Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I did somewhat the same route as yesterday, but started
much earlier, with a fairly extensive search of the South Port Orchard
Airport from 6am-8am, where we encountered up to 14 calling MOUNTAIN QUAIL
and observed three individual birds, as they were seen foraging along the
vegetated perimeter of the western portion of airport, then were flushed.
Many of the calling birds remained hidden in the thick vegetation, as the
main chorus occured from 6:45am-7:15am. The weather in the vicinity of
airport was exceptionally poor during our visit, with dense fog, but it
burned off later upon a second visit, after 10am, with only one Mountain
Quail calling from the hillside, as several birders were on sight, as in our
first visit too. Our second visit was made short, as the remote control
airplane club took access to the wstern portion the airport, as they have
leased the land for that purpose, and do not allow birders to be present,
due to liability reasons,where they are present on weekends betweem
10am-2pm, as the best time in finding the quail is in the early morning,
before 9am, and possibly before dusk, as they forage on the exposed gravel
edges and openings. Other species of note at this location included:

2 RING-NECKED PHEASANTS
5 Mourning Doves
4 Band-tailed Pigeons
3 Tree Swallows
2 Violet-green Swallows
1 Hermit Thrush
2 Hutton's Vireos
1 singing Orange-crowned Warbler


We birded the mouth of Gorst Creek, after 8:30am, where the first winter
GLAUCOUS GULL was noted at outgoing tide, along with 2 Thayer's Gull, and
the subadult Herring Gull, as were the COMMON TEAL, 2 Eurasian X
Am.Green-winged Teal hybrids, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 pair of Eurasian
Wigeon.

A quick check at Mace Lake, east of Hwy.16, near Olalla, as the male REDHEAD
could not be relocated, but 14 Wood Ducks, and 8 Ruddy Ducks, with 2 males
in breeding plumage, were species of interest.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWT at worldnet.att.net