Got you with that subject line didn't I? It's true, Keith Brady and I spent
a bit of time there in the late afternoon and talked to many birders who
reported that the WHEATEAR was not seen today. Keith mentioned that most
reports of these birds on both coasts are "one day wonders." So it really
was not too much of a surprise. I must say that with these few
Siberian/Alaskan rarities we've had this fall I was expecting another
northern wanderer but Wheatear sure wasn't on my list...and certainly not on
my county list! Keith is currently flogging himself for letting this
ultra-rarity escape our grasp on the home turf. Though he just got back
from spending the summer with them in AK so I don't feel too bad for him.

This morning I heard (still singing) and saw two Townsend's Warblers in the
neighborhood and also three Red Crossbills.

Luhr Beach continues to amaze me with a HEERMANN'S GULL present in a distant
gull flock as looking north of the parking lot towards the Pierce county
line. Possibly one of the birds that the Sullivan's saw earlier this week.

Here's a little breakdown on the good birds/mammals sighted from this
location in the past two weeks, remember that almost every species listed is
a code 4-5 in Thurston county:
Brown Pelican (second-hand report from a fisherman)
Black Scoter
Prairie Falcon
Sanderling
Baird's Sandpiper
Surfbird
Wandering Tattler
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Red-necked Phalarope
Franklin's Gull
Heermann's Gull
Thayer's Gull
Marbled Murrelet
Long-billed Murrelet (probable)
Humpback Whale (second-hand report from fishermen)

Add Black Swift, Bank Swallow and Northern Wheatear from Nisqually and you
get one of the most productive spots in the state right now.

Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA