Hi Tweets,

On Sunday, May 31st , Heather and I explored 'the prairies" of Eastern
Pierce County and hiked portions of the Foothills Rails-to-Trails in the
area of Orting and South Prairie. The area was once extensive dairy farms
and pasture lands, but suburbia has found rural Pierce county.

The highlight of the day for us was a pair of WESTERN KINGBIRDS about .5
miles SE of Orting city limits at the intersection of Oroville Rd E.
(unsigned with direction to Electron). The pair was working the fencelines
in the large pasture to the west of the intersection, with a quick foray to
the Cell tower on the eastside of the highway.

The other nice bird was a female LAZULI BUNTING just north of the town of
South Prairie. We never did find a male ... We parked in the South
Prairie trailhead and walked the asphalt trail for the first ~800 yds until
it turned into a dirt path. The bird was in the shrubbery about another
100 yards north. There was a nice house near the end of the asphalt trail
that had up a lot of feeders, that gave us a nice look at some Rufous
Hummingbirds. If you decide to check out South Prairie, there is a road
that parallels Hwy 162, South Prairie - Carbon River Rd E, that is much
quieter, slow and perfect for birding or bike riding.

Since we were in the meander mode, we stopped for lunch in the town of
Wilkeson, which is on the way to the Carbon River Glacier in Mount Rainier
National Park. We did get some nice looks at Vaux's Swifts, Evening
Grosbeaks and Red-breasted Sapsuckers, but the best parts were checking out
the more historical spots. The Wilkeson sandstone quarry is about 2 miles
out of town and is the material that many of our state capitol building are
made out of - kind of a rosy stone. There were all sorts of obelisks,
lintels, columns and slabs in the yard - kind of like our own Carrara, but
in sandstone instead of marble. Just before that was a series of about 10
beehive brick ovens that were used for coking and the location of the hand
car on-rail push. I'm not sure how it work but there were cars on rails
and carts that had scrawled over them - push until it hurts. It must be
quite an event, as there were three sets of bleacher seats to watch the
event. You'll just have to check it out on July 7th (according to the
sign) if you want to know more.

There is also an office for Mount Rainier NP in Wilkeson. The latest news
- the road to Carbon River is open, but in rough shape from a washout. The
Golden Eagle passes starting this year, will be good for National Parks,
National Wildlife Refuges AND National Forests. The price for one year of
fun is $65.00 for all of them. $50.00 for just the National Parks.

Good Birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma, WA
marcus.d.roening at gsk.com