Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded several areas from the Nisqually NWR area south to the Centralia Steam Plant in Lewis Co.,then north and west to the Elma-Brady area in eastern Grays Harbor Co. Overall the birding day was quite slow at most locations,but we still managed to add a few species to our year list,as well as overall highlights. We began at the Nisqually NWR between 10:15am-11:20am,then checked the Nisqually Reach Nature Center at Luhr Beach,then continued south to the Scatter Creek WRA in south Thurston Co. Continuing south we checked the Centralia Steam Plant(which hosted far less shorebird numbers than our previous visit on the 20th of April due to increased flooded areas along Big Hanaford Rd. east of the actual steam plant operations). We then traveled back north and west along Hwy.12 to South Bank Rd. to Wenzel Slough Rd. near Elma,then onto the Brady Loop Rd. complex with additional checks made along Foster Rd. On our way home during evening we checked several roads north of Monte-Elma Rd. east of Brady to Elma including Moore Rd. and Newman Rd. that both hosted additional numbers of Greater Yellowlegs for the day along with a few other species. Our main highlight of the day was a single Solitary Sandpiper observed in partially flooded areas south of the Twin Barns at the Nisqually NWR,which was quite concealed at times although very noticeable,as it foraged alone along the exposed muddy/grassy edges,so hopefully this bird or additional birds will appear in days and weeks to come. We searched other locations during the day favorable for this species and were unable to locate any other Solitary Sandpipers and were also unable to relocate any or additional Lesser Yellowlegs such as on the 20th. We briefly checked the sparrow location along Wakefield Rd. near Elma during the mid afternoon that continued to host few sparrows,so perhaps the Spizella sparrow has moved on with the Zonotrichia flock it was associating with at times. Throughout the day we managed to encounter relatively good weather for most of the day with isolated rain showers at times and the most coolest temperatures in the Elma/Brady area compared to warmer temperatures in Thurston and Lewis Cos. A list of notable highlights for selected times and locations follows:

I-5 at Tillicum,Pierce Co.

1 Western Scrub Jay

Nisqually NWR(McAllister Creek trail,headquarters,and the Twin Barns area) 10:15-11:20am

1 male Wood Duck
2 male Cinnamon Teal
1 female Common Goldeneye
1 female Am.Kestrel
3 Virginia Rails(heard only)
1 Sora(heard only)
6 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Solitary Sandpiper
14 Western Sandpipers
65+Least Sandpipers
11 Orange-crowned Warblers
1 Wilson's Warbler(heard only)
4 Lincoln's Sparrows
1 adult tan-striped White-throated Sparrow(along the boardwalk south of the Twin Barns)

Luhr Beach 11:30am-11:50am

5 Red-throated Loons
1 Red-necked Grebe
30 Eared Grebes(high count,with good numbers of Horned Grebes nearby)
280+ "Black"Brant
1 male Harlequin Duck
1 Greater Yellowlegs
40+ Bonaparte's Gulls
12 Caspain Terns
1 pair of Purple Martins

Scatter Creek WRA,Thurston Co. 12:30pm-1:10pm

1 Turkey Vulture
1 Northern Harrier
1 Band-tailed Pigeon
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
6 Western Scrub Jays
1 Cassin's Vireo(heard only)
5 Orange-crowned Warblers
1 Wilson's Warbler(heard only)
5 Chipping Sparrows
1 Vesper Sparrow
2 Western Meadowlarks
6+ Purple Finches

Centralia Steam Plant,Lewis Co. 1:30pm-2pm

1 female Canvasback
1 Am.Kestrel
7 Greater Yellowlegs
18+ Least Sandpipers
7 Western Sandpipers
32+ Dunlin
9 Short-billed Dowitchers

Hwy.12 south of Rochester,Thurston Co. 2:40pm

1 Greater Yellowlegs

South Bank Rd.,Grays Harbor Co. 3pm

1 adult Cooper's Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel

Wakefield Rd. 3:15pm

1 pair of Osprey
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Greater Yellowlegs
4 Lincoln's Sparrows

Wenzel Slough Rd.(east of Keys Rd.) 3:25pm-3:35pm

1 Osprey
1 Greater Yellowlegs
42 Least Sandpipers
8 Western Sandpipers
4 Dunlin
78+ Band-tailed Pigeons
1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Keys Rd. near Satsop

1 adult Peregrine Falcon

Brady Loop Rd. complex(including Foster Rd.) 3:45pm-4:20pm

1 male Cinnamon Teal
14 Turkey Vultures
1 Osprey
1 Sora(heard only)
2 Black-bellied Plovers
64 Greater Yellowlegs
28 Least Sandpipers
7 Western Sandpipers
128+ Short-billed Dowitchers
1 adult Bonaparte's Gull

Monte-Elma Rd. at Brady

1 pair of Wood Ducks
1 Western Scrub Jays

Moore Rd. near Satsop 4:25pm-4:30pm

1 pair of Cinnamon Teal
6 Greater Yellowlegs

Newman Rd. near Elma 4:40pm-4:55pm

1 pair of Wood Ducks
5 Hooded Mergansers
25 Greater Yellowlegs



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net








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