Hi All,
What an unusual day for weather. If you had a special request, you probably
could get it, at least for a while. The census run along the northeast
section of the lake and mud/marsh flats produced 44 species. For me, the
highlight was watching a male AMERICAN REDSTART (AMRE) feed a single
offspring. Altogether I saw 4 AMRE, an unusual number of spots; usually they
are heard and not seen. Lots of other young in evidence as well: GRAY
CATBIRD, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, RING-NECKED DUCK, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD,
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, AMERICAN COOTS, AMERICAN WIGEON, VIOLET-GREEN
SWALLOW, WILLOW FLYCATCHER.
The LESSER YELLOWLEGS that I claimed was southward bound is still here.
Either it's stalled or just one of those adolescent wanderers that M.Price
warned me about.
Two species of grebe that aren't commonly here, WESTERN GREBE (1) and
RED-NECKED GREBE(1) were cruising the river inlet.
On the way home I was treated to a trio of 3 OSPREY in constant
communication with each other.

Is there anything better for raising a birder's spirits than AMERICAN COOT
juveniles with their flashy orange bills and subtle gray down?

Good birding,
Gail Spitler
Johnsons Landing, BC
spitler at wkpowerlink.com