<div dir="auto">Interesting natural history account. <div dir="auto">Well done, thank you for sharing. </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Sep 25, 2025, 8:24 PM Michael Hobbs via Tweeters <<a href="mailto:tweeters@u.washington.edu">tweeters@u.washington.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I wanted to add some notes, because several people have commented<br>
about both Osprey and Band-tailed Pigeon occurrences in fall.<br>
<br>
First, my comments about the likelihood of these species was strictly<br>
relevant only to Marymoor and specifically to the Marymoor Survey.<br>
<br>
With regards to Osprey, our next survey is not until October 2. While<br>
it is likely that Osprey might be seen during the next 6 days, we've<br>
only had Osprey sightings in 9 out of 31 years after October 1st, so<br>
it's quite likely we've seen our last for the 2025 Survey. Also, even<br>
though we've had Osprey as late as December 15th, there's no reason to<br>
believe any Osprey that nested at Marymoor are still around by<br>
October. What we've noted in those 9 years are almost certainly birds<br>
from further north who are migrating south. They may catch a fish to<br>
eat while at the park, but they aren't living at the park. If they<br>
were still resident, we'd see them more often during the 4-5 hours<br>
we're at the park each Thursday morning.<br>
<br>
BTW, this is true of many species. Our nesting Savannah Sparrows seem<br>
to clear out pretty quickly after nesting season, and we have a big<br>
drop in numbers and even gaps in occurance. Then, in late August and<br>
September, we get a push of Savannahs through the park. These birds<br>
tend to be in locks of up to a dozen, and appear larger and brighter<br>
than our nesting birds. I've heard that the American Robins that nest<br>
around Seattle mostly leave, being replaced during winter by robins<br>
who nested further north. The breeding Fox Sparrows in our mountains<br>
are a different subspecies than our wintering lowland Fox Sparrows, so<br>
even though Fox Sparrows are present all year round in the state,<br>
there may be no individual which lives in the state all the time.<br>
<br>
As for Band-tailed Pigeons, Marymoor is not at all an ideal habitat<br>
for them; not for breeding, and especially not in winter. There are<br>
wintering Band-tails in the county, and several people have them at<br>
their feeders in the winter, but they are pretty much only at (or<br>
often just flying over) Marymoor during the summer when they are<br>
nesting in nearby areas. We've had no indication that they nest in<br>
the park. And many Band-tailed Pigeons do migrate south. We were<br>
just in Klickitat County on the Columbia River over the weekend, and 3<br>
or 4 times we saw tight flocks of dozens of Band-tailed Pigeons flying<br>
around. These are almost certainly migrants who were massing for the<br>
flight across the river, something they likely do at night to avoid<br>
Peregrine Falcons.<br>
<br>
One of the things that make Washington a great place to bird is the<br>
incredible number of micro-habitats. Even at the county level, we<br>
typically have great diversity of habitats, such that every county has<br>
a long list of species possible. Within King County, birds are very<br>
definitely not uniformly distributed, even when you adjust for<br>
elevation. What's true about Marymoor is not necessarily true about<br>
other places that are quite close to the park. Marymoor has no<br>
natural conifer forest, with pretty much all of the conifers being in<br>
an equal-aged stand of Doug Firs around the mansion. Parks mows under<br>
those trees, so there isn't a trace of the typical understory of a<br>
conifer forest. Thus, Marymoor has no breeding Pacific Wrens,<br>
although they nest in forested areas just upslope from Lake Sammamish.<br>
For Marymoor, Pac wrens are only a winter species (probably comprising<br>
individuals that nested in areas of the Cascades that get covered by<br>
snow). The lack of conifers extends to the park not having any good<br>
mixed forest areas, so Hutton's Vireos are very unusual in the park.<br>
Hutton's seem to prefer wet forests with a mix of deciduous trees<br>
,madrones, and conifers (especially Red Cedars). Hutton's are common<br>
on Mercer Island and at Lincoln Park, but not at Marymoor.<br>
<br>
Marymoor does, itself, have a great mix of habitats. We make up for<br>
the absence of good conifer forests by having better grasslands than<br>
much of the county. Thus we have a pretty good chance for meadowlarks,<br>
shrikes, Savannah Sparrows, etc. than many parts of the county. Lake<br>
Sammamish is a large enough lake to lure in some diversity of water<br>
birds. Marymoor is also large enough to be visible to fly-over birds<br>
as a bit of a green oasis. That likely explains how we can have a<br>
park list currently at 246 species.<br>
<br>
And all of this is why I can still find great interest and enjoyment<br>
in birding at the park, even after more than 31 years.<br>
<br>
= Michael Hobbs<br>
= <a href="mailto:BirdMarymoor@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">BirdMarymoor@gmail.com</a><br>
= <a href="http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">www.marymoor.org/birding.htm</a><br>
<br>
On Thu, Sep 25, 2025 at 12:31 PM Michael Hobbs <<a href="mailto:birdmarymoor@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">birdmarymoor@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> Tweets - A pretty good day at Marymoor. Though a bit nippy (49<br>
> degrees at the start), it was sunny and windless. Fairly birdy too.<br>
><br>
> Highlights:<br>
> Band-tailed Pigeon - Two sightings of a single bird. We get<br>
> fairly few sightings after mid-September<br>
> Wilson's Snipe - Two landed in the mud on the far side of the<br>
> slough opposite one of the Dog Beaches. Great looks, unusual location<br>
> Osprey - Only one silent bird; nests are empty. We are unlikely<br>
> to get another sighting this year<br>
> American Kestrel - One in the East Meadow<br>
> Merlin - One streaked by us near the start of our walk; thus a<br>
> two falcon day<br>
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet - At least one, singing weakly near Dog<br>
> Central, never seen. First of Fall (FOF)<br>
> Pacific Wren - One at the Rowing Club, heard calling but not seen (FOF)<br>
> Swainson's Thrush - One heard pre-dawn, probably the last for the year<br>
> Western Meadowlark - Five in the East Meadow (FOF)<br>
><br>
> We also had a tight flock of more than a dozen pale-bellied ducks<br>
> flying down the slough fairly high - possibly American Wigeon, but<br>
> hard to be sure.<br>
><br>
> Misses today included Hooded Merganser, American Coot, California<br>
> Gull, Green Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Bushtit (though I had some<br>
> yesterday in the Dog Meadow), American Pipit (though we might have<br>
> heard one), Savannah Sparrow, and Orange-crowned Warbler.<br>
><br>
> Despite the rather long list of misses, we still managed 56 species<br>
> (not counting the mystery ducks). Not a bad day.<br>
><br>
> = Michael Hobbs<br>
> = <a href="mailto:BirdMarymoor@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">BirdMarymoor@gmail.com</a><br>
> = <a href="http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">www.marymoor.org/birding.htm</a><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Tweeters mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Tweeters@u.washington.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Tweeters@u.washington.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters</a><br>
</blockquote></div>