Subject: Thurston County 4/10
Date: Apr 10 16:26:45 2000
From: RTShaw80 at aol.com - RTShaw80 at aol.com


I spent a good part of the day birding certain parts of Thurston County.
Here are some of the highlights

Black Lake Meadows
3 calling VIRGINIA RAILS
3 N. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS
2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS
20+ COMMON SNIPE
6 singing COMMON YELLOWTHROATS
1 male MYRTLE WARBLER
1 male PILEATED WOODPECKER

Weir Prairie
Many singing WHITE-CROWNED and SAVANNAH SPARROWS
5 NORTHERN RAVENS
1 TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE
2 pairs WESTERN BLUEBIRD

Backyard in Lacey
Singing male HUTTON'S VIREO
Singing male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER
Pair of BUSHTITS, (new for the yard list since yesterday, when the pair was
seen bathing in my pond's waterfall)

The Lacey Clear-cut was pretty quiet, with only a few calling HUTTON'S
VIREO'S and a DOWNY WOODPECKER as semi-highlights.

East Bay Marina was pretty slow, a quick check for Martins, but they have yet
to return.

Lake Lois Park in Lacey has the pair of WOOD DUCKS back.

The strangest part of the day, which freaked me out for a bit happened at the
Weir Prairie. I was on the main road sitting on a stump observing a pair of
Western Bluebirds, when I see 2 Humvees coming over towards me. They are
screaming out "There he is!" "All Stop!" 5 soldiers get out of the vehicles
come towards me pointing there rifles directly at me, telling me to throw my
arms in the air, walk over to the vehicle, and get down on my knees. I do
this wondering what the heck is going on, and what I did. They see my
freaked out expression on my face and ask if I am a real Civilian. I reply I
am, so they all drop there guard and explain to me that they are MP's out
doing field exercises, and there are soldiers in the area dressed in civilian
clothes that they are supposed to be chasing and apprehending. So I got
caught in the middle for a bit. They were friendly after they discovered I
wasn't military, and let me go on my way birding, but warned me it could
happen again with another group. So I left quickly, not wanting another
group thinking I'm a Fleece wearing, Binocular carrying assassin in disguise.
It is all right to be in the Prairie area as long as you stay on or near the
main roads, but watch out if you go there and they are performing some
"exercises."


Ryan Shaw
Lacey, WA
RTShaw80 at aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com//rtshaw80/index.html