Greetings Tweeters,
Last night was the first big push of migrant passerines that I've
noticed this spring. This morning at 7:45am, a singing BULLOCK'S ORIOLE was
in my yard, which was my first of the year and my 110th yard bird. Also
present in my yard was a YELLOW WARBLER, lots of YELLOW-RUMPEDS, and 2
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. In the last week we've noticed increased numbers of
RED CROSSBILLS, after a relatively poor winter for them. Normally they're
present here in large numbers during the winter, and start to peter out at
this time of year (though a very few stick around to breed). This morning I
woke up to crossbills everywhere in the yard. I counted 116 moving between
the trees, calling very loudly. The most I've ever had here, particularly in
spring.

Encouraged by the beautiful weather and lots of bird activity
everywhere we went, we decided to drive down to the mitigation pond I located
and wrote about Monday, along 96th St. E. at McCutcheon Rd. E. We arrived and
found several birders already there at 10:30am. Some of the birds here from
that time until about noon included:

1 Wood Duck
4 Buffleheads
1 Hooded Merganser
1 Cinnamon Teal
20 Western Sandpipers
50 Least Sandpipers
1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (certainly the same bird the Sullivans reported
yesterday)
2 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
1 PURPLE MARTIN (thanks to Michael Hobbs for spotting this one)
1 LAZULI BUNTING
1 BULLOCK'S ORIOLE

We then headed to the Riverside BMX Track and frisbee golf course
(along the Puyallup River and accessed from Riverside Dr. E), where we
located:

1 Spotted Sandpiper
1 WESTERN TANAGER
5 Wilson's Warbler
2 Black-throated Gray Warblers
6 Warbling Vireo
1 NASHVILLE WARBLER
1 Hammond's Flycatcher
4 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 fledged Am. Robin
2 fledged juncos
1 fledged Spotted Towhee

On our way back, we stopped at the mitigation pond again at 1:15pm, and found
most of the species as in the morning, in addition to:

1 Dunlin
1 Long-billed Dowitcher
1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER (presumably the same bird I found on Monday, and was
seen yesterday by the Sullivans)
1 Common Snipe

A 12 shorebird day in Pierce County.

Charlie Wright
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA