On Sunday we led our bicycle club on a ride from Priest Point Park in
Olympia to Tolmie State Park via backroads and the Western Chehalis Trail.
Before the ride we scoped Budd Inlet from the observation point in Priest
Point Park at 8:30 a.m. Weather still chilly and a a bit foggy. No
Yellow-billed Loon but did see a large flock of White-winged Scoters, the
4 Canvasback, American Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall, Bufflehead,
Double-crested Cormorant, Glaucous-winged Gull. Heard a Kingfisher but did
not locate it. After the ride at 2:30 p.m. we again viewed the inlet and
saw all of the same crowd minus the flock of Scoters but plus several
Common Goldeneye and Hooded Merganser. A Greater Yellowlegs flew off in a
huff complaining as it went.

We heard or saw all of the usual birds as we bicycled along the
backroads: Winter Wren, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Crow, Raven,
Steller's Jay, Junco, Robin, both Chickadees, Golden-crowned Kinglet,
Great Blue Heron and Bald Eagle. Ah yes, a Bald Eagle's scream is not one
of your regular roadside sounds. We located the mature Bald Eagle in a
dead tree on a side trip into the Woodard Bay Conservation Area.
The most spectacular sighting was the huge flock of about 100 Barrow's
Goldeneyes on both sides of the Woodard Bay bridge, many of them streaming
under the bridge with the outgoing tide. We had never seen so many
Barrow's Goldeneyes in one place before. A young lady jumped out of her
car by the bridge, waving her binoculars. She had been taking a course in
Ornithology at Evergreen State College, and was thrilled at the
opportunity to see a REAL Barrow's. It was exciting.

Bill and Erin Woods Woods Tree Farm Redmond, WA U.S.A.
<wwwbike at halcyon.com>