Subject: Gingko Intepretive Center 5/17
Date: May 17 22:43:47 2003
From: Matt Bartels - mattxyz at earthlink.net


Hi all -
As Bob Flores mentioned, the weather in central WA wasn't all that
great for birding today, but the birds were still out.
Among other stops, I spent a good deal of time this afternoon at
Gingko SP Interpretive Center. The high winds and occasional rain
didn't diminish the excitment of having so much activity in such a
small place.... Kind of made up for the envy I felt as the my sister
regaled me with stories of Pt.Pelee last weekend...

Popping out from the trees now and again were:
Bullocks Oriole 1 or 2
Western Tanager - many
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow Warbler
YRWarbler [Myrtle & Audubon both]
~Nashville Warbler [not a good enough look to 'count', but pretty
sure that's what I was getting glimpses of]
Western Kingbird -a pair at least
empid sp. [despite my pleas, no calls were forthcoming]
Warbling Vireo
RB Nuthatch
A pair of Killdeer must have had nestlings nearby because they
accompanied me constantly, calling out and occasionally performing
their 'broken wing' trick. At first, I tried to avoid the areas they
seemed to be concerned about protecting, but soon I realized they
were calling out no matter where I went. Oh well....

Looking over the Columbia:
White-throated Swifts
Caspian Terns
various swallows & calls from distant California Quail

I also drove around the area where the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was
reported Thursday. No luck finding it, but the Western Kingbirds were
out in force, as were 2 Long-billed Curlew [hwy 283 ~mp1.5], 2
Swainson's Hawks [~mp 4] & several Am.Kestrel, MoDos, Meadowlarks.....

A good day -

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA
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