A pair of Purple Martins were present at Titlow Beach Park along the
Tacoma Narrows tonight. The martins made one fly-by of the nesting boxes
but with the current number of European Starling and House Sparrows also
vying for the next box space, they don't appear to have lined up new
accommodations just yet. Natalie and I would like to be able to get out
and clean any nesting material in these nesting boxes this coming
weekend, but without access to a boat we may be too late for this season...

It was quite dark during our 5:20 p.m. visit, but we still saw some
interesting birds:

2 Common Loon (a male/female pair)
3 Bufflehead
12 American Wigeon
1 Pigeon Guillemot
2 Mallard
Glaucous-winged Gull
Western Gull
Many immature and hybrid gulls
1 Belted Kingfisher
Rock Dove
6 Double-crested Cormorant
6 Canada Goose (including a pair that seem to be trying to nest on top of
a piling)

Otherwise, earlier today in our yard in the North End of Tacoma there was
a real wave of Goldfinches and Yellow-rumped Warblers moving through the
area. Most of the Yellow-rumped Warblers were Audubon race, though I did
see some Myrtle earlier in the day. I also saw White-crowned and Golden-
crowned Sparrows in the yard while it was raining this morning. And so,
despite the gray and damp day, the area was swarming with birds and
birdsong. A great spring day!

Rob McNair-Huff ---------- mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com
White Rabbit Publishing -- http://www.whiterabbits.com/
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com/
The Equinox Project ------ http://www.whiterabbits.com/weblog.html