[Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2023-08-17

[birdmarymoor]

Tweets - It started warm today and got hotter and hotter.  By 10:15 it was 79 degrees, according to my car.  This long stretch of hot, dry weather does not help the birding one bit.  It's hard enough to find birds in July and August...

It was extremely quiet except for one nice mixed flock along the west edge of the Dog Meadow.

Highlights:
    Gadwall - One-to-several from the Lake Platform
    Ring-billed Gull - One from Lake Platform.  Our only gull
    Cooper's Hawk - One at Pea Patch
    Owl sp. - Tony had a largish owl fly SW over the East Meadow pre-dawn.  Great Horned?  Barred?  Short-eared (seems too early)?
    Hairy Woodpecker - One heard near the start of the boardwalk
    Purple Martin - Two babies being fed at the gourds.  Lots of activity in snags west of the slough too
    
The mixed flock, west edge of the Dog Meadow, along about 100 yards in the 15 minutes we spent sorting through them:
    Anna's Hummingbird
    Downy Woodpecker - At least a couple
    Western Wood-Pewee - Several
    Willow Flycatcher - 1-2
    Warbling Vireo - Maybe 6!  At least some seemed to show quite a bit of yellow on the belly
    Black-capped Chickadees
    Chestnut-backed Chickadees
    American Robins
    Cedar Waxwings, including adults and immatures
    Yellow Warbler - 1-2
    Western Tanager - Maybe 6!  

And seen in approximately the same area a little later:
    Bushtits
    Black-throated Gray Warbler - 1

Misses today included Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Red-tailed Hawk, Violet-green Swallow, Purple Finch, Brown-headed Cowbird (might have seen one juvenile), Wilson's Warbler, and Black-headed Grosbeak.

For the day, just 52 species, counting Tony's owl.

= Michael Hobbs
= http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
= BirdMarymoor at gmail.com