It started out a chilly 48 degrees, with a touch of ground fog. Jupiter shone brightly to the east before sunrise. Mt. Rainier was crystal clear to the south as the sun began to rise above the Cascades. We saw noowls in the early hours, but things sure got birdy shortly after our 6:30 a.m. start. The projected winds failed to materialize, and the sun quickly warmed us. The birds, however, were exciting enough to make all of this poetry irrelevant.
The first half hour or so, we ended up birding south of the windmill, drawn by the calls of WESTERN TANAGER and glimpses of woodpeckers. In a mostly-leafless tree, we ended up with 4 species of woodpecker within about 5 minutes. There were lots of other birds around too.
Later, just a bit south of Dog Central, at the place where we usually traverse a tiny trail to access the Dog Meadow from the slough trail, we found a RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER which posed in the cottonwoods for several minutes.
Highlights:
Hooded Merganser 10 at the Rowing Club
pond
Rufous Hummingbird Still 2-3 of these around
RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER See above
Red-breasted Sapsucker 2-3, all juveniles just getting red
Downy Woodpecker Several
Pileated Woodpecker One in the tree south of the windmill
Willow Flycatcher 3 mostly silent birds
Purple Martin Gourd empty, but a couple flying
at lake
Barn Swallow Dozens - only other swallow
Black-throated Gray Warbler One near Dog Area portapotties
Western Tanager 2+ south of windmill
LINCOLN'S SPARROW First of Fall, east edge of East Meadow
Evening Grosbeak Heard, and 2 glimpsed
Additionally, we bumped into some birders from BC. One showed us a photo he took last Monday, August 24th, of a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY. He reported 2 birds, and it sounded like they'd been in the East Meadow trees near the gate to the Dog Area. This is a new species for the Marymoor Park list, and has been long anticipated. Hopefully, next time, one of US will be able to see them!
For the day, I think we had 55 species.
== Michael
Green Heron on rocks just below weir
Chestnut-backed Chickadee on an uncharacteristically exposed perch
Red-naped Sapsucker in a Black Cottonwood
In this photo you can see the black below the red on the throat
Red-naped Sapsucker in a Black Cottonwood
In this photo you can see the black below the red on the throat
Bad photo of the Lincoln's Sparrow
Osprey over the East Meadow
Red-winged Blackbird in the Pea Patch
First of three hot air balloons, looking north
Juvenile Green Heron eating what looks to be a Bullfrog
Young male Common Yellowthroat
Young male Wood Duck
Eclipse-plumage Mallard drake
Female Wood Duck
Male Bushtit (note the light-colored eye)
