Subject: Thurston County Birding (HASP & REKN)
Date: Apr 25 17:35:20 2000
From: Birdking88 at aol.com - Birdking88 at aol.com


Hello Tweeters! Today I went birding with Ryan Shaw and he showed me around
Thurston County. First off we went to Nisqually NWR. On the trail (the main
loop trail) we saw some CINNAMON TEAL, lots of SAVANNAH SPARROWS (a year bird
for me), and a few of the other regular ducks. Then a small flock of about 10
DUNLIN flew by. Both Ryan and I noticed a larger shorebird in with the flock.
The birds would not land but we got good enough looks at it to tell that it
was a RED KNOT! That was a lifer for me and a new county bird for Ryan. I
kept hearing COMMON YELLOWTHROATS singing all around us, and finally one
popped up. Another year bird for me. We kept going until we got to the
McCallister Creek. There we stopped for a bit and scanned the mud for a
while. We found a small flock of WESTERN SANDPIPERS (year bird) out on some
mud. We looked for Leasts, but there weren't any. We started seeing some
zonos. Mostly GOLDEN-CROWNED with a few WHITE-CROWNED. Then I heard a single "
chiff" of a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. Pretty soon were swimming in them! There
were at least 60 of them; both MYRTLE and AUDUBON'S. We heard a few
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS (state bird) singing in the trees, but we couldn't
find any yet. A CASPIAN TERN flew by and we heard lots of GREATER YELLOWLEGS
(year bird). Soon a flock of 11 flew overhead. We went up the trail a ways
and found a group of sparrows on the trail. We scanned them finding all the
regular sparrows. Finally Ryan yelled out, "I got him!" I knew what he meant
and found the HARRIS' SPARROW (lifer) in the flock! We got a bit closer and
got beautiful looks at him. The bird is molting into breeding plumage, with a
mostly black cap and bib and a few patches of brown. It's black bib
contrasted with it's pure white breast and belly. It was a lifer for me (and
one of my nemesis birds!) and a state bird for Ryan. In fact, it was Ryan's
300th Washington State bird! So after that great bird we went back to the
car. On our way back we got good looks at an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. Then we
got in the car a drove to the Lacey clear-cut.
We got out and walked around. It was raining, but the birds were fairly
active. I spotted a CHIPPING SPARROW that we had been hearing. There were
some other zonos, but no solitaires or goshawks. We got some very good looks
at the Chipping Sparrows. I heard WINTER WRENS singing as well as PURPLE
FINCHES. Ryan mentioned seeing Purple Martins at East Bay a few weeks ago and
I told him that that would be a lifer. So off we were to East Bay! When we
got there were no martins. We waited a while but they were nowhere to be
seen. So then we went to Black Lake Meadows.
Now it was poring! Activity was pretty low here. We saw some KILLDEER and
about 5 elusive COMMON SNIPE. No rails whatsoever. We spent some time here
but didn't see too much. Then we went back to Nisqually and I went home. BTW,
the last couple of days there has been a LINCOLN'S SPARROW in our yard as
well as the newly arrived Golden-crowned Sparrows and American Goldfinch.
Good Birding!