Hello Tweeters,
Birded around Thurston County this afternoon with my dad. Our first stop
was Nisqually NWR, where we walked only part of the Nisqually River Trail.
Highlights included:
1 calling HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER
1 singing PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER
Yellow Warbler
Brown Creeper
many Yellow-rumped Warblers, split 50/50 Myrtle/Audubon's

We then birded the Lacey Clear-cut, where we struggled to find any birds
for the first 30 minutes we were there, but then came upon a small flock near
our car at the road leading into the clear-cut. The flock included:
4 Brown Creepers
3 Chipping Sparrows
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER
1 singing CASSIN'S VIREO
Soaring above us were 2 Red-tailed Hawks, an Osprey, and a late dark-morph
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

Our next stop was the Weir Prairie near Rainier, viewed from the south end
(Military Road SE). Here we found red, white, and blue birds (Red Crossbill,
White-crowned Sparrow, and Western Bluebird), as well as:
1 rooster Ring-necked Pheasant calling
4-5 Western Meadowlarks
3 Savannah Sparrows
1 VESPER SPARROW
The Vesper was flushed from the side of the road. I had to flush it a couple
more times until it finally perched up.

Our next and last stop of the half-day was at Black Lake Meadows. I walked
in and there to greet me were 3 Virginia Rails sitting out in the mud with a
flock of 7 Common Snipe and staring at me, only about 7 feet away. After that
odd surprise, I continued walking the trail and flushed a smallish
tringa-type shorebird. It flew nearly straight up, circled, and then landed
again <30' from me. As it did this, it was repeatedly calling. As it came in
for a landing, it finally dawned on me that it was a SOLITARY SANDPIPER when
I saw the dark under wings and bold black-and-white tail pattern. I watched
it for about 3 minutes until it flew off to the northeast. Other notable
species here were:
4 California Quail
1 out-of-habitat Pileated Woodpecker
7 Northern Rough-winged Swallows

That's all for now, Good Birding to y'all.

Charlie Wright, 12
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA