Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I spent a few hours birding a few locations from the Lacey area to Friends Landing south of Montesano in eastern Grays Harbor Co. Our main purpose was to attempt to relocate and observe the 3 Pacific Golden Plovers that we located yesterday along Foster Rd. and any other migrant species that may be in the area. We arrived along Foster Rd. at 12pm and thoroughly scoped and checked the corn stubble field along the southern portion of Foster Rd. that produced 13 Black-bellied Plovers with a few other shorebird species. We then traveled along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. between Willis Rd. and Miram Hall Rd.,where we scoped a recently plowed field west of the road that hosted 30+ Black-bellied Plovers and 74 Whimbrel,as they foraged throughout the field in search of grubs,etc. After 5 minutes of scoping the flock we located one Pacific Golden Plover at 1pm, then after 10 minutes of viewing the bird from the road the entire flock of shorebirds flew up and circled around before relanding until we almost immediately located all 3 Pacific Golden Plovers together at the east end of the plowed field(closest to the road),as they allowed exceptional views of two individuals being in full breeding plumage and the third individual being quite duller in overall plumage. We watched the birds foraged in and amongst the large clumps of plowed dirt. We remained at this location along Brady Loop Rd. until Pam,as we watched the Pacific Golden Plover and other shorebirds forage in the field,as the mantles of the two breeding plumaged Pacific Golden Plovers matched the color of the dark plowed dirt,but as closer range the black flecking could be observed. This sighting was even more rewarding since my mother had never seen a Pacific Golden Plover in full breeding plumage. After 2pm the entire flock of Black-bellied Plovers and the 3 Pacific Golden Plovers flew up and over to another plowed field immediately west of the initial field,but we were unable to track the flock entirely. We arrived back at the location after checking the Friends Landing area near Montesano with a few additional species for our visit to the area. Upon our arrival along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. at 3pm,despite fairly strong westerly winds we were able to locate the 3 Pacific Golden Plovers at the same location than previously mentioned along with flock of Black-bellied Plovers and Whimbrel. Another notable species and spectacle for the day included 300+ Band-tailed Pigeons along Wenzel Slough/Keys Rds.,which continue to increase and be most noted near at least two major farms near Satsop,with the main location being along the western portion of Wenzel Slough Rd. and the other location with lesser numbers north of that farm along Keys Rd. This area might possibly be the Band-tailed Pigeon capital of Washington with near annual large numbers noted in this region and also along the immediate Satsop River. This species clearly outnumbers Rock Doves at these locations during the spring,as they congregate most abundantly around the farm areas and also can be observed perched nearby in deciduous trees such as Black Cottonwood tree that line the nearby Satsop River.

Other notable species for the day included:

Turkey Vulture
8 along Wenzel Slough Rd.
13 along Brady Loop/Foster Rds.
4 along Devonshire Rd.(south of Montesano)
3 along Hwy.12 at Satsop

Osprey
1 along Hwy.12 at Montesano

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

Semipalmated Plover
14 along the southern portion of Foster Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
8 along Foster Rd.

Lesser Yellowlegs
7 along the northern portion of Foster Rd.

Short-billed Dowitcher
60+ along Foster Rd.

Purple Martin
1 pair over the "old"Lacey Clear-cut

Northern Rough-winged Swallow
7 along Brady Loop Rd.
1 along Foster Rd.

Swainson's Thrush
1 at Friends Landing(south of Montesano)

Am.Pipit
24 along Brady Loop Rd.

8+ at the "old"Lacey Clear-cut

Black-throated Gray Warbler
3 at Friends Landing

Chipping Sparrow
15 at the "old"Lacey Clear-cut

Lincoln's Sparrow
1 at Friends Landing



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net