Subject: Clark's Grebe off Luhr Beach
Date: May 23 19:43:48 2004
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded from the Nisqually NWR to the Brady Loop Rd. area with several other locations visited. On our way home we made a brief visit to Luhr Beach and surrounding areas with a return early evening visit to the Nisqually NWR. Our main highlight of the day occurred at Luhr Beach at 4pm during low tide,which produced a single Clark's Grebe along with a single Western Grebe swimming together at Nisqually Reach. This is a very noteworthy observation for Clark's Grebe in southern Puget Sound,especially for a late spring record. Away from the Clark's Grebe our main efforts were involved in searching for any lingering shorebirds,specifically along the McAllister Creek trail at the Nisqually NWR and along Brady Loop Rd. Both locations hosted remaining good shorebird habitat,although the past flooded area noted along the beginning of the McAllister Creek trail is drying up much quicker than the muddy areas south of the photo blind along the McAllister Creek trail. We observed 9 species of shorebirds during the entire day with our most noteworthy shorebird highlights being a single Red-necked Phalarope, 2 Semipalmated Plovers and up to 3 Pectoral Sandpipers along Brady Loop Rd. An additional Semipalmated Plover was observed with a single Western Sandpiper along the McAllister Creek trail at the Nisqually NWR.

We began the day at the Nisqually NWR from 11am-1:30pm,where we walked from the main parking lot to the shorebird "mudflats" south of the photo blind along the McAllister Creek trail,as we ran into several birders along the way. After returning to the main parking lot we continued onto Brady Loop Rd.,where we checked primarily the western portion of the "loop" before driving to Dunlap Rd. along Hwy.12 southeast of Elma,which was very slow compared to past visits. On our way home we checked a few areas beginning at Luhr Beach,which produced a few waterbirds species then a visit made along Orion Drive NE(accessed off of Meridian Rd. NE),which is one of the main roads heading to Luhr Beach. Our final stop of the day was made at the Nisqually NWR at 5pm,where we made a very brief check along the beginning portion of the McAllister Creek trail then back to the main parking lot,where conditions were quite slow,but up to 7 separate Am.Bittern were heard calling with one bird that was seen north of the trail. A list of additional highlights noted during the day at selected locations includes the following:

Common Loon
1 flying fairly high above the forested hillside along McAllister Creek at the Nisqually NWR heading towards Luhr Beach

Pied-billed Grebe
3 adults observed along Brady Loop Rd.(with one adult with 3 young)

Horned Grebe
1 lingering bird off Luhr Beach

Wood Duck
3 separate females with young observed at the Nisqually NWR(with one female with 15 young)

Green-winged Teal
1 male along Brady Loop Rd.

Northern Pintail
2 pair along Brady Loop Rd.

Blue-winged Teal
8 at the Nisqually NWR
1 pair along Brady Loop Rd.

Cinnamon Teal
2 along Brady Loop Rd.
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Northern Shoveler
1 pair along Brady Loop Rd.

Gadwall
2 pair at the Nisqually NWR
1 pair along Brady Loop Rd.

Bufflehead
1 lingering female along Brady Loop Rd.

Turkey Vulture
7 along Dunlap Rd.(with additional single birds noted at nearby locations)

Osprey
1 flying along I-5 at Dupont(being mobbed by 2 Common Ravens)

Northern Harrier
4(1 male,3 females)at the Nisqually NWR

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 along Hwy.8 at McCleary

Cooper's Hawk
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Am.Kestrel
2 along Brady Loop Rd.

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 male along the roadside of Meridian Rd. NE
1 male at the Nisqually NWR

Virginia Rail
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Sora
7 along Brady Loop Rd.
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Greater Yellowlegs
8 at the Nisqually NWR
6 along Brady Loop Rd.

Spotted Sandpiper
12 at the Nisqually NWR
1 along Dunlap Rd.

Western Sandpiper
1 at the Nisqually NWR
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Least Sandpiper
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Long-billed Dowitcher
4 at the Nisqually NWR
4 along Brady Loop Rd.

Wilson's Phalarope
2 pair at the Nisqually NWR

Ring-billed Gull
8 at Luhr Beach

Bonaparte's Gull
1 at Luhr Beach(Nisqually Delta)

Caspian Tern
18 at Luhr Beach(Nisqually Delta)

Band-tailed Pigeon
widespread in small numbers,but most noteworthy numbers include 70+ birds along Dunlap Rd.

Mourning Dove
1 at the Nisqually NWR
2 along Meridian Rd. NE near Lacey

Red-breasted Sapsucker
1 along Hwy.101 east of Mud Bay
1 along I-5 north of the Nisqually River bridge

Pileated Woodpecker
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Olive-sided Flycatcher
3 along Orion Drive NE near Lacey

Western Wood Pewee
1 along Orion Drive NE

Willow Flycatcher
4 at the Nisqually NWR
1 along Orion Drive NE

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Purple Martin
8 at the Nisqually NWR

Northern Rough-winged Swallow
6 at the Nisqually NWR

Bushtit
8 at the Nisqually NWR

House Wren
1 along Orion Drive NE

Cedar Waxwing
38 at the Nisqually NWR

Yellow-rumped"Myrtle"Warbler
1 at the Nisqually NWR

Western Tanager
3 along Orion Drive NE

Black-headed Grosbeak
5 at the Nisqually NWR
1 along Orion Drive NE

Purple Finch
3 near Luhr Beach

Evening Grosbeak
15+ along Dunlap Rd.

In addition to birds my mother and observed a few species of dragonflies at various locations during the warmth of the day including our first Cardinal Meadowhawk of the season observed at the Nisqually NWR. Our main mammal highlight of the day was a single Muskrat also observed at the Nisqually NWR.


Good birding,

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