G'mornin' Tweeters,

Yesterday (June 12) 4 brave souls got up VERY early to check out the north side of Olympic Nat'l Park and a few spots along the Strait of Juan deFuca. I was joined by John English, Ned McGarry and Milton Wolf on this scouting party for a future Audubon field trip.

Deer Park turned out to be a treasure as two of the group got life birds with the tiny WILLOW FLYCATCHER and the "less than tiny" NORTHERN GOSHAWK. Both guys were thrilled by both birds, but ya gotta admit that a view of that BIG male GOS gliding over treetops does take the breath away. Just a little farther down the road yours truly was rewarded when we jumped out to inspect what sounded like a Hermit's Warbler. It was, of course, a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER doing a great imitation. But the joy came when we were greeted by a suspicious "woof, woof" sound just overhead. My elusive BLUE GROUSE was directly over us, about 40 feet up in a tree along the road. He kept up his calling for the whole 20 minutes we were there.

Other sitings at Deer Park, Hurricane Ridge, Dungeness Spit, Nelson Co. Park and John Wayne Marina:

DC and Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Gadwall, Nor. Shoveler, Common Merganser.

Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Blue Grouse, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher.

G.W. Gull, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Rhino Auklet, Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove.

Kingfisher, Rufous Hummer, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Nor. Flicker.

Olive-sided and Willow Flycatchers, Am. Crow, Com. Raven, Steller's Jay, Gray Jay, Horned Lark.

Tree, Violet-green and Barn Swallows, Bushtit, BC Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter and Marsh Wrens, Colden-crowned Kinglet.

Robin, Townsend's Solitaire, Swainson's and Varied Thrushes, Am. Pipet, Cedar Waxwing, Starling.

Yellow-rumped (both sub-species), Townsend's and Wilson's Warblers, Black-headed Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee, White-crowned, Song and Savannah Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco.

Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds, Cowbird, House, Purple and Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

A little drizzly in spots, but a Great Day!

-Rolan


Rolan Nelson
Fircrest, WA
rnbuffle at yahoo.com

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