Hello Tweeters,

Bruce LaBar, Ryan Shaw, Tracey Norris, and I had another great big
day/birdathon on Saturday, this time finding 117 species in Pierce which
possibly broke the record (if anyone knows otherwise, please let us know).
We began with some productive owling in Point Defiance Park beginning about
3:30am, with Western Screech- and Saw-whets calling nicely. We then drove
to the towns of Purdy and Wauna to view Henderson Bay, which hosted
surprising numbers of Common Murres, and some Rhinoceros Auklets and such.
Then it was back to Tacoma where we visited Titlow Beach, found scrub-jays,
and Pt Defiance. At the latter location we noted a pair of Marbled
Murrelets flying by on rapid wings, and found plenty of migrants in the
forest. Next stop was Gog-le-hi-ti, followed by Commencement Bay and the
Hylebos Waterway searching for lingering waterfowl. One of the Peregrines
was perched on the 11th Street Bridge and Purple Martins abound just about
everywhere we stopped along the water. We drove to Puyallup and stopped in
Wildwood Park, where we were successful in finding the Barred Owl, a county
bird for Ryan and myself. At the Alderton mitigation site (along 96th
Street at McCutcheon Rd) there was just a single Solitary Sandpiper and a
few Leasts. Up the road we found the nesting pair of American Dippers at
Victor Falls (Fennel Creek), and back at my place we had the only Vaux's
Swifts of the day.

Next it was into the prairies. In various spots we picked up most of
the typical prairie birds like Western Bluebirds. One of the better stops
was at Kreger Lake, where a Sora called constantly and an American Bittern
was spotted in flight. We quickly worked our way to Paradise, picking up
Pileated Woodpecker on the way. Paradise was quite slow, as there was about
20 feet of snow covering the place, but at least we got our target Clark's
Nutcracker and many Gray Jays. Back down the road again we stopped at
Longmire, where a pair of Harlequin Ducks delighted us in the turbulent
Nisqually River. Across the street from the river there are some trails to
the hot springs. Along the main trail there we encountered a fairly large
flock of warblers, including a pair of Hermit Warblers and at least one
Hermit x Townsend's hybrid. The last addition to our list was a
MacGillivray's Warbler calling loudly near La Grande. That's all for now.

--
Charlie Wright
Sumner, WA
charlie at birdwright.com