I was one of the fortunate who saw the Redwing this morning in Olympia. I
always wonder what adventures and amazing stories these vagrants could tell
about their travels if we could understand them. Shortly after 9 a.m. the
bird flew west from Decatur and while we were all searching for its new
perch the neighborhood became eerily silent. Someone said a Sharpie was
about. It took ten to fifteen minutes for birds to resurface. Others then
located the bird on 4th and Cushing. As I headed back to my car, a block
east of Decatur I passed the young Sharpie perched quietly and not high up
in a backyard deciduous tree. After spending birder bucks for a wonderful
breakfast in a downtown Olympia restaurant. I birded my way back home. Too
little time for Nisqually as I spent quite a while at Luhr Beach talking
with the Director of the Nisqually Nature Center about the long-term plans
for dike removal at the NWR. Of interest today at the NWR was a NORTHERN
SAW-WHET OWL perched just eight feet above the boardwalk on the east side of
the loop and close to the interpretive center. One could observe it well
without binoculars. The white wash on the boardwalk was the giveaway.

Olympia

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Redwing
Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Oregon Junco
Western Scrub Jay
Starling

Luhr Beach

Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Western Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Western Gull
Glaucus-winged Gull
Belted Kingfisher

Nisqually NWR

Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Cackling Goose
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
American Coot
American Kestrel
Northern Harrier
Peregrine Falcon
Bald Eagle
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucus-winged Gull
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Downy Woodpecker
Starling
Red-winged Blackbird

Good birding,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds
cariddell at mac.com