Hi Tweets, this morning I headed out to take a short walk around the
Chehalis Wildlife area, which is located at the end of Schouweiler Rd. just
west of Elma. I've been calling this area the Schouweiler Rd. wetland, but
after mulling it over I'm going back to calling it the Chehalis Wildlife
area (CWA). You can find more info on this area at
http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/lands/r6.chehls.htm . Anyways, this morning I walked
out the grassy road and stayed about 2 hours. The most notable highlights
were the presence of 7 Green-winged Teal. Its hard to say if they were
juvenile, female, or non-breeding males since they all look very similar.
Also, on my walk back to the car, there was one Double-crested Comorant on
the first pond. It was on the same piece of wood that a Great Blue Heron
was on earlier when I first walked out. I did see one flock of about 20
"peeps" fly by me but once again I can't figure out where they might be
landing at.

After leaving the CWA, I drove around Wenzel Slough Rd.. At one spot along
the Chehalis River, there were many Cedar Waxwings catching insects over the
river. Also at the same spot, there were close to 50 American Goldfinches,
one Black-headed Grosbeak, several Black-capped Chickadees, and one
Black-throated Gray Warbler. Further down the road, just before you cross
Vance creek for the last time there were 7 Turkey Vultures roosting in a big
fir tree. Just beyond that a male Northern Harrier was hunting a fenceline.
Not too bad of a day.

Good birding,

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