This morning I went out to the Schouweiler Rd. wetland here in Elma. I
birded the area for 3 hours from 6am to 9am. Weather conditions were good
with partly cloudy skies. I've been hoping to see some shorebirds in the
wetland and finally today I got my wish. All sightings of shorebirds were
fly-overs or fly-bys probably due to me flushing them out of the wetland
before I knew they were there. I had 2 Greater Yellowlegs, a flock of about
40 "peeps", and 2 Dowitchers which were most likely Long-billed. Also,
today I had great views of 2 juvenile Osprey that landed in a snag tree that
was about 20 yards from me. I picked the wrong day to not take a camera.
Also, I had great views of 2 American Bitterns that were being sneaky along
the edge of one of the ponds. Here's the list of the 27 species I confirmed
today:

Pied-billed Grebe
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron (Blue form)
Turkey Vulture
Wood Duck
Mallard
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Virginia Rail
American Coot
Greater Yellowlegs
Wilson's Snipe
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Marsh Wren
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Song Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch

Good birding,

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
kertim7179 at centurytel.net