Hello Tweets,

Yesterday(May 1st)my mother and I led a TAS(Tahoma Audubon Society)birdathon field trip covering many familiar areas beginning at the Nisqually NWR to Tokeland with a total of 134 species observed in 13 hours. We had rather good weather throughout the day,except for windy conditions at times but encountered several key highlights that were noteworthy including the following species:

1 Brown Pelican at Westport
18 Greater White-fronted Geese at the Johns River WRA(accessed off of S.R.105 west of Markham)
1 Common Teal(Eurasian Green-winged Teal) at Midway Beach Rd.(well observed amongst a flock of 14 Green-winged Teal,a pair of Northern Pintail and a pair of Blue-winged Teal with the location being a noteworthy sighting for the latter species)
1 Barrow's Goldeneye at Mud Bay(observed along Madrona Beach Rd. in Thurston Co.)
4 Snowy Plovers at Midway Beach Rd.
1 Lesser Yellowlegs along Dunlap Rd.(accessed off of Hwy.12 southeast of Elma)
6 Solitary Sandpipers(1 at the Nisqually NWR,5 along Dunlap Rd.)
5 Ruddy Turnstones at Bottle Beach with 4 additional birds at Tokeland
1 Rock Sandpiper at Westport(Westhaven State Park)
6 "Streaked"Horned Larks at Midway Beach Rd.
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher, 1 pair of House Wrens,1 MacGillivray's Warbler, and 1 Western Tanager near Lacey,Thurston Co.


Overall our rather intensive day was quite productive,despite several areas having minimal activity our early morning visit to the Nisqually NWR(combined with a visit to nearby Luhr Beach)being the most productive followed by a visit made near Lacey,then our last visit of the day made along Dunlap Rd. near Elma that produced up to 5 Solitary Sandpipers and our only Lesser Yellowlegs of the day noted. As mentioned earlier our day began at the Nisqually NWR where we checked mainly areas along McAllister Creek trail to the Twin Barns from the main parking lot,where highlights included our first Solitary Sandpiper of the day in the flooded area south of the McAllister Creek trail, then next a visit made to Luhr Beach produced a single Eared Grebe along with 5 Horned Grebes, and several pairs of Purple Martins sitting on nestboxes as well as observed flying overhead. On our way back to I-5 we checked a small area along Meridian Rd. near Lacey that began with a MacGillivray's Warbler followed soon after by a cooperative singing Olive-sided Flycatcher perched atop several Douglas Fir trees along with a single Chipping Sparrow,Western Tanager and ending with a single pair of House Wrens of which all species mentioned we encountered nowhere else during the entire day,so it made this fairly short visit very worthwhile. Next,a quick stop made along Madrona Beach Rd. produced a single Barrow's Goldeneye along with 4 species of shorebirds foraging on the exposed mudflats. Continuing west our next main stop was made at Bottle Beach during incoming tide,where fairly good numbers of foraging shorebirds were noted of which highlights consisted of small numbers of Red Knots and 5 Ruddy Turnstones. On our way to Tokeland we stopped along S.R.105 at North Cove,where a roosting gull flock produced 4 Black-legged Kittiwakes along with 5 other gulls species. We arrived at Tokeland at 10:15am,where tide conditions were not the most favorable due to shorebird numbers and diversity being highly scattered from the entrance of Tokeland at Graveyard Spit to the Tokeland Marina. Our main shorebird highlight encountered at this location were 2 Long-billed Curlews observed from the Tradewinds Motel at Graveyard Spit foraging amongst several other shorebird species including small numbers of Red Knots,Black-bellied Plovers,Marbled Godwits,Whimbrels and a few other shorebird species. Other noteworthy species noted at Tokeland included a pair of Surfbirds amongst a group of 4 Ruddy Turnstones,1 Marbled Murrelet,and a single Anna's Hummingbird observed at a feeder. Next,a rather extensive walk made at Midway Beach proved successful beginning with excellent observations of a Common Teal foraging with Green-winged Teal and a pair each of Northern Pintail and Blue-winged Teal in the canal of water that separates the end of the road from the main beach. The entire flock eventually flew off with the pair of Blue-winged Teal eventually returning back to the canal,which is our first personal observation of this species at this coastal location. We continued walking to the south and eventually over the canal of shallow water and over onto the open,sandy beach which produced up to 4 Snowy Plovers and up to 6 "Streaked"Horned Larks followed by a single Merlin and adult Cooper's Hawk noted on our way back to our vehicle.

At Westport conditions were fairly slow within Grays Harbor as viewed from the Westport Jetty at Westhaven State Park,but two highlights included a single Brown Pelican foraging in Grays Harbor and a single Rock Sandpiper at the Westport Jetty. Continuing east we stopped at the Johns River WRA,where a walk made along the paved trail to the flooded area produced up to 18 Greater White-fronted Geese and 1 of 2 Spotted Sandpipers noted from this location with the other bird being noted along the shores of the Johns River feeding loosely amongst a flock "peeps' and Semipalmated Plovers. A fairly short visit made to the Hoquiam STP was quite slow,but a recently established nesting pair of Ospreys was noted at the west end of Paulson Rd.,which may hopefully breed at this location. On our way home we located our first of two Western Scrub Jays of the day in the town of Satsop along Monte-Elma Rd. followed by the second bird being along Keys Rd. at the intersection with Wenzel Slough Rd. We continued east along Wenzel Slough Rd. to Vance Creek Co. Park,where 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows and up to 3 Pacific-slope Flycatchers were noted bordering the Satsop River. Our last main but exceptional stop of the day was made near the end of Dunlap Rd.,where up to 5 Solitary Sandpipers foraged in a drying canal along with good numbers of Least Sandpipers,5 Greater Yellowlegs and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs. On our way home our last species of the day was a single Red-breasted Sapsucker observed flying along I-5 near Lacey.

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

Am.Bittern
2 at the Nisqually NWR

"Black"Brant
5 off Luhr Beach(Nisqually Delta)
4 at Westport

Blue-winged Teal
4(2 pair)at the Nisqually NWR
1 pair at Midway Beach Rd.
1 pair at the Hoquiam STP(with 1 male Cinnamon Teal)

Ring-necked Duck
1 male along Wenzel Slough Rd. east of Vance Creek Co. Park

Northern Harrier
1 at the Nisqually NWR
1 at Midway Beach Rd.

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 flying along S.R.105 east of the Johns River

Am.Kestrel
3 within the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 at the Nisqually NWR(heard only)

Virginia Rail(heard only)
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Sora
3 at the Nisqually NWR(heard only)

Long-billed Dowitcher
5 at Tokeland

Hairy Woodpecker
1 at Tokeland

Am.Pipit
1 at Midway Beach Rd.

Warbling Vireo
3 at the Nisqually NWR
2 along Brady Loop Rd.
1 along Wenzel Slough Rd.



Good birding,

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