Hi Tweeters,

Monday and Tuesday I was able to do some birding on the coast. My target birds for the trip were: Mountain Quail, Green Heron, Hutton's Vireo, Purple Martin, Anna's Hummingbird, and Band-tailed Pigeon. Fortunately, I was able to find all of these target species. In addition, I also located several immature Hermit Warblers and a White-breasted Nuthatch in Mason County, which I believe is unusual for the location. Below are my notes for each species:

Mountain Quail (8-18) - I found a mother with chicks about 1 mile from Wood Lake.

Hermit Warbler (8-18) - 3 immatures were seen in a large flock of migrating warblers at the same location as the Mountain Quail.

White-breasted Nuthatch (8-18) - One bird heard and observed at the same location (1 mile from Wood Lake in Mason County).

Band-tailed Pigeon (8-18) - A flock of 16 birds was observed in several oak trees near Belfair State Park.

Green Heron (8-18) - 2 juveniles were located at the "old" Kent ponds.

Purple Martin (8-19) - Several birds seen flying over the sound at Jack Block Park in West Seattle.

Anna's Hummingbird (8-19) - An adult male and female were observed at Discovery Park by the hummingbird feeder.

Hutton's Vireo (8-19) - One bird was observed just west of the Discovery Park Visitor Center.

It was a good couple of days of birding.

Matthew Moskwik
Cheney, WA
mpmoskwik at hotmail.com