Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded mostly in eastern Grays Harbor Co. in the
Elma-Brady area from 12pm-3:15pm, despite relatively poor weather conditions
at times, with isolated rain showers, with some occasional scattered
sunbreaks, with minor clearing. We encountered several highlights within our
route, including 3 COMMON REDPOLLS mixed in a flock of 42 House Finches at
the end of Dunlap Rd.(accessed off of Hwy.12 SE of Elma, and NW of Malone),
as they foraged in a thistle field along with other vegetation, and observed
at close range(within 40 feet)at below eye level. We looked upon a returning
afternoon visit for the Common Redpolls, but could not relocate them A SWAMP
SPARROW was also present in this same wet,weedy pasture amongst good numbers
of Song Sparrows, and up to 9 Lincoln's Sparrows. A male RUSTY BLACKBIRD was
observed along the east end of Brady Loop Rd., and north of Willis Rd. in a
large open corn field amongst a very large blackbird/Starling flock. The
Rusty Blackbird was much darker overall than the Nisqually bird, but showed
consistant barred/scalloped underparts amongst the dark gray belly, with
minor rusty fringes on the back and wing feathers, and a partial
supercillium with a pale throat, which were all noted during a 10 minute
observation, before it dispersed out into the thicker vegetated corn field
with the other blackbirds. With increased coverage hopefully most of these
species will remain, although we believe the Common Redpolls may move
around, depsite the abundant food source at the previous location where we
observed them was noted, and we were surprised to see them with House
Finches to some degree, and NOT Pine Siskins, which such flocks should be
looked over statewide. The Rusty Blackbird may linger, but the blackbird
flocks can be difficult to watch at times, and they may move around the
entire area in search of food. We encountered this same flock of blackbirds
and Starlings yesterday at this same location, but we were unable to view
them well due to the increasing afternoon wind, and the nervousness of the
flock, which seemed more cooperative during our visit today.

We started the day out along Nisqually Cut-off Rd. at 10:15am, where we
joined Dave Hayden and other birders in possible search of the Rusty
Blackbird, but as noted yesterday we were UNABLE to relocate the bird, as
the blackbird flock seemed to be the same exact flock that we noted
yesterday, with a few additional birds present. We carefully watched and
scoped the existing flock of roosting and feeding flocks until 11am, as it
is possible the bird may have found another blackbird flock to associate
with, or may be by itself within the general Nisqually valley. A few notable
species that were noted with some as in previous visits included:

1 Bonaparte's Gull
1 Western Gull
16 Am.Pipits
17 Western Meadowlarks

A list of our eastern Grays Harbor highlights follows at selected locations
and times:

Dunlap Rd. 12pm-12:55pm, 3:25pm-3:35pm

129 Tundra Swans
8 Trumpeter Swans
1 female Am.Kestrel
4 Western Scrub Jays
1 male Varied Thrush
53 Song Sparrows
9 Lincoln's Sparrows
1 SWAMP SPARROW
3 COMMON REDPOLLS

Hwy.12 at Elma 1pm

1 Western Scrub Jay

Brady Loop Rd. 1:18pm-2:20pm

4 Trumpeter Swans
2 Snow Geese(flying over)
1 White-tailed Kite
2 light-morph Rough-legged Hawks
42 Black-bellied Plovers
3 Least Sandpipers
92 Dunlin
7 Mourning Doves
750+ Red-winged Blackbirds
18 Western Meadowlarks
1 RUSTY BLACKBIRD
135+ Brewers's Blackbirds
37 Brown-headed Cowbirds


Wenzel Slough Rd./Vance Creek 2:25pm-2:55pm

4 Canvasback
54 Ring-necked Ducks
11 Greater Scaup
40 Lesser Scaup
18 Black-bellied Plovers
5 Western Sandpipers
178 Dunlin
4 Common Snipe
1 California Gull
3 Herring Gulls
1 Thayer's Gulls
1 adult Northern Shrike

Malone along Hwy.12 3:15pm

1 Am.Kestrel
3 Western Scrub Jays


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net