Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I enjoyed a warm day checking a few areas from near Lacey in Thurston Co. to Brady Loop Rd. along with searching for dragonflies at a few locations. We encountered 3 dragonfly species including 2 California Darners(Aeshna californica) near Lacey and 2 forktail species noted from the Schouweiler Rd. wetland near Elma consisting of both Swift Forktail(Iscnura erratica) and a few Pacific Forktails(Iscnura cervula). These were our first dragonflies of the season and it appears all species may have just emerged due to the warming conditions.

Our most noteworthy location that seemed the most productive birdwise was near Lacey,where we made our first stop of the day and an additional stop made on our way home. We encountered our first Chipping Sparrows of the season,of which all birds were heard singing their buzzy song and remained very active during our entire morning visit,but only a few birds were encountered in the afternoon on our way home. We also encountered a flock of 9 Greater Yellowlegs that contained 2 Lesser Yellowlegs and a single Long-billed Dowitcher before they lifted up and flew towards the Nisqually NWR. An entire list of noteworthy species from this location includes the following:

1 Northern Harrier
1 Cooper's Hawk
9 Greater Yellowlegs
2 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Long-billed Dowitcher
2 Mourning Doves
1 Brown Creeper
2 Hutton's Vireos
4 Orange-crowned Warblers
10 Chipping Sparrows
7 Purple Finches
4 Red Crossbills

Continuing west we stopped along Wenzel Slough Rd. south of Satsop and located the adult Loggerhead Shrike upon arriving to it's usual location,as it perched cooperatively in brambles and atop fence posts. Next,we made a fairly short visit to the Brady Loop Rd. complex,which produced our first 2 Black-throated Gray Warblers of the season amongst a flock of Yellow-rumped Warbler(consisting of both subspecies)and up to 8 Orange-crowned Warblers along with several Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The Black-throated Gray Warblers were most observed alone,but at times foraged with the other warblers and it was enjoyable to hear and watch them sing at very close range at this usual location that has produced good numbers of songbirds in past years. We later ran into Marv Breece,as we watched the Rough-legged Hawk along the western portion of Brady Loop Rd.,as the bird actively flew nearby as well as perch atop telephone poles at fairly close range. On our way home we stopped and checked the Schouweiler Rd. wetland,where birding conditions were very slow as our main efforts were made searching for dragonflies before continuing on and checking near Lacey to end the day.

Additional highlights noted during the day at selected locations include the following:

Turkey Vulture
2 along Hwy.8 east of Elma
3 along Wenzel Slough Rd.
8 along Brady Loop Rd.

Osprey
1 pair at a nestsite along Wenzel Slough Rd.
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Am.Kestrel
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 "tailless" male along Wenzel Slough Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
9 near Lacey
18 along Foster Rd.(Brady Loop Rd. complex)

Wilson's Snipe
7 along Wenzel Slough Rd.

Band-tailed Pigeon
55 along Wenzel Slough Rd.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow
3 along Wenzel Slough Rd.

Orange-crowned Warbler
6 near Lacey
10 along Brady Loop Rd.
5 at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Lincoln's Sparrow
1 along Brady Loop Rd.



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Tacoma(Fircrest),WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net