Michael is out of town this week, so Brian Bell & I took the reins for this week's Marymoor Park walk. It was a beautiful morning at Marymoor -- little fog early, mosquitoes not too bad, and the heat never kicked in despite the sun. Mt. Rainier was prominent in the distance.

As for birds, it was definitely summer doldrums time --  with lots of baby birds around,  a good bit of singing persisting, but not as wide a variety of species making an appearance.

Top highlight , as with last week: the LEAST FLYCATCHER was still present in exactly the same cottonwood grove at Dog Central [where the bulletin boards are]  that it has been che-bekking in since June 17.

Other notables:

Pied-billed Grebe  - our first grebe since before nesting season.
Barn Owl - at the windmill @ 4:00am [no luck on the Screech-Owl this morning]
Green Heron - 3 sightings, probably of 3 individuals, at least one was a juvie
Red-breasted Sapsucker - 2 sightings including a juvie looking very grey/brown
Bullock's Oriole - one juvie early, one adult male later
Purple Martins - still in both of the gourds at the lake platform.
Osprey - Young still on the nest over 520

We had baby Brown-headed Cowbirds all over the place -- hard time figuring out who was feeding them most of the time as they were getting a little grown up looking.

A tantalizing 'maybe' was a look Richard Carlson had of a possible Bank Swallow over the sparrow piles. It would be/is the only the second Marymoor record for this species.

Finally, this is how the east meadow woke up between about 4:30 and 5:10, as Scott Ramos & I waited for owl possibilities:

Willow Flycatchers' "fitz-bews" & Swainson's Thrush "whits" begin the
morning along with a few Killdeer calls.  Swainson's switch to their songs slowly, as the American Robins join in.  A scattered Song Sparrow song, and the beginnings of the Common  Yellowthroat 'per-whichities'  Add in a couple Spotted Towhee calls & trills, as a Bald Eagle gives a weak wake up call. Crows & Savannah Sparrows wake up and start filling in the gaps. Purple Martins up in the sky somewhere.... Marsh Wren begins late, as [this week] does Ring-necked Pheasant

For the day, 59 species, with notable misses including Tree Swallow &
Rock Pigeon.

- Matt Bartels
 

Least Flycatcher.  Photo by Ollie Oliver

Male Bullock's Oriole.  Photo by Ollie Oliver