Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded portions of Grays Harbor and Thurston Cos. from a morning visit made at the Nisqually NWR continuing to Bottle Beach at incoming tide at 1:30pm,then checking a few locations on our way home with a quick visit made at the Hoquiam STP and a return visit along Foster Rd. and Wenzel Slough Rd. in the Brady/Satsop area. We began the day very well with a good assortment of passerines noted at the Nisqually NWR and at the "old" Lacey Clear-cut along Hogum Bay Rd. NE at Lacey. Our main highlight at the latter location and of the day was 2 singing MacGillivray's Warblers with 1 bird heard and seen and the other bird heard in the near distance in thick vegetation. We have found this location to be very dependable in past years for this species,but it was nice observation since it was a possible target species for the day. A single bright adult white-striped White-throated Sparrow was observed with a single White-crowned Sparrow was also noted at this location. Earlier we had made a visit to the Nisqually NWR headquarters area to the Twin Barns with a great start to the day with additional passerines including our first Warbling Vireo, 2 Yellow Warblers, and a male Western Tanager of the season. Other birds of note at the Nisqually NWR headquarters area included a male Blue-winged Teal(previously reported by Jason Paulios),a single Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Vaux's Swifts, and 2 Wilson's Warblers among other notable species.We were delighted to have such a great start of the day,as we continued towards Bottle Beach for shorebirds at incoming tide among other areas on the way. A short visit along the western portion of Wenzel Slough Rd. was made,where our second Lesser Yellowlegs of the day was noted among other more common shorebird species in a slowly drying flooded area. Continuing west we checked along Foster Rd. and the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. that produced notable shorebird species,as other birders along this route may have noted some of the same numbers and species. Most notable were up to 10 Lesser Yellowlegs noted along the northern portion of Foster Rd. and a loose flock of 34 Whimbrel and our second group of Black-bellied Plovers noted along the route along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. in a freshly plowed field. Our first group of Black-bellied Plovers was noted along the southern portion of Foster Rd. in the same corn stubble field west of the road as noted by other birders in addition to us in past visits. We searched through the flock of 23 birds in our spotting scopes,as they foraged loosely among good numbers of Western and Least Sandpipers with only one Black-bellied Plover in drab,pale nonbreeding plumage. We noted up to 3 individuals that showed partial brown freckled mantles,as well as the distinctive white undertail coverts that golden plovers lack. Before arriving at Bottle Beach we stopped and checked the Johns River WA,where our first large flock of Greater White-fronted Geese were noted of the day that included up to 250+ birds along with the lingering adult Snow Goose. Other notable sightings from this location near the main parking lot were an actively singing Warbling Vireo,1 Wilson's Warbler,and 2 Black-throated Gray Warblers among a few other species. We arrived at Bottle Beach at 1:25pm during incoming tide,as we checked the shorebird numbers compared to our last visit. Overall shorebird numbers seemed about the same,but Western and Least Sandpipers with lesser numbers of Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitchers were greatly increased at this location and at most other locations we visited throughout the day. A generous check along Ocosta Third Street produced our second large group of Greater White-fronted Geese of the day with up to 100 birds noted,as the foraged just west of the road with one adult bird noted with a blue radio transmitter collar marked 5 5V. On our way home we made a quick check at the Hoquiam STP at 3:15pm,but NO additional highlights were noted and our return visit along Foster Rd. produced good looks at 6 Turkey Vultures foraging on a dead cow,being one of two dead cows with the other animal along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.,which was noted during the morning and was also being consumed by several Ravens with 12 soaring Turkey Vultures overhead. Overall we had a great day with a great diversity of species compared to our recent trip to the Columbia Gorge on the 1st of May. A list of other notable highlights of the day follow at selected locations:

Wood Duck
3 at the Nisqually NWR
1 at the Johns River WA

Blue-winged Teal
1 male at the Nisqually NWR
2 males along Ocosta Third Street

Cinnamon Teal
3 males at the Nisqually NWR
2 males along the western portion of Wenzel Slough Rd.
2 pair at the Johns River WA
1 along Ocosta Third Street

Cooper's Hawk
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Am.Kestrel
1 male along Brady Loop Rd./Foster Rd.

Merlin
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Peregrine Falcon
1 immature actively pursuing shorebirds with no immediate success along Ocosta Third Street/Bottle Beach

Ring-necked Pheasant(heard only)
2 along Brady Loop Rd.

Virginia Rail(heard only)
5 at the Nisqually NWR
3 along Ocosta Third Street

Sora(heard only)
4 at the Nisqually NWR
3 along Ocosta Third Street

Black-bellied Plover
23 along Foster Rd.
16 along Brady Loop Rd.
5 at Bottle Beach

Semipalmated Plover
10 at the Johns River WA
48+ at Bottle Beach/Ocosta Third Street
15 along Brady Loop Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
18+ along Foster Rd.
7 at the Johns River WA
3 at Ocosta Third Street

Ruddy Turnstone
4 at Bottle Beach

Long-billed Dowitcher
8 at the Johns River WA(with nearby Short-billed Dowitchers)

Band-tailed Pigeon
250+ along Wenzel Slough/Keys Rds. near Satsop

Mourning Dove
1 along Hogum Bay Rd. near the "old" Lacey Clear-cut

Vaux's Swift
2 at the Nisqually NWR
15+ at Hoquiam

Red-breasted Sapsucker
1 flying along S.R.105 at MP40(west of Markham)

Northern Rough-winged Swallow
7 along Ocosta Third Street

Western Scrub Jay
1 along Hwy.12 at Elma
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Am.Pipit
75+ along Brady Loop Rd.

Orange-crowned Warbler
10 at the Nisqually NWR(with good remaining numbers of Yellow-rumped Warbler of both subspecies)
6 along Brady Loop Rd.

Chipping Sparrow
6 near the "old" Lacey Clear-cut

Purple Finch
8+ at the Johns River WA
3 along Ocosta Third Street

Evening Grosbeak
2 along Brady Loop Rd.


Mammals of note for the day included the following:

1 Coyote along western portion of Wenzel Slough Rd.
1 Muskrat along northern portion of Foster Rd.
28 Roosevelt Elk and 1 Muskrat at the Johns River WA


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net