Hello Tweets,

Today my mother I birded in 3 counties covering areas from the Centralia
Steam Plant in Lewis County, northwest to the Meadows area(DeLorme Atlas,
page 45) in southwestern Thurston Co., then west to the Brady-Elma areas in
Grays Harbor Co. The weather throughout the day consisted of scattered rain
showers, with occasional limited sunbreaks at times, but then turning darker
and wetter after 2pm. The main highlight of the day was a very late juvenile
SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER amonst a large flock of Black-bellied Plovers and
Dunlin with a few additional shorebird species mixed in along Wenzel Slough
Rd. at 1:20pm(accessed from the western portion of the road off of Hwy.12,
and Keys Rd., south of Satsop in Grays Harbor Co.). The Sharp-tailed
Sandpiper was most often observed foraging loosely with the Black-bellied
Plovers in a large unleveled, partially flooded, plowed corn field, while
the nearby Dunlin and other shorebirds foraged more along the edges within
the flooded areas, BUT the bird would move around occasionally mixing with
Dunlin. The bird should remain, as the weather patterns as today should
remain consistant for several more days. A late AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER and a
Semipalmated Plover were also noted amongst the foraging flock of
Black-bellied Plovers, so this particular field seems to host plentful food,
as a smaller flock of shorebirds were present at this same field last
weekend. Earlier in the day a COMMON REDPOLL was picked out of a flock of 62
House Finches at a residence along Meadows Rd. near Meadows in southwestern
Thurston Co., near where up to 5 White-tailed Kites were noted, with lesser
numbers observed in recent weeks by other observers. A list of our notable
highlights for the day follow at selected locations and times:

Centralia Steam Plant(along Big Hanaford Rd.,east of Centralia)Lewis Co.
9:20-9:50am

3 Eurasian Wigeon(2 males, 1 female)
2 male Canvasback
1 adult White-tailed Kite

Meadows Rd., Thurston Co. 10:15am-10:50am

5 White-tailed Kites(3 adults, 2 immatures)
1 Am.Kestrel
4 Western Scrub Jays
1 COMMON REDPOLL

Dunlap Rd.,Grays Harbor Co.(GH) 11:20am-11:40am

6 Tundra Swans
18 Trumpeter Swans
1 male Canvasback

Brady Loop Rd.,GH 12pm-1pm

4 Tundra Swans
2 light-morph Rough-legged Hawks(1 adult, 1 immature)
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
5 Common Goldeneyes
43 Mourning Doves
8 Western Meadowlarks

Wenzel Slough Rd. 1:12pm-2:30pm

4 Tundra Swans
2 Greater White-fronted Geese
1 light-morph Rough-legged Hawk
104 Black-bellied Plovers
1 AM.GOLDEN PLOVER
1 Semipalmated Plover
12 Western Sandpipers
2 Least Sandpipers
1 juvenile SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER
240+ Dunlin
54 Mew Gulls
22+ Ring-billed Gulls
2 California Gulls
3 Herring Gulls(2 winter adults, 1 second year bird)
1 first-year Thayer's Gull


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net