It was a beautiful sunny morning, with moderate temperatures. Unfortunately, the wind was constant at about 10 mph. It really put a damper on the birding, especially as most of the birds are mostly silent right now. Between the moving branches and the wind noise sufficient to hide chip notes, it made finding birds very difficult.
Highlights:
Hooded Merganser
Suddenly up to 7 at the Rowing Club
Accipiter sp.
One at weir, our first since June
Barn Owl
Reports of a great show, East Meadow, early
HUTTON'S VIREO
Only the 5th-ever Marymoor sighting
Black-throated Gray Warbler One juv. female, west edge of Dog Meadow
White-crowned Sparrow A multitude of juvies
in the Pea Patch
Black-headed Grosbeak One juvie male in
Pea Patch
Evening Grosbeak
A dozen near east end of boardwalk
House Sparrow
Our first since June
The HUTTON'S VIREO was in the northwest part of the Dog Meadow, and gave us great looks and a call or two.
A big surprise were our big misses today. No Red-tailed Hawks! No Willow Flycatchers, Violet-green Swallows, Swainson's Thrush, or Yellow Warbler (though all of those tend to have stuck around through mid-September in previous years). No Red-winged Blackbirds (though we've missed them this time of year before - a definite dip in mid-August in a species otherwise resident). No Orange-crowned nor Wilson's Warblers, though those migrants are a bit less dependable by week 34. And only single Warbling Vireo and Black-headed Grosbeak.
For the day, 53 species. I did have a bat near the windmill at about 5:30 this morning, though.
== Michael
Hutton's Vireo in a willow, northwest corner of the Dog area
Hugh Jennings' photo of the Hutton's Vireo
One more view of the Hutton's
Hugh's photo of two Green Heron juveniles, near the RC dock