[Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2022-11-17

[Michael Hobbs]

Tweets - We have many good days at Marymoor, but I think today counts as a
great day (and part of a really November).  It started out feeling bitterly
cold, though it was only just below freezing (cold enough, though, that the
Rowing Club pond is 95% ice-covered).  But it was sunny, and it warmed to
50 degrees by the time I left.  It wasn't particularly birdy; we didn't
really come across great mixed flocks, or that sort of thing.  It was the
unexpected birds that made it fabulous.

Highlights:

   - Short-eared Owl - Just about 7:00 a.m., one high above the East Meadow
   and Lot G, pursued by a couple of dozen American Crows
   - Northern Saw-whet Owl - Matt heard calls pre-dawn near east end of
   boardwalk
   - HORNED LARK - Still at the NE corner of the Compost Piles and in the
   nearby grass, where it's been for the past 5 days - First of Year (*FOY*)
   - Hermit Thrush - One along slough trail in the Big Cottonwood Forest
   (south of the Dog Meadow)
   - AMERICAN TREE SPARROW - Two seen, one a the Pea Patch, before and
   after seeing one along the East Meadow main trail (*FOY*)
   - White-throated Sparrow - One with Golden- and White-crowned Sparrows
   near the Dog Area portapotties
   - SWAMP SPARROW - One heard and seen along slough, as far north of the
   weir as the the mowing extends below the weir (*FOY*)
   - Western Meadowlark - One on the Viewing Mound

After the main survey, I walked the Compost Piles and East Meadow again,
picking up the 2nd American Tree Sparrow and a NORTHERN SHRIKE.

We did not see the Clay-colored Sparrow that was first seen 2022-11-13, and
which (as late as last evening) seemed to be hanging out *with* the HORNED
LARK.  The lark was our first since 2017, the Clay-colored the first since
2018.

With those two tempting targets, there have been many birders and
photographers flocking to the park for the last couple of weeks (oh, yeah,
a couple of weeks ago when we had our first Harris's Sparrow).  Many, many
species have been recorded in the park the last two weeks, including at
least twelve species of sparrow.

Today, Rafael had an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and a BOBCAT in the Pea Patch
while chasing the American Tree Sparrows!

Our misses today included Green-winged Teal, Western Grebe, Short-billed
Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Bushtit, Pine Siskin, and Lincoln's Sparrow, though
many of those species were reported by non-survey people today.

We had 60 species plus my after-count Northern Shrike.

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