I spent a couple of windy but sunny hours in the "cheese factory clearcut"
in northeast Lacey this morning. It was good morning for warblers:

Common Yellowthroat - many
Yellow-rumped (Audubon) - many
" (Myrtle) - at least 3
Orange-crowned - 14
MacGillivray's - 5
Townsend's - 1
Black-throated Gray - 1

White-crowned Sparrows were abundant, as were Chipping Sparrows. I neither
heard nor saw either Vesper or Savannah Sparrows, which I thought a little
odd, maybe the wind was keeping them down. Lots of Barn Swallows have
joined the Violet-greens, along with four Purple Martins. I checked
several reliable snags for House Wrens, but they don't seem to have arrived
yet. Pacific-slope Flycatchers are back, but no other flycatchers. No
Cassin's Vireos or Lazuli Buntings yet, either.

A couple of ravens made a fly-over, croaking all the way. A very vocal
Red-tailed Hawk escorted me away from a presumed nest site, just north of
where their old nest was, pre-ice storm. The male harrier is still
hot-dogging for two females, both of whom soared quite high above him, to
get a better view?

Many small-to-medium sized dragonflies were buzzing about; those I examined
had a beautiful geometric pattern of gray and tan on their abdomens. I'm
gonna have to get me a dragonfly book!

Eric Kraig
Olympia, WA
kraig at wln.com