Today my brother and I birded Grass Lake Refuge at 1500 hours. It was overcast and cool with no precip.

Birds seen include:

Western Wood-Peewee 1
Bufflehead 2
Mallard 2
Ring-necked Ducks 4
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Stellars Jay 2
California Quail 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Purple Finch 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Crow 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2

Observations: Our intention was actually to look for some lilies to see how far along they are. Apparently the Tiger lilies are just starting to sprout (10cm tall). The highlight bird was a Western Wood-Peewee calling from along the edge of Lake Louise and in the adjacent decidious trees (Willow, Alders and Cottonwood mostly). Several Pacific Chorus frogs were calling both near Lake Louise and along the trail adjacent to Grass Lakes East and West. Some of the trees along Lake Louise had been gnawed upon or cut down by a beaver. The trail system that was wiped out by the residential development that went in on the east side of the refuge has been recently been restored by volunteers working with Olympia Parks and Recreation. So the trail once again loops around through the variety of habitats. The new leg of the trail goes through some fairly dense decidious shrubs and trees that I suspect will provide excellent warbler viewing.

Jim Lynch
Olympia, WA
tarj1a1 at attbi.com