orange-crowned Warbler, 2013-04-14.  Photo by Lillian Reis

Black-capped Chickadee, 2013-04-13.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Another Bushtit nest?  Photo by Ollie Oliver

White-crowned Sparrow, 2013-04-13.  Photo by Ollie Oliver