Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded several areas beginning this morning at 6:30am at the South Port Orchard Airport in Kitsap Co,then proceeding onto Grays Harbor Co. and checking areas from the Hoquiam STP back to the Elma area. We had a fairly diverse day of species,despite scattered showers throughout the day. We were able to encounter several highlights with many that we observed in past visits from the same locations. We began our day at the South Port Orchard Airport,where we spent 2 hours walking portions of the western portion of the airport,although conditions are quite different comapred to last year with a great deal of the large stands of Scotch Broom and other thick vegetation,which has been removed and land cleared for future building construction. The area that has been cleared may affect the Mountain Quail numbers or induce them to move to other nearby areas,but we managed to hear up to 4 seperate calling birds during our visit,specifically from the first 10 minutes after we arrived to park our vehicle near the airport entrance. The birds called from two seperate locations and despite our fairly lengthy visit we did not encounter or hear any additional Mountain Quail. We also managed to locate a few other species during our visit including the following:

1 Ring-necked Pheasant(heard only)
1 Hairy Woodpecker
14 Varied Thrushes
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow
2 Purple Finches(heard only)

After checking the South Port Orchard Airport we stoppped and scoped the Purdy Waterfront in Pierce County,before heading south and west and located 5 Eared Grebes amongst more common waterbird species in Henderson Bay. We arrived at the Hoquiam STP at 10:45am and checked the main sewage pond for Tufted Duck amongst the small numbers of scaup,but were unable to locate this species. Our most productive location of the day was along Brady Loop Rd. with good variety of species,in addition to several highlights for the day. After birding the Hoquiam STP we then continued on our way back towards home by checking several other areas in the general Brady-Elma area with the following species listed at selected locations:

Hoquiam STP(including the offshore waters of Grays Harbor) 10:45am-11:30am

1 Red-throated Loon
18 Western Grebes
1 light-morph Rough-legged Hawk

Marine Drive(east of the Hoquiam STP)

1 immature Greater White-fronted Goose
2 Western Sandpipers
4 Least Sandpipers
27 Dunlin

east end of K Street at Hoquiam

1 adult Greater White-fronted Goose
14 "Dusky"Canada Geese

Hoquiam River at Aberdeen along Hwy.12

1 Spotted Sandpiper

Brady Loop Rd. 12pm-1:30pm

24 Tundra Swans
5 Trumpeter Swans
40 "Dusky"Canada Geese
17 "Cackling"Canada Geese
1 "Aleutian"Canada Goose
250+ Northern Pintail
5 Ring-necked Ducks
1 adult Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
1 Greater Yellowlegs(heard only)
8 Dunlin
1 Wilson's Snipe
1 adult Herring Gull
1 Hairy Woodpecker
65+Tree Swallows
7+ Violet-green Swallows
5 Western Scrub Jays
very large numbers of Am.Robins from several locations along Brady Loop Rd.(west of Foster Rd.)
1 immature Northern Shrike
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
30 Western Meadowlarks

Moore Rd.(near Satsop)

1 Am.Kestrel
8 Mourning Doves

Wenzel Slough Rd. 1:45pm-2:30pm

1 adult White-tailed Kite
1 Am.Kestrel
6 Wilson's Snipe
1 Tree Swallow
3 Swamp Sparrows

Schouweiler Rd. wetland 2:40pm-3pm

3 Virginia Rails(heard only)
5 Wilson's Snipe
20+ Yellow-rumped Warblers
80+ Pine Siskins


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net