Marymoor Blog

Thu, 10 Dec 2009

20091203

Report for December 3, 2009

What a glorious day to be out. Even an hour before sunrise, the full moon, shining through thin overcast onto frosty fields, made it bright enough to read. And it was frosty - 28 degrees at 7:30. We had to deal with some fog from 7:30 until about 8:00, but then it cleared off nicely, leaving us with a mostly windless day with some sun, and crisp, clear air. It wasn't very birdy early, but with a large group of birders (18), we managed to find quite a bit by the end. Along the way, we had some nice
looks at a few birds as well.

Highlights:

We had a flock of about 500 CACKLING GEESE, comprised of several subspecies, inside one of the baseball diamonds in the NE corner of the park. Amongst them were two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, and probably the same BRANT I saw yesterday.

Matt, Natalie, and Mark saw three (presumed) TRUMPETER SWANS fly overhead.

We had good (for this winter) duck diversity, if not high numbers, with 1 WOOD DUCK, a few AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARDS, a single female GREEN-WINGED TEAL, four BUFFLEHEAD, three COMMON GOLDENEYE flying, three HOODED MERGANSER, one or more male COMMON MERGANSER flying, Still, pathetically low numbers.

The GREEN HERON was again tucked in along the east edge of the Rowing Club pond.

We had three different COOPER'S HAWKS, two adults and one juvenile.

A MERLIN streaked across the river at Dog Central and flew though trees loaded with robins. Later we saw it fly across the Dog Meadow heading east.

We had one HAIRY WOODPECKER in an ash tree.

We had a not-terribly-cooperative NORTHERN SHRIKE in the East Meadow, which gave us a few views.

A COMMON RAVEN was being harassed by crows NE of the mansion.

We also had a RIVER OTTER well out on the lake.

For the day, 59 species, though that number is somewhat inflated by birds
seen only by one or two of the 18 of us.

== Michael

Frosty East Meadow, 7:27 a.m.

The Merlin briefly landed in a distant cottonwood

The clouds, the moon, the trees, and the frost
The moon, a bit past full, setting around 8:30 a.m.

Hairy Woodpecker high in an Oregon Ash tree
Lillian Reis' photo of a Downy Woodpecker

American Coot from the lake platform
Juvenile Cooper's Hawk, seen from the boardwalk

Song Sparrow at the Compost Piles
Bewick's Wren at the Compost Piles. Photo by Lillian Reis

Brant goose with Cackling Geese
Ollie Oliver got a little closer for his nice shot

Ollie's photo of an adult Greater White-fronted Goose with Cackling Geese
Juvenile White-crowned Sparrows, from front and back. Photo by Lillian Reis

Anna's Hummingbird in the Pea Patch
Ollie's photo of same

Adult Cooper's Hawk next to the Pea Patch
Vexing gull. Almost looks like a Western Gull. The head is a bit smudgy, though, and the mantle isn't that dark. Probably at least mostly a Western, though it may have a Glaucous-winged ancestor somewhere...

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What a glorious day to be out. Even an hour before sunrise, the full moon, shining through thin overcast onto frosty fields, made it bright enough to read. And it was frosty - 28 degrees at 7:30. We had to deal with some fog from 7:30 until about 8:00, but then it cleared off nicely, leaving us with a mostly windless day with some sun, and crisp, clear air. It wasn't very birdy early, but with a large group of birders (18), we managed to find quite a bit by the end. Along the way, we had some nice looks at a few birds as well. Highlights: We had a flock of about 500 CACKLING GEESE, comprised of several subspecies, inside one of the baseball diamonds in the NE corner of the park. Amongst them were two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, and probably the same BRANT I saw yesterday. Matt, Natalie, and Mark saw three (presumed) TRUMPETER SWANS fly overhead. We had good (for this winter) duck diversity, if not high numbers, with 1 WOOD DUCK, a few AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARDS, a single female GREEN-WINGED TEAL, four BUFFLEHEAD, three COMMON GOLDENEYE flying, three HOODED MERGANSER, one or more male COMMON MERGANSER flying, Still, pathetically low numbers. The GREEN HERON was again tucked in along the east edge of the Rowing Club pond. We had three different COOPER'S HAWKS, two adults and one juvenile. A MERLIN streaked across the river at Dog Central and flew though trees loaded with robins. Later we saw it fly across the Dog Meadow heading east. We had one HAIRY WOODPECKER in an ash tree. We had a not-terribly-cooperative NORTHERN SHRIKE in the East Meadow, which gave us a few views. A COMMON RAVEN was being harassed by crows NE of the mansion. We also had a RIVER OTTER well out on the lake. For the day, 59 species, though that number is somewhat inflated by birds seen only by one or two of the 18 of us. == Michael	Frosty East Meadow, 7:27 a.m. The Merlin briefly landed in a distant cottonwood
The clouds, the moon, the trees, and the frost	The moon, a bit past full, setting around 8:30 a.m.
Hairy Woodpecker high in an Oregon Ash tree	Lillian Reis' photo of a Downy Woodpecker
American Coot from the lake platform	Juvenile Cooper's Hawk, seen from the boardwalk
Song Sparrow at the Compost Piles	Bewick's Wren at the Compost Piles. Photo by Lillian Reis
Brant goose with Cackling Geese	Ollie Oliver got a little closer for his nice shot
Ollie's photo of an adult Greater White-fronted Goose with Cackling Geese	Juvenile White-crowned Sparrows, from front and back. Photo by Lillian Reis
Anna's Hummingbird in the Pea Patch	Ollie's photo of same
Adult Cooper's Hawk next to the Pea Patch	Vexing gull. Almost looks like a Western Gull. The head is a bit smudgy, though, and the mantle isn't that dark. Probably at least mostly a Western, though it may have a Glaucous-winged ancestor somewhere...