About a dozen of us met this morning at 6:00 a.m. to bird a rather quiet Marymoor under heavy overcast skies. There wasn't much about, but the more we scoured the bushes, the more we found. We proceeded slowly, because there were lots of unfamiliar bird calls and song fragments. In most cases, these were traced to various juvenile birds trying out their voices. We had BEWICK'S WRENS making barely recognizable broken fragments of songs and calls, a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD juvenile sounding like a calling Black-headed Grosbeak, and other vocal oddities. It made for slow going, as we kept having to ask ourselves "what the heck was that???"
Highlights:
Osprey
5 minimum, maybe several more
MERLIN
One in the Community Gardens
Spotted Sandpiper
4 on the railing of the lake platform, 1 at weir
CASPIAN TERN
Over the lake, our latest sighting ever
Barn Owl
Scott had one in the wee hours
Hairy Woodpecker
One heard and glimpsed near the weir
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
One bird along west edge of Dog Meadow
Purple Martin
Parents feeding 3 young at
nearest gourd
Brown Creeper
4-5, including begging young
following parent
Swainson's Thrush
One obvious juvenile, several others
Yellow Warbler
Two across from Dog Central,
singing
Black-throated Grey Warbler 2-3 along west edge of Dog Meadow
Wilson's Warbler
3-4
Western Tanager
2-3 males - First of Fall
At one point, there were two OSPREY perched in large firs near the mansion, calling incessantly. Juveniles? Two more Osprey flew northward, ignoring the youngsters. Then another Osprey came flying north with a fish, again ignoring the two in the tree. At least 1 Osprey was at the nest platform for much of the day, and multiple birds were seen over the lake. Hard to count...
Before 6:00 a.m., Matt and Scott had a falcon fly by the east end of Snag Row. They tentatively identified it as a Peregrine, though Matt was second-thinking that ID after the definitive Merlin sighting at the Pea Patch. Scott also thought he had a NORTHERN HARRIER near the Compost Piles, but nobody else got more than glimpses of the bird.
We had baby BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS doing their best to insist on getting fed by: WILLOW FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, WILSON'S WARBLER, and, I think, SONG SPARROW.
For the day, 60 species (not counting the possible harrier and/or peregrine). Not bad at all for the August doldrums...
== Michael
Male Western Tanager in a Black Cottonwood
Bushtit in a European Hawthorn, part of a large flock
Baby Purple Martins looking glum because they haven't been fed in AT LEAST ten seconds
Female Purple Martin stuffing bugs into one gaping maw
HURRY UP, DAD. I'M STARVING
Red-winged Blackbird looking for bugs under the lily pads
Osprey "riding a fish"
Brown Creeper on a Western Red Cedar near the mansion
Scott Ramos saw a Common Opossum in the early morning hours
Scott's photo of a juvenile Green Heron