[Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2023-05-25

[birdmarymoor]

Tweets - A gorgeous day at Marymoor this morning.  There was a little bit of ground fog that lasted for the first 45 minutes of the walk, but other than that the weather was perfect.  Sunny, never too hot.  49-65 degrees.  There was quite a bit of bird activity, but species diversity is extremely low.

We had just 55 species today.  That's six fewer species than the lowest total in the preceding 10 years, and is 10+ species below the preceding 10-year average!  

Still, there were some things to see.

Highlights:
    CACKLING GOOSE - One seen very well in a close fly-by with 4-5 Canadas.  At least 3 weeks later than the previous latest spring record!
    Bald Eagle - Lots of activity, probably at least 7 birds, including 4 juveniles in one tree at the lake.  This year's young???
    Spotted Sandpiper - 3+ below the weir.  First of Year (FOY)
    Pileated Woodpecker - Adult feeding baby(s) in a snag in the Big Cottonwood Forest.  Just the 3rd year we've noted nesting in the park
    Willow Flycatcher - Several heard singing, and at least three seen.  (FOY)
    Western Kingbird - One atop a tall cottonwood west of the Dog Meadow.  (FOY for the survey)
    Bullock's Oriole - Female possibly building a nest in the heronry.  Later we saw our first full-adult male of the year
    Lazuli Bunting - Two females and 1 or 2 males, East Meadow and near the Viewing Mound

Misses today included Common Merganser, Rock Pigeon, Green Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Cliff Swallow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-rumped Warbler.

There are also 5-10 species that have usually (at least 12 of the last 20 years) been seen at Marymoor which have not been reported this year.  And there's another 5+ that have been reported on eBird, but have not been seen on our surveys this year.  Also, swallow and swift numbers seem very, very low.  Kind of worrying.

As I said, for the day just 55 species.

= Michael Hobbs