Tweets - Another summer day at Marymoor, though thankfully it was a bit overcast at the start, and the heat didn't get troublesome until we were nearly done. The birds were mostly too busy, I think, to be posing for us, so there was a bit of frustration with the quick views we had of birds. We had quite a few heard-only, several flybys, and a number of glimpses.
We were also, I'm afraid, rushing the walk just a bit, as several of us were eager to get to Snoqualmie to find the Indigo Bunting and Least Flycatcher. We shouldn't have worried, since those birds proved relatively easy to find. :)
Marymoor Highlights:
Wood Duck 4 or 5
females with young, several sizes
Hooded Merganser 2+ unsupervised ducklings
Green Heron At least 4 chicks being fed
at the nest
Bald Eagle 3 newly fledged birds
east of the boardwalk
Western Screech-Owl Scott had one early near the
windmill
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1 flew past Compost Piles, 1 at Rowing Club
Belted Kingfisher Several sightings - we
haven't had many in 2009
Black Swift One appeared briefly over
the slough
American Crow Two dead babies under the
nest tree :(
Bushtit Parent(s) feeding
young near RC nest
Lazuli Bunting 2-4 males, 1 female, lots
of bad looks
Bullock's Oriole Male in Big
Cottonwood Forest
CEDAR WAXWINGS were everywhere.
The LAZULI BUNTINGS were singing, but mostly posing only when entirely back-lit. This was actually pretty typical for the day - birds popping up backlit or at distance or both. We had YELLOW WARBLER on a birch far across the river, for example. And a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER hid amongst the CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES above the Barn Owl nest box, and only 2 people managed to glimpse the bird before it flew away.
We did manage 56 species for the day, though.
== Michael
One of two dead baby crows under the nest tree near the mansion
Mother Wood Duck with at least 8 babies
Band-tailed Pigeon
Savannah Sparrow singing in the East Meadow
American Crow with a facial tumor and an extended, hooked bill
Male Brown-headed Cowbird singing in the Community Gardens
Northern Flicker
Adult and one of the four baby Green Herons at the Rowing Club nest
Dick Martin caught a Swainson's Thrush in good light, June 12
Brian Dobbin's wonderful photo of a male American Goldfinch, June 13
Brian Dobbin's photo of the Green Heron chicks at the Rowing Club
Another photo from Brian, both taken June 13
