Today while postponing a trip to the Laundromat I decided to check out what
Mud Bay (off 101 outside Olympia) had to offer. Upon arrival at the bridge
overlook I scanned quickly for shorebirds (things seemed flighty due to my
presence) and noticed two gulls taking off from close-by. The first was a
Ring-billed and the second I assumed would be a Bonaparte's Gull...but
instead it turned into a first-winter FRANKLIN'S GULL. This seems to be a
good spot for this species in Thurston County in the fall as they've been
spotted here before. It flew quite close and allowed me to see a: smallish
gull with partial-hood on the head, small crescent-type markings near the
eyes and a dark bill, white underwings and throat/belly, white tail with a
black tail band (later I consulted the NTL GEO and noted it being much
thinner than pictured for a Laughing Gull), and black primaries on the
upperwing with a few white primary tips on some of the outer feathers. This
was only my second encounter with this species (first in flight) and I was
glad that I could figure it out with this great look. It flew over the
bridge towards the highway and landed with some Ring-billeds on the mud
flats opposite 101 from where I was standing. The only way to see anything
on that side would be to hike around the perimeter of the inlet since you
aren't allowed to stop on 101 at this point unless it is an emergency.

Also here was the on-again-off-again GREAT EGRET. It was perched in a fir
tree and later flew down and was seen hunting in the water. 2 GREEN HERON
(1 adult, 1 imm.) were also right behind the bar near a moored boat.
Greater Yellowlegs were common with at least one LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Other
shorebirds included:
Killdeer
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
1 Dowitcher Sp.
3 Spotted Sandpiper

About 40 Bonaparte's Gulls were fishing and loafing further down the road at
the bridge on Madrona Bay RD.

Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA