Happy New Year fellow Tweeters:

I hope everyone survived New Year's Eve and got a good start to 1997.
I started the day birding in the Centralia area in a driving rain and very
dark overcast conditions around 08:00, concentrating on the wetlands around
the Centralia Steam Plant (DeLorme p 46 B2). (Of course, with the recent
flooding, the entire surrounding area is currently wetlands.) The weather
finally improved enough to allow decent vision by around 09:15. The New
Year's highlight here were two WHITE-TAILED KITES (aka BLACK-SHOULDERED
KITES)!!! I have been to these wetlands two or three times a week for the
past two months, but this is the first time seeing this species here. Other
species seen are listed below.
After a quick lunch, I headed north to the Olympia area. I first
birded the Capitol Lake area, then a quick scan of Budd Inlet from near the
Marina, then a couple of stops near Johnson Point overlooking Nisqually
Reach (DeLorme p 62, C2). The highlight here were two SPOTTED SANDPIPERS
working the shoreline near the Zittl's Marina in Baird Cove (take Johnson
Point Road NE to 92nd Ave). Overall just a great start to 1997.

Centralia Steam Plant wetlands:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
EURASIAN WIGEON
American Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser (11 individuals [4 ad. M, 7 ad. F/imm] in one pond)
WHITE-TAILED KITE (BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE) (2)
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull (plus Western x Glaucous-winged)
Rock Dove
Norther Flicker (including one "yellow-shafted" race)
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub Jay (not actually in the Steam Plant, but in my yard in Centralia)
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Meadowlark (Western, I presume)
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch (also a yard bird, not seen at the Steam Plant)

...added to the day list at Capital Lake:
Barrow's Goldeneye
Ruddy Duck

...added to the day list at Olympia Marina:
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Bonaparte's Gull
Belted Kingfisher

...added on the road to Johnson point and at Zittl's Marina:
Red-breasted Merganser
SPOTTED SANDPIPER
Common Snipe
Bewick's Wren
Varied Thrush
Golden-crowned Sparrow

...and, added at our last stop at Puget Marina:
Pacific Loon
Pelagic Cormorant
Surf Scoter

A Grand Total of 62 species for 1997!
Good Birding


David M. Ward
Centralia, WA
ward at localaccess.com