[Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2025-04-17

[Michael Hobbs via Tweeters]

Tweets - It was a gorgeous morning without a cloud in the sky nor a breath
of wind.  Pre-dawn was stunning.  But clear skies overnight mean a cold
start; I wasn't really prepared for 36 degrees and frost on the ground.
I'd been more worried I'd get too warm - it was 56 degrees when we
finished.  It's hard to dress for a 20-degree swing.  The dawn chorus was
loud, varied, and lasted at least an hour after sunrise.  At least 20
species were heard singing!

Highlights:
     Great Blue Heron - Grum-grum-grum-grum calls from the nests indicate
young have hatched
     Bald Eagle - So many sightings, including a juvenile in the heronry.
Maybe 7-9 eagles seen today
     Merlin - A couple of quick fly-bys
     PURPLE MARTIN - At least one male checking out the gourds.  Maybe
another one heard to the east.  First of Year (FOY)
     Barn Swallow - One at the East Meadow, two at the lake late (FOY)
     Bushtit - We now know of at least nests
     CHIPPING SPARROW - One seen singing just east of the Dog Area
portapotties (FOY)
     Brown-headed Cowbird - Finally confirmed for the survey for the year.
Several males seen and heard (FOY)
     Orange-crowned Warbler - Probably at least three seen singing (FOY)

A late scan of the lake turned up a host of species we hadn't seen earlier:
     Ring-necked Duck - One pair.  Any seen after next week will be notably
late
     Bufflehead - Two males.  Might still be around for a couple more weeks
     AMERICAN COOT - Two under the cabana, first since February
     Pied-billed Grebe - Only one remaining
     COMMON LOON - Confirmation of a bird seen far out from the platform on
the main survey (FOY)

Both AMERICAN COOT and PIED-BILLED GREBE used to be regular nesting species
at Marymoor, but have only rarely been noted during breeding season the
last several years.

Misses today included Rock and Band-tailed Pigeon (though two *pigeon sp.*
were glimpsed), Double-crested Cormorant, Belted Kingfisher, and Cliff
Swallow.

For the day, 61 species.  For the year, adding the six species noted above,
we're at 94 species for the survey in 2025.

= Michael Hobbs
= BirdMarymoor at gmail.com
= www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20250417/c4849786/attachment.html>