Subject: Thurston Co Birding
Date: Mar 23 19:11:25 2002
From: Marv Breece - mbreece at foxinternet.net


Today I watched the Meadows Gyrfalcon from 8-11AM. I arrived at Meadows
Road at the same time as Roger Orness, who quickly found the bird perched in
the distance in the snag near the end of Wagner Road. As I was leaving
Meadows Road at about 10, the bird flew north over my head to the barn on
Meadows Road where it chased a NORTHERN HARRIER which had an apparent rodent
in its talons. After a few minutes, the HARRIER flew away foodless and the
GYR returned to a pole and dined.

I stopped at Nisqually NWR and birded from about noon until 3:45PM.
Highlights include:
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's were singing: first I've heard this year.)
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker- excavating male
Hutton's Vireo- singing across the Nisqually River
Tree Swallow- many
Barn Swallow-2
Great Horned Owl- 1 adult and 1 owlet near the barns
Sandhill Crane- 2 flew in and landed west of the twin barns
Brown Creeper- very active and vocal
Rufous Hummingbird- my first of the year
Greater Yellowlegs- 3 near the barns
River Otter

It was a good day.

Marv Breece
Seattle, WA