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Friends of Marymoor Park
Recent Bird Sightings
Report for July 30, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
Today was a gem. Clear and haze-free skies made for great viewing. Absolutely not a breath of wind for almost the whole morning, which mean that any twitch of a leaf meant a bird. And THE END OF THE SUMMER DOLDRUMS; we had definite cases of post-breeding dispersal and fall migration! Temps ran the full range of the 50s and 60s; rather cool to start, but always manageable. And a lovely full moon, setting at sunrise.
Highlights:
- Common Merganser - Four juveniles at the weir. The end of July is typically the least likely time to see COME at Marymoor, so nice to see them
- Rufous Hummingbird - Two at the NW corner of the Pea Patch where they are growing flowers to provide a beautiful treat for people getting food at the food banks
- LESSER YELLOWLEGS - One seen briefly from the Lake Platform before it flew around the corner. Only our seventh record of this species ever. First of Year (FOY)
- Merlin - A couple of views; now seen on five of the last seven surveys
- Western Wood-Pewee - Notably higher number seen/heard today than in recent weeks
- Purple Finch - Also notably higher numbers, though with the PUFI it is probably because they are feeding on Oregon Ash seeds on the trees
- Bullock's Oriole - Two, presumed juveniles. First in seven weeks.
- Wilson's Warbler - One adult male seen, another heard. First of Fall (FOF)
- Western Tanager - One heard calling (FOF)
- Lazuli Bunting - Two juveniles seen (or one twice, I suppose). We've only seen them later in the year six times, so these may be our last sightings
The Bullock's Orioles probably count as both First of Fall and Last of Fall - We've only ever had one sighting later in the year, on 2008-08-02.
We had tantalizing Possibly-Heard for both Evening Grosbeak and Orange-crowned Warbler. The EVGR would have been First of Year.
Misses today include Band-tailed Pigeon, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Pied-billed Grebe, Red-tailed Hawk, Steller's Jay (may have heard one), and Violet-green Swallow.
For the day, 56 species. For the year, adding Lesser Yellowlegs, I believe we're at 115 species for the survey in 2026.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for July 23, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
Once again we got the first cloudy and cool day after a run of hot sunny weather. We had overcast skies and temps in the high 60's, but none of the predicted precipitation. A touch breezy at times, but no bother. Pretty typical Summer Doldrums day, but there are always some interesting things.
Highlights:
- Rufous Hummingbird - One at the crocosmia flowers in the Pea Patch
- Gulls - Flock of ~20 that were possibly RING-BILLED, one or two that might have been CALIFORNIA, and one super-dark juvenile
- Green Heron - Two from the Lake Platform
- Great Blue Heron - Heronry EMPTY. Only about 6 GBHE seen
- Pileated Woodpecker - Two landed in a fir near the concert venue right at 6:00 a.m. A nice start to the morning
- Merlin - One near the birding kiosk next to the slough, chasing crows
- Purple Martin - Two babies being fed in one of the gourds
There is at least one baby OSPREY on one of the nests
Two baby WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS followed a parent down the path getting fed any time the adult found a bug. It was almost cute
Misses today included Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Pied-billed Grebe, Western Warbling Vireo, Violet-green Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Savannah Sparrow, and Northern Yellow Warbler
For the day, 52 species
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for July 16, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
It was a quiet day at the park today. Temps right around 60 degrees, and clear skies at first. But only at first. You could FEEL the barometric pressure dropping and see the clouds come in. By the time we'd made it around to the Viewing Mound we were watching lighting coming down to Lake Sammamish. Going around the mansion, we got a few drips, but at the Rowing Club, it was raining. Thankfully, the deluge waited another hour. Birds were mostly not singing, except for the Swainson's Thrushes.
Highlights:
- Canada Goose - Maybe 175 total, up from 22 last week
- Hooded Merganser - At least three; only our 3rd sighting since March
- Spotted Sandpiper - One spotless bird on the weir
- Green Heron - Two at the weir
- Great Blue Heron - I could only find one nest still active, with 3 squabbling young. And maybe only 10 herons seen total!
- Merlin - One flew south over the Dog Area
- Swainson's Thrush - Many sightings! Sometimes two birds at a time on the trail and fences
After last week's four dove day, we had no doves or pigeons at all today.
Misses included Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous Hummingbird, Pied-billed Grebe, Western Warbling Vireo, Violet-green and Cliff Swallows, and Brown-headed Cowbird.
We ended up at just 48 species, a full ten species lower than last week. Some of this was likely seasonal - No Gadwall today, for instance, but they clear out by late July. Most of the diminishment, though, was due to the weather. Birds disappear when the barometer plummets, in my experience.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for July 9, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
We were probably lucky that it was cloudy and cool this morning, rather than being sunny and hot like this afternoon. We had temps 53-63 degrees, with thin overcast, and no wind. It made for a very comfortable morning birding. It did NOT feel like the usual July Doldrums.
Highlights:
- Gadwall - At least 3 females, one with two small ducklings
- Common Merganser - Three juveniles, maybe with an adult female, feeding/playing at the weir. Only our 4th record for Week28 in our 32 years of surveys
- Eurasian Collared-Dove - One flew past the Lake Platform
- Mourning Dove - One flew over the south end of the Dog Meadow - First of Year (FOY), and definitely not a typical time of year for us to have one
- Virginia Rail - Hatch-year bird, but full size, seen well just below the weir. Very much dark-gray, with only a few reddish feathers
- Pied-billed Grebe - One from the Lake Platform, just our third sighting since April
- Great Blue Heron - Heronry emptying out. More juveniles seen along the slough than in the nests. Total numbers probably less than 50
- Four woodpecker today - Missing only the sapsuckers this time
- Lazuli Bunting - One male seen from the Viewing Mound
I don't think I've ever seen that age/plumage of VIRGINIA RAIL before, and if so, definitely not at Marymoor
And today we had something we've never, ever had before at Marymoor: A four Columbidae day! (That's "Doves and Pigeons"). Besides the EUCD and MODO mentioned above, we had a small flock of BAND-TAILED PIGEONS just past the east end of the Boardwalk and a couple of sightings of ROCK PIGEONS
For mammals, we had a MUSKRAT today in the slough
Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Killdeer, Green Heron, and Bullock's Oriole
For the day, 58 species. For the year, adding MOURNING DOVE, we're at 114 species in 2026 on the survey.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for July 2, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
It was a nice enough day at the park today; mostly overcast and sometimes a touch chilly, but otherwise not bad. It was a pretty typical breeding-season visit.
Highlights:
- Gadwall - Female with a couple of small ducklings - our first Gadwall 'lings of the summer?
- Green Heron - One below the weir again
- Great Blue Heron - Nests mostly empty, with many, many juveniles fishing the slough
- Osprey - Adult feeding young on the east nest on the baseball lights
- Four woodpecker day - With both Downy and Red-breasted Sapsucker appearing to be feeding fledged young
- Western Warbling Vireo - For unknown reasons, all of the Warblings have been at the Rowing Club this year. None in the main park
- Northern Yellow Warbler - Matt heard singing pre-dawn, but we only had one visual of a hatch-year bird and no singing
- Black-throated Gray Warbler - Hatch-year bird at the Rowing Club. Astonishingly, First of Year (FOY)
Generally, there were many hatch-year (or apparently hatch-year) birds about, and fewer adults than recently.
The RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, WESTERN WARBLING VIREO, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, as well as CANADA GOOSE were all noted only at the Rowing Club. It is often very much worth going over there to extend your list.
Mammals included a pre-dawn RACCOON (FOY) and a MULE DEER across the slough.
Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Cliff Swallow, and Bullock's Oriole. Two other species that we saw in the last few weeks, but not today, typically become less common by Week 27. Common Merganser and Lazuli Bunting both have been seen less than 1/3 of years this week, so no great surprise that we missed them today.
For the day, 55 species. For the year, adding the Black-throated Gray, we're up to [a paltry] 113 species for the survey. We didn't add any new Year Birds in June.
= Michael Hobbs |
Report for June 25, 2026 Birding at Marymoor
It was pleasantly cool today, with a thin overcast but a breeze that was annoying at times. We didn't have any surprising species of birds, but we did have a few interesting sightings:
Highlights:
- Common Merganser - One or more females flying around seemingly aimlessly. One female in the slough with one duckling
- Green Heron - One below the weir. With recent sightings about every other week, we figure it's likely there's a nest in or near the park
- Great Blue Heron - Fewer and fewer on nests, more and more juveniles along the slough, many birds flying every which way in/out of the park
- Cooper's Hawk - A couple of glimpses
- Downy Woodpecker - Many, including at least one juvenile
- Swainson's Thrush - Startlingly, we had ACTUAL VIEWS of at least FIVE birds, as well as hearing many more
- Black-headed Grosbeak - Newly fledged young seen; males still around singing
A good day for non-bird sightings, including MUSKRAT, two RIVER OTTERS, a small mammal that might have been a TOWNSEND'S VOLE, and a GARTER SNAKE at the Rowing Club. We have had very, very few snakes at Marymoor in the last few years.
Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Band-tailed Pigeon (never missed before during Week 26), Pied-billed Grebe, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Cliff Swallow, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
For the day, just 53 species.
= Michael Hobbs
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