Still being a bit jet-lagged, getting up early wasn't a
problem for me this morning. I got down to the East Meadow by 7:00 am
for one of the best sunrises ever. Before the sun came up, though, we
had pretty good looks at both a BARN OWL and a SHORT-EARED OWL - a great
start for 2010 at Marymoor.
Once the day really began, temps were moderate, the wind was light, the
morning mostly overcast though clearing. The birds were fairly hard to
come by, though. Things started to pick up at the lake, but things
didn't really get birdy until we were going around the mansion area.
The Rowing Club was also great.
Just about every birder in the state showed up, it seemed. I counted 22
people (not everyone was there the whole time), which was really too
many...
Highlights:
Common Goldeneye Great views in the slough, more on
lake
Green Heron Continues on east edge of RC pond
MERLIN Landed on a favorite perch near stage
Virginia Rail Heard a couple from the
boardwalk
Barn Owl One near windmill, one in East Meadow
Short-eared Owl East Meadow after 7:00 a.m.
Red-breasted Sapsucker One NE of mansion
Northern Shrike East Meadow
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2+, including bright Audubon's at RC
Townsend's Warbler At least 1, NE of mansion
ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS were ubiquitous - I'd guess 8+. Several times we
saw two chasing each other. A couple of them, at least, were doing
their loop display flights complete with the popping noise.
For the day, we managed 59 species.
== Michael
Scott Ramos caught some of the glory of sunrise
Golden-crowned Sparrows
Scott Ramos saw two River Otters in the slough
Common Goldeneye on the lake (Pied-billed Grebe in the background).
Photo by Ollie Oliver
Adult White-crowned Sparrow at the Compost Piles.
Photo by Scott Ramos
Brown Creeper
The creeper appeared frozen in place, perhaps because it saw the Merlin
Merlin atop whip-snag near concert stage. Photo by Ollie Oliver
Song Sparrow. Photo by Ollie Oliver
Ryan Merrill's photo of the Brown Creeper
Two adult White-crowned Sparrows, apparently of the gambelli subspecies.
Photo by Ryan Merrill.