Marymoor Bird Blog

Friends of Marymoor Park

Recent Bird Sightings

Report for July 11, 2024 Birding at Marymoor

Another morning with too-nice weather, though at least it was cooler than previous days. Temps in the high-50's and 60's this morning. It almost felt odd to actually feel a bit of chill. But beautiful blue skies and only a hint of a breeze. Willow Flycatchers and Swainson's Thrushes dominated the bird song. Begging baby birds were everywhere. Highlights: Virginia Rail - One responded for only the 2nd time since April Glaucous-winged Gull - One at the lake. Does it qualify as the first of fall ??? Black-throated Gray Warbler - One on the edge of the Dog Meadow - First of Fall (FOF) for sure Black-headed Grosbeak - Mother feeding a baby, Dog Meadow edge We also had a RACCOON in the willows along the slough below the weir, First of Year (FOY) I know I recently posted that rarities almost never show up at this time of year. To mock me, an AMERICAN REDSTART was photographed on Friday, 7/5 by Bill Hubbard, the first AMRE for July and just the 5th for the park ever. Then, on Saturday, 7/6, a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was photographed by Lillian Reis. Quite a few people saw this bird over the weekend. This was just the 3rd sighting for NOMO for the park, with the other two sightings in May and September. AND, AND, AND, on Sunday, 7/7, Timothy Garland photographed an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER in the East Meadow. Surprisingly, ATFL is not nearly as much of a rarity than the other two; this is the 10th record for the park, and the 2nd for July, but Geesh. Quite a run of unusual birds. We had none of those birds today. Misses today included Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Green Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Cliff Swallow, and Bullock's Oriole. For the day, 56 species. = Michael Hobbs
Barn Owl around 4:15a.m. Photo by Tony Ernst	Willow Flycatcher. Photo by Tony Ernst
Female Black-headed Grosbeak feeding a baby. Photo by Tony Ernst	Juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird, the drabbest bird on earth. Photo by Tony Ernst
Band-tailed Pigeon. Photo by Tony Ernst	Female House Finch. Photo by Tony Ernst

Report for July 4, 2024 Birding at Marymoor

Four of us had a fine 4th of July walk this morning, under cloudless and windless skies. Temps were in the 50's and 60's. It was beautiful. Not very birdy though.

Highlights:

Wood Duck - Female with 5 small ducklings, seen twice (or two families)
Mallard - Female with 2 small ducklings, plus a very few more Mallards of uncertain age/gender
Rock Pigeon - First in 4 weeks
Great Blue Heron - Many fewer un-fledged young in the heronry, total numbers way down, though still in the dozens
Four Woodpecker Day - Only missing Pileated
Bushtit - Newly active nest in Dog Meadow
Cedar Waxwing - Nest building observed
Lots of baby birds begging; some needed STUDENT FLIER - PLEASE BE PATIENT bumper stickers
Many bunnies, several beavers, the usual number of squirrels, turtles, and bullfrogs

Okay, so "Highlights" might have been overstating things.

Misses included Hooded Merganser, Band-tailed Pigeon (might have had glimpses at 1-2), Green Heron, Cliff Swallow, and Bullock's Oriole.

For the day, 52 species, with none new for the year.

= Michael Hobbs

Report for June 27, 2024 Birding at Marymoor

We are officially in The Summer Doldrums. Combine that with the worst weather of the week, and it's no surprise we didn't see much today. It was dark all morning, with mist that progressed through mizzle, drizzle, light rain, and finally to just plain rain, before sequentially letting up. Highlights: Canada Goose - Pair with four still small goslings at the weir Wood Duck - Female with four very small ducklings, from the Rowing Club dock Caspian Tern - NINE at the lake Northern Rough-winged Swallow - One from the Rowing Club dock, our first since early April Yellow-breasted Chat - Heard pre-dawn, south end of the East Meadow; third straight Thursday for this pseudo-rarity And that's about it for highlights. The chat was silent and unseen when we came through the East Meadow in the rain. When I say The Summer Doldrums, I refer to the seven weeks in a row (starting this week) where we've had fewer than 110 species for each of those weeks, cumulatively over the years of the survey. The third week in July (Week 29) is the low point, with only 99 species. Not only do we have few species during each of those seven weeks, we mostly just see the same 50-60 species week after week. We can get a smattering of shorebirds in July and early August, and a few unexpected flycatchers, plus we get to see a lot of baby and "teenage" birds doing cute and/or goofy things, but surprises are scarce and rarities are rare. The other time we have fewer than 110 cumulative species each week is December through the middle of March, but none of those weeks are as low as Week 29. The highest cumulative total for any week is 153 species reported during the first week of May (Week 18). Misses today, in the rain, included Hooded and Common Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Green Heron, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Cliff Swallow, Bullock's Oriole, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. For the day, just 52 species, with nothing new for the year. = Michael Hobbs
Juvenile Common Yellowthroat. Photo by Tony Ernst	A rather wet Osprey above the slough. Photograph by Tony Ernst
American Beaver. Photograph by Tony Ernst
Swainson's Thrush. Photo by Tony Ernst	Baby Tree Swallows huddling in the rain. Photo by Tony Ernst

Report for June 20, 2024 Birding at Marymoor

We had a very nice Summer Solstice survey today, with good weather. Few surprises, and no sign of the Lark Sparrow that was reported yesterday. Highlights: Glaucous-winged Gull - Two flew overhead; only our 2nd sighting in 8 weeks Caspian Tern - It seems odd, but we've had Caspians over 1/2 the years for this week of the year. Four over the lake today Green Heron - Beautiful adult at the Rowing Club pond. First of Year (FOY) Great Blue Heron - Maybe half of the chicks have fledged. Awkward fishing techniques on display Accipiter sp. - One that had me leaning towards Sharp-shinned, but it never gave us good looks YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT - Continuing from last week. Singing from various locations in/near the south end of the East Meadow. Good looks Yellow-rumped Warbler - Very well marked male "Audubon's" below the weir. First since early May Misses included Hooded and Common Mergansers, Rock Pigeon, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-eyed Vireo, and Cliff Swallow. For the day, 60 species. For the year, 127 species for the survey. = Michael Hobbs
Singing Marsh Wren. Photo by Tony Ernst	Caspian Tern. Photo by Tony Ernst
Yellow-breasted Chat. Photo by Tony Ernst	Male American Goldfinch. Photo by Tony Ernst

Report for June 13, 2024 Birding at Marymoor

It was fabulous to be out today - Not too cold, not too hot, great light, no wind, and lots of singing and activity. And Marymoor chipped in with a couple of surprises. Highlights: Mourning Dove - One flew down the East Meadow Rufous Hummingbird - Several females seen; we've been seeing males most of the time previously this year Caspian Tern - Perhaps as many as four flying around the lake. First of Year (FOY) for the survey Great Blue Heron - Many young, fledged birds, doing their bests to fly and fish Pileated Woodpecker - A couple of sightings. June is the month with the fewest records of this species Western Flycatcher - One heard at the Rowing Club YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT - Singing male, SE of the East Meadow (FOY) MacGillivray's Warbler - Male singing and posing, south of Dog Central along the slough trail Initially, we barely heard the singing YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT while we walked the grass trail along the east edge of the East Meadow. We made our way, through the tall reed-canary grass and stinging nettles, east and south to where we were able to get distant views of the bird. It was singing frequently, and at least 4-5 times we saw it do display flights (which none of us had ever seen chats do before), where it would fly with its head up and its feet and tail hanging straight down, forming an inverted L shape. It would fly slowly with very fluttery wingbeats to a new bush or tree to sing from. This appears to be just the 5th record of YBCH for Marymoor, and the first record for June. The other dates were May 15, 2019; May 31, 2021; July 12-14, 2012; and August 25 and September 9, 2006. MacGillivray's Warbler turns up about two out of every three years. This is our 2nd sighting in the last 3 weeks, and today it gave more opportunity for views. Also notable today were a large number of Eastern Cottontail including fairly small young, and a dead vole on the path. Misses today included Common Merganser, Rock Pigeon, Black Swift, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, & Cliff Swallow. For the day, 58 species. - Michael Hobbs
Female Rufous Hummingbird. Photo by Jordan Roderick	MacGillivray's Warbler. Photo by Jordan Roderick
Male Pileated Woodpecker excavating a hole. Photo by Jordan Roderick

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