Date: 5/7/26 1:33 pm From: Michael Hobbs via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Marymoor Park (Redmond, King Co.) 2026-05-07
Tweets - Broken clouds today made for some hazy light, and there were a few mosquitoes. Otherwise, it was a fine morning to be out. In some ways it was quite a birdy day, but in other ways, it felt quite flat. Part of this is the Week 18 to Week 19 transition. Week 18 (April 30-May 6) has had a cumulative 155 species, while Week 19 (May 7-13) has had only 133. That 22-species decrease is mostly the final exit of almost all "winter" birds. So our Week 19 trips always seem to have far fewer species than our Week 18 trips. Most of the time, though, new arrivals are so numerous as to make the dip in species count less important. Today, though, we only had two new species for the survey for 2026.
Highlights: Mallard - The first ducklings of the season were out below the weir Western Warbling Vireo - At least 8, and quite possibly more, with lots of singing and quite a few sightings Swainson's Thrush - Right on schedule, but only heard pre-dawn (as if often the case the first week or two of presence). No songs yet either. First of Year (FOY) American Goldfinch - Several sightings of these bright yellow gems Orange-crowned Warbler - One glimpsed, but a total of about 5 singing Northern Yellow Warbler - One or two seen, but numbers seemed low Yellow-rumped Warbler - Only one or two heard-only; the rush of them seems over Wilson's Warbler - Lots of singing, and several views Black-headed Grosbeak - Some singing, but only a couple of very poor looks Lazuli Bunting - At least two males near the Compost Piles. (FOY) for the survey, though they were seen by others earlier in the week
Misses today included Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Cliff Swallow, Cedar Waxwing, Pine Siskin, and Bullock's Oriole.
Birds that we were hoping to see, but didn't, included Blue-winged Teal (possible throughout May), shorebirds such as Solitary Sandpiper & Greater Yellowlegs, Common Loon (often present late-April to mid-May), Turkey Vulture, flycatchers (at least four pass-through species were quite reasonably possible), Cassin's Vireo, Chipping Sparrow, and warblers such as Nashville, MacGillivray's, Black-throated Gray, and Townsend's. While none of these were really expected, it was the complete absence of ANY pass-through migrants that made the day seem flat.
We did manage 57 species, seven fewer than last week. Adding Swainson's Thrush and Lazuli Bunting, I believe the survey stands at 103 species for the year.
