Subject: King County; 19 Sept. 2004: Pacific Golden-Plover
Date: Sep 19 19:58:21 2004
From: Charlie Wright - charlie at birdwright.com


Greetings All:
Today I birded in the Kent Valley, mainly helping on the Kent Ponds bird
census. It was one of our best days yet, with close to 80 species noted.
Waterfowl, raptors, and warblers were especially well represented.

GREEN RIVER NATURAL RESOURCES AREA (8:15am-12:15pm)
Wood Duck (9)
Ring-necked Duck (15)
Pied-billed Grebe (15+)
Western Grebe (1)-inner lagoon.
Green Heron (3-4): one flew across 212th Ave; 2 or 3 near grassy knoll.
Osprey (1)
Cooper's Hawk (3)
American Kestrel (2)
Merlin (1)
Virginia Rail (3)
Greater Yellowlegs (3): two actually landed.
Lesser Yellowlegs (1)-flyover.
Western Sandpiper (5)-" "
Long-billed Dowitcher (8)-" "
Wilson's Snipe (3)
Ring-billed Gull (2)
Mourning Dove (1)
Barn Owl (1)-Russell Road box.
Black Swift (12): fairly high over ponds in morning.
Vaux's Swift (4)
Anna's Hummingbird (3)
Northern Flicker (20+): 1-intergrade; 1-pure Yellow-shafted.
Willow Flycatcher (2)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (1)
Warbling Vireo (5)
Tree Swallow (1)
Violet-green Swallow (200+)
Cliff Swallow (5)
Swainson's Thrush (5)
American Pipit (5)
Orange-crowned Warbler (36)
Yellow Warbler (39)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
Wilson's Warbler (3)
Fox Sparrow (8)
Lincoln's Sparrow (10)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (20+)
Purple Finch (4)-flyovers.
Pine Siskin (1)-" "
Evening Grosbeak (4)-" "

After the census, I checked the brand-new mitigation habitat a block south
of the old Thomas Pond along with Carol Schulz. I immediately saw a flock of
15 Long-billed Dowitchers, not a bad sign. Soon a bright juv Pectoral
Sandpiper came out from behind a clump of dirt. We stuck around a while
longer, until the crisp juvenile Pacific Golden-Plover flew in and hunkered
down on a little island. A very nice record for such a small wetland.

Cheers
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington