Today, Ruth Sullivan and I went to find the TUFTED DUCK at the Hoquiam
STP. Despite the heavy wind and rain, we found the the little guy at the
SW corner of the pond. Other hi-lites were the ROUGH LEGGED HAWK, 300+
N. PINTAILs in the refuge basin, and RING NECKED DUCKs on the pond.
We then went to Ocean Shores, where we hoped the weather would be
better. (Wishful thinking... Ha.Ha.Ha... Thank goodness for Helly Hansen
rain gear). We stopped at the golf course, where the weather was more
than I could hope for, after all, I was starting to think monsoon by
this time. And yes, we got it. Hi-lites were 1 SNOW GOOSE, 2 GREATER
WHITE FRONTED GEESE, 1 EURASIAN WIDGEON, 4 WESTERN SANDPIPERs mixed in
with 500+ DUNLIN. We checked out other various places without much luck,
except for the jetty. We had 27 BLACK TURNSTONES, and 1 white squall.
On the way back home, we birded Brady Loop Rd. Hi-lites were 3
AMERICAN KESTRELS (2 males 1 female), and TREE + V.G. SWALLOWs. We also
birded Blockhouse Road in Elma. The weather had let up. No wind or rain.
Hi-lites were G.C. SPARROWs, W.C. SPARROWs, 1 WHITE THROATED SPARROW,
and 1 FOX SPARROW.
Our 51ST bird for the day, was a PEREGRINE FALCON seen from the
freeway, perched on a snag in the Nisqually Delta.

David Hayden
Lakewood