WASHINGTON ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY BIRDBOX
18 April - 14 May 1996

Prepared by Lisa Smith and Russell Rogers. Minor editorial changes have
been made to some messages to enhance readability.

The BirdBox is a service of the Washington Ornithological Society (WOS).
To access the BirdBox call (206) 454-2662 and follow the directions.
Black-capped, Chestnut-Backed, Mountain and Boreal Chickadees are resident
in Washington State.

To Join WOS send check for $20.00 for single membership or $25.00 for
family membership to: WOS, Post Office Box 31783, Seattle, Washington
98103-1783.

Please note that the Seattle Audubon Rare Bird Alert is out of service
with technical problems. Service will be restored as soon as possible.

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11:04 p.m. 04/18/96: Glen Klingler, 360/829-2637. I'd like to report a
HARRIS SPARROW that I saw Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. out in the
Enunclaw area near the base of Mount Pete [sp?]. Any questions, give me a
call.

11:12 p.m. 04/19/96: Glen Klingler, 360/829-2637. I saw an immature
GLAUCOUS GULL today near the base of the jetty at Fort Canby State Park
over on the coast. It was about 5 p.m. on the 19th.

9:40 a.m. 04/22/96: Harold Ritland, 391-8494. I saw a FERRUGINOUS HAWK in
the Snoqualmie Valley yesterday about five miles south of Duvall on the
highway headed toward Carnation. It was completely white underneath,
except for blackish at the wingtips and a little bit on the belly, but it
was certainly not any of the usual hawks you see around here.

1:57 p.m. 04/24/96: Karen, 242-5060. I wanted to report an EAGLE's nest
that's being built in Normandy Park. Would someone kindly call me, and
I'll tell you how to get to it.

10:27 a.m. 04/25/96: Steve Giles, 783-9346. Yesterday the 24th from
approximately noon until 3 p.m., I was at the Wenas Creek Campground. Of
interest, a PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER was there--one. Of more interest, or
at least interesting, was a large concentration of red CROSSBILLS, I would
say approximately a hundred birds spread throughout the campground. It
appeared they had been there for a good period of time, judging by the
number of cones on the ground that had obviously been worked over by the
birds and judging by the number of trees that had cones that had been
worked over.

8:41 p.m. 04/25/96: Bob Norton in Port Angeles, 928-3053. The
YELLOW-BILLED LOON was seen today at John Wayne Marina. It has changed
little, except that the oricular patch has-- [message was cut off]

8:45 p.m. 04/25/96: The YELLOW-BILLED LOON was seen from the north side of
the outlet to John Wayne Marina. It never approahced the marina. It was
[at a] north-northeast direction to the east direction from that viewpoint
and far out and diving frequently. This is Bob Norton at 928-3053.

11:35 a.m. 04/27/96: Steve Mlodinow. It's April 27th. Steve Pink and I
went to the Everett Sewage Ponds and out to Spencer Island today. Also
birded around Ebey Island by car. At Spencer Island we had our first
couple of YELLOW WARBLERS of the year. [There were] LESSER YELLOW-LEGS
there and large numbers of YELLOW-RUMPS. At Everett Sewage Ponds there was
a breeding-plumage EARED GREBE and--good for the ponds--3 breeding-plumage
RED-NECKED GREBES. On Edie Island we had two more LESSER YELLOW-LEGS.
Heading out toward Westport for tomorrow's pelagic trip. Hope you're all
well.

7:01 p.m. 04/27/96: Murray Hanson and Betty Jones, 206/847-4087. On
Friday, April 26, a FORK-TAILED STORM PETREL was observed between 1 and
1:30 p.m. at the farthest parking lot of the Westport Marina. It was
feeding around and between the moored boats.

7:33 p.m. 04/28/96: Vic Nelson, 360/638-2233. Today, April 28th, at Point
No Point on the northeast tip of the Kitsap Peninsula, there were 4
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS, 2 WESTERN KINGBIRDS, and a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE.

7:49 p.m. 04/29/96: Ruth Sullivan reporting from Tacoma, from Titlow
Beach. I observed 4 female and 3 male PURPLE MARTINS. Supposedly, they
came today because they're always fighting over the houses, and they were
acting up because of the starlings around there. We've always had them
nesting up there, but who knows?

3:00 p.m. 04/30/96: Steve Mlodinow, with just a couple of small additional
notes from the weekend. On Saturday, April 27th, Steve Pink and I had a
singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER just south of Montesano. It was the
first one of the spring for both of us. At Tokeland we had about 7
WHIMBREL and 30 MARBLED GODWITS; also thousands upon thousands of
DOWITCHERS and good numbers of other shorebirds, most of which were too
far out to get really good looks at. The pelagic trip on the 28th, as
many of you may have heard, was uninspiring. We did have a couple of
LEACH'S STORM PETRELS, one of which was surprisingly close to shore. Also
had a couple of ANCIENT MURRELETS, a SABINE'S GULL, numbers of FORK-TAILED
STORM PETRELS and BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES--the usual stuff. Later that
day, Bill Tweit, Jon Anderson, Steve Pink, and I went out to Brady Loop
Road and had approximately 450 WHIMBREL in the flooded fields out there.

7:25 p.m. 04/30/96: Steven Mlodinow. Did a little birding around Snohomish
and Edie Island. Notably, the Snohomish Sewage Ponds yielded a NASHVILLE
WARBLER in the southwest corner of the pond. Also, a WARBLING VIREO there.
Flooded fields along Homemaker's Road between Snohomish and Everett
yielded 11 TUNDRA SWANS, a male EURASIAN WIGEON, thousands of WESTERN
SANDPIPERS, and fair numbers of other sandpipers, including 6 LESSER
YELLOW-LEGS.

9:10 p.m. 05/01/96: Ed Deal, 723-4742. A hike at Ocean Shores along
Catala Spit at the game range yesterday turned up a good variety of
shorebirds, including lots of MARBLED GODWITS, several LONG-BILLED
CURLEWS, WHIMBREL (and a chance to compare Whimbrel and Curlews side by
side), both DOWITCHERS, both TURNSTONES, KILLDEER, SEMI- PLOVERS, WESTERN
SANDPIPERS, and DUNLIN.

7:25 a.m. 05/02/96: Tim Shelmerdine. Yesterday on Wednesday, May first, I
found a male TUFTED DUCK just west of Chehalis. The bird is located on
Schuber Road off Highway 6. You head west from Chehalis on Highway 6, and
then Schuber Road will be on your right about two miles west of town.
Drive up until you're opposite the Lewis Adventist School, and then scan
the flooded areas for the duck. It was with LESSER SCAUP and RING-NECKED
DUCKS.

8:36 p.m. 05/02/96: Mark Reninger, 361-1654. I'm reporting a NASHVILLE
WARBLER, in with a flock containing a number of ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS
and a LINCOLN SPARROW, at Richmond Beach on May 2nd. There's also a mature
BALD EAGLE flying around.

10:32 a.m. 05/03/96: Mike Weil of Redmond, 868-4679. Of interest for the
west side of the Cascades, there's a WESTERN KINGBIRD at the beginning of
the Marymoor Park Nature Trail. It was sitting [for 10 or 15 minutes] on
the railing separating the nature trail from the dog exercise area. I
observed it there flying between the trees in the exercise area and the
railing. Never seen one west of the Cascades--thought it might be of
interest.

1:05 p.m. 05/03/96: ??? [sounds like Brant Grisson], 329-4194. For what
it's worth, there's a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE at the Montlake Fill at
the first pond [as you walk into] the Montlake Fill from the Urban
Horticulture Center. This was on May 3rd at approximately 11 a.m.

2:25 p.m. 05/03/96: Scott Atkinson, 360/691-7232, reporting for May 3rd. A
quick walk at Discovery Park this morning yielded a surprisingly good
movement of passerines. Among them were eight different warbler species,
including 2 NASHVILLE WARBLERS amongst about 40 to 45 ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLERS. Also apparent [were] good numbers of Empidonax flycatchers, in
particular, 8 HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS and 2, both seen and heard, DUSKY
FLYCATCHERS. Also, very apparent good movement of LINCOLN and
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS. In one of the GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW flocks on
the north side of the north parking lot, [there was] also a WHITE-THROATED
SPARROW. Good numbers of other species, including numbers of WARBLING and
SOLITARY VIREOS, about 7 HERMIT THRUSH, and the first WESTERN TANAGER I've
had this year.

9:22 p.m. 05/03/96: John Hebert, 771-7751. I just left the Montlake Fill
where I saw a male TUFTED DUCK [as you're] looking east from the Fill into
the waters of the Cut. The bird was among rafts of BUFFLEHEADS and SCAUP.
They tend to build up there just south of the Center for Urban
Horticulture. I believe the bird is trying to get into position to see the
opening day boat parade tomorrow.

9:18 a.m. 05/04/96: Jean Wilkerson. This morning at the Montlake Fill I
saw a male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. The WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE is still there
at the same spot.

11:19 a.m. 05/04/96: Dave Swain, 932-6603. Good news and bad news! Good
news: if you don't have gas money to make it to Bowerman [Basin], there
are a bunch of shorebirds in the Kent Ponds--LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPERS
predominantly, some DUNLIN, and some GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. Bad news is the
reason they're there is that they've decided to drain the ponds for some
massive flood control project, I'm told. So it's going to be awhile before
it recovers.

8:35 p.m. 05/04/96: Steve Mlodinow. And I do have a couple of decent birds
for the tape here, nothing wildly exciting. But I have a little tale to
tell. First of all, I started the day out on Whidbey Island, which was
exceptionally dull for shorebird variety, unfortunately, and really had no
birds of note. You guys will never see me in my red Trouper again, because
I got into a car accident which totaled it. Fortunately, I remained
unhurt, and my optics remained unhurt. Bumped into Dave Beaudette later in
the day [who, with] words of wisdom, said, "Take that as a sign and
continue birding." So, with my rental car, I went to the Stanwood Sewage
Ponds where at high tide there were thousands of shorebirds, entirely
WESTERNS and DUNLIN, except for one RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. I then went down
through the Stillaguamish Delta and hit a most remarkable flock of
birds--on 28th Street, north of Norman. Norman runs between Sylvana and,
essentially, Stanwood. This flock of birds included 400 WHIMBREL, 150
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, both species of DOWITCHERS, a RUDDY TURNSTONE, and a
PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER. There was also a WESTERN KINGBIRD nearby and a
completely albino MEW GULL, which I wonder may have been the same bird
down near Olympia earlier. That must be a pretty scarce variant. There
were also BONAPARTE'S GULLS in this field, as well as a good variety of
other gulls to boot. This prairie may well have birds all day, but
probably best at high tide, which occurs late, probably from 5 p.m. on,
tomorrow. The field that these birds were in was a field of emergent,
pale, yellow-green grass.

9:05 p.m. 05/04/96: Gary Blech, 360/853-7203. Today, May 4th, there were 2
WILSON'S PHALAROPES at a pond in Van Horn. That's just east of Concrete on
Highway 20 in Skagit County. It's about milepost 91.8. The 2 WILSON'S
PHALAROPES were there about 1 p.m. with a handful of ducks. Other birds of
interest in the Skagit Valley migrating through or arriving today included
NASHVILLE WARBLERS, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS, WESTERN TANAGERS, and PACIFIC
SLOPE FLYCATCHERS.

8:42 p.m. 05/05/96: Gary Blech, 360-853-7203. Today May 5th on the Samish
Flats were quite a few shorebirds. Just north of the West 90 in some ponds
were 4 WILSON'S PHALAROPES, along with 8 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Then on the
Farm to Market Road, just north of Sunset road, on the west side of the
road between a yellow house and a dirt road that goes to an old barn were
12 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, and 1 SOLITARY SANDPIPER.

1:27 a.m. 05/06/96: Dave Beaudette, 206/365-2083. On May 5th between 8 and
9:45 a.m., I checked out the field along 28th Avenue NW, north of the
Norman Road in the Stillaguamish Delta. This is the field that Steven
Mlodinow had surveyed on May 4th. Today there were about 250 WHIMBREL,
about 150 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, and the albino Mew Gull was still there.

5:35 p.m. 05/06/96: Scott Atkinson, 360/691-7232. Just a quick report: had
a late HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK just near the west end of the Highway 2
trestle just north of the exit for Route 204, Lake Stevens on May 5th.

1:26 p.m. 05/07/96: Ted Peterson in Lynnwood, 776-4646. I've had a
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW at my feeder the last two days. Also, all the birds
described by Steve on his adventurous trip on Saturday were still up on
the Stillaguamish yesterday.

10:32 p.m. 05/07/96: Jim Flynn in Renton, 772-5568. I'm calling to report
a WESTERN KINGBIRD at the Montlake Fill on May 7th at about 6:45 p.m. The
bird was on the far north, north-east end of the Montlake Fill. Behind the
Center for Urban Horticulture, there's a stand of cottonwood trees with a
small vegetable garden behind them. The bird was on a fencepost around the
little garden there.

1:42 p.m. 05/08/96: Greg Toffic with a somewhat belated report for Monday
the 6th. At Stanwood Sewage Ponds there were 6 WILSON'S PHALAROPES: at one
point four vigorously involved in courtship behavior [with] one pretty
agressive male attempting to copulate with a female, and a couple of
bystanders in a fairly tight group amid a bunch of ducks of various sorts,
who seemed to be totally oblivious to these goins-on.

1:53 p.m. 05/08/96: Steven Mlodinow. Today is May 8th. On May 7th I went
to the Stanwood Sewage Ponds and had 11 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, closely
observed. There was no courtship behavior among these birds, and the
WILSON'S PHALAROPES reported by Greg were unfindable. There were also 23
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS present in the one small pond that is somewhat
marshy. Notably, for anyone visiting this area, there is a RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRD with a small, white wing stripe beyond the orange shoulder
patch, thereby somewhat resembling a TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRD, but it is
not--it is a RED-WINGED. Also, the field that had all birds in the
Stillaguamish previously mentioned by myself, Ted Peterson, and Dave
Beaudette no longer had any birds in it on Tuesday. Crisscrossing through
another field somewhat west of there [I] had 200 WHIMBREL but no other
shorebirds. On Monday, along Homemaker's Road just south of U.S. 2 in a
flooded field on the left side of the road as you're heading south, there
was a SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER and 1 or 2 LESSER YELLOW-LEGS. I visited the
pond yesterday, and none of these birds were there--just WESTERNS, LEAST
SANDPIPERS, and other common species.

9:04 p.m. 05/08/96: Scott Richardson reporting a SNOWY EGRET at East Bay
in Olympia on May 8th from about 4:30 p.m. to 6:05 p.m. today. After
foraging on the mudflats for about an hour and a half, the EGRET flew to
the southeast into a tree. It was flushed from that tree into another, and
it was flushed from that tree into a third. It looked like it might be
looking for a spot to roost, so it may be back at East Bay in the morning.

11:38 a.m. 05/09/96: Toby Andrews. The SNOWY EGRET is still at the east
end of East Bay, sitting on top of a piling at 10:30 this morning.

6:25 p.m. 05/10/96: Ruth Sullivan in Tacoma, Washington, 564-7419. Today
at 5:30 p.m. there was an AMERICAN AVOCET in Tacoma, Titlow Beach, on the
pond close to the swimming pool.

1:38 p.m. 05/11/96: Bill Tweit. The SNOWY EGRET on East Bay in Olympia was
seen a couple of times on Friday, the 10th: once, sitting on pilings at
around 6 p.m. on East Bay, and then once around 8:30 p.m. flying over
downtown towards the southwest, maybe over the Persival Cove area. The
bird is still being seen very sporadically on East Bay, even at the right
tide stage, which appears to be low tide. It's there one half hour and
unfindable the next.

8:22 p.m. 05/11/96: Scott Atkinson. Just a quick report. A brief afternoon
drive on May 11th through coastal Skagit County added a couple of good
birds for Skagit County. First male NASHVILLE WARBLER at Bayview State
Park and also a female PURPLE MARTIN at the Maupin Road exit through the
Skagit Wildlife Management area.

12:36 p.m. 05/12/96: Mike Denny in Walla Walla. [I] have sightings for May
11: 3 CASSIN'S AUKLETS off the Ocean Shores jetty, a single PARASITIC
JAEGER (also off the jetty), a WESTERN KINGBIRD along Barrow's Road just
west of the Ocean Shores area, 2 SCRUB JAYS in Toledo near the high
school, 2 pairs of HARLEQUIN DUCKS along the Teton River just east of
White Pass, 2 FRANKLIN GULLS at Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge, [and]
35 WOOD DUCKS along Highway 22 west of Prosser, (Benton County) Washington
, at mile marker 32. Also in this flock of WOOD DUCKS was a MANDARIN DUCK,
a beautiful bird. Also, at the Walla Walla River Delta on May 11 was a
pair of BLUE-WINGED TEAL and about 100 WHITE PELICANS. On May 10 at the
Vernita Bridge in northern Benton County, Washington, were 3 RED-BREASTED
MERGANSERS. This is highly unusual for this area. 2 LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS on
the Grant County side of Vernita Bridge.

1:27 p.m. 05/12/96: Ed Deal, 206/723-4742. The SNOWY EGRET was still
present in Olympia this morning at 9 a.m. Follow the signs from I-5 to
Port of Olympia, and scan the pilings at the south end of East Bay. Also,
at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge this morning, there were 2 WILSON'S
PHALAROPES.

9:39 p.m. 05/12/96: Jim Flynn, 772-5568. I called to report a
SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER at the Montlake Fill in Seattle on May 12th at
about 7 o'clock p.m. There was also a small group of LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHERS, quite a few SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, about-- [message was cut off]

6:07 a.m. 05/13/96: Douglas Marshall, 270-8960 in Seattle. There was a
MOURNING DOVE at Discovery Park next to the south parking lot on May 11th
at 11:45.

10:03 a.m. 05/13/96: Kathleen Field, 206/824-4943. This morning we had a
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK at our feeder in Des Moines.

12:08 p.m. 05/13/96: Evelyn Williams, 206/226-3703. I saw 5 or 6 EVENING
GROSBEAK this morning. I live in Seattle on a very large piece of property
that has a lot of wildlife. They were at my yellow bird feeder, which I
have all kinds of different feed in. I also see GOLDFINCH here. I have a
couple of GOLDFINCH that feed regularly. If you wish to call me, do so.

3:05 p.m. 05/13/96: Ian McGregor, 206/361-4784. On May 13 at 2 p.m. on
Shoveler Pond at the Montlake Fill, there was one pair of BLUE-WINGED
TEAL, with a male CINNAMON TEAL.

4:56 p.m. 05/13/96: Toby Andrews. Today at the Everett Boat Launch, just
on the north side of the boat launch, there were 5 PURPLE MARTINS, 2 males
and 3 females, sitting on top of the pilings. They can easily be seen
either from the parking area north of the marina or right from the marina
itself.

9:52 p.m. 05/13/96: Ed Newbold, 206/767-7169. On Monday, May 13th, at
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, [there was] an AVOCET feeding in the
saltwater north of the observation tower, and also WARBLING VIREOS,
SOLITARY VIREOS, GREEN HERONS, and BITTERNS.

6:16 a.m. 05/14/96: Mrs. Williams, 226-3703. I saw a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK
this morning. I did look at the book and that's what it appears to be. He
had a black head, and he looked a bright orange color.

4:47 p.m. 05/14/96: Ian McGregor, 206/361-4784. The Olympia East Bay SNOWY
EGRET previously reported was still present as of 9 a.m. this morning, for
those that may be interested.