Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I enjoyed a great small movement of passerines in our yard as a mini "fallout" between 9:30am-10am before we headed out into the field to check a few birding locations. We considered this spectacle a mini "fallout" due to the rather intense movement of songbirds in a limited area of which we normally do not get with usual single birds noted during migration. This intense group of passerines included 4 species, of which the main highlight was a female Nashville Warbler that was observed in our birdbath,as well as loosely foraging with a roaming flock of up to 4 Warbling Vireos and 6 Wilson's Warblers that were observed foraging in our Paper Birch tree,as well as other deciduous tress in our front yard. A single Western Tanager was also in this flock,but the entire flock seemed to spread out within the 30 minute duration and up to 1 Wilson's Warbler remain currently. The Nashville Warbler was our second personal record for our yard with our other record occurring on April 22nd-26th,1993. Overall we have had a fairly good spring for yard birds with two new additions to our yard list so far this year with a single flyover Northern Harrier on the 18th of February and a Savannah Sparrow on the 29th of April along with our resident Anna's Hummingbirds,being their 4th year to date at our residence. In addition we had a record season for Zonotrichia sparrows in our yard with up to 4 Golden-crowned Sparrows for two days beginning on the 4th of May and 2 pair of White-crowned Sparrows at our residence that remain and could presumably breed in our area. Both species normally have occurred in singles in our yard and not normally more than a few days in the spring. We currently have up to 7 species that are breeding our yard ore nearby including a nesting pair of Northern Flickers, Red-breasted Nuthatches,Bushtits,both Rufous and Anna's Hummingbirds,Chestnut-backed and Black-capped Chickadees,and single pairs of Bewick's Wren and Song Sparrow. Even if we have a slow day the hummingbirds are always a highlights,as they come to our feeders regularly along with a few bird species that just use our birdbaths. Other highlights in our yard recently include a single Red-breasted Sapsucker on the 4th of May, a Hermit Thrush on the 23rd-27th of April and most recently on the 8th of May, and an Orange-crowned Warbler on the 24th of April.

After having a exceptional morning in our yard the birding a few local locations near our home my mother and I ventured south and checked a few birding locations to the Brady Loop Rd. area,where we had a fairly good day along with locating a few shorebird additions for the season to the Brady Loop Rd. area. Overall the day was quite slow for additional passerines,but we did stop a few nearby locations near our home that produced a few highlights including the following at a few stops made in nearby University Place(Pierce Co.)

Cirque Drive(between Bridgeport Street and 67th Ave. W.)

2 Band-tailed Pigeons
2 Mourning Doves
1 male Anna's Hummingbird
2 Warbling Vireos
2 Orange-crowned Warblers
2 Wilson's Warblers

Alameda Ave. W.(accessed from Cirque Drive)

1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher(heard only)


Our first main birding stop was made at Luhr Beach at Nisqually Head during incoming tide,where we scoped the available shoreline of the Nisqually Delta as well as the open saltwater and locate the following highlights:

12 Eared Grebes(with a few nearby Horned Grebes)
1 lingering male Harlequin Duck
1 Short-billed Dowitcher(with a small flock of Dunlin)

On our way to the Elma-Brady area we stopped by the Black Lake Meadows west of Tumwater and encountered a fairly slow visit,but a few species of interest were noted including the following:

2 Green Heron
1 female Hooded Merganser
2 Orange-crowned Warblers

Continuing west along S.R.8 we located a single Turkey Vulture flying over the Capital Forest near Summit Lake,then along Foster Rd. and the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. we spent considerable time scoping the available plowed fields that have produced shorebirds in past weeks and most notable was two separate flocks of Black-bellied Plovers on the west side of the southern portion of Foster Rd. containing 67 birds along with 37 Ruddy Turnstones. We have encountered the latter species in past years during spring migration at this location and along Brady Loop Rd.,so this species is probably annual spring migrant. Other notable shorebirds included a flock of 68+ Whimbrel heard calling and observed in recently plowed fields along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. between Willis and Hiram Hall Rds. Other species of note for the general location included the following:

13 Turkey Vultures
1 Osprey
1 immature Peregrine Falcon
5 Western Sandpipers
3 Dunlin
15+ Band-tailed Pigeons
1 Yellow Warbler
8 Golden-crowned Sparrows


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net