Tweeters,

Yesterday I ran one of my Breeding Bird Survey routes in Pacific County and
had a great time. The route starts near Bay Center at the South Bend-Palix
RD and follows that through the hills (much of it clearcut) into Raymond,
then I take SR-6 towards Lebam. Sunday church traffic gets a bit busy
towards the end, but it's not too bad. In total there are 50 stops every
half-mile, so it goes for roughly 25 miles (depending on how well your
odometer works!). Missed the Purple Martins at Raymond again, probably just
the timing of the route.

Swainson's Thrush was again the big winner, but it was a good 20 birds off
of last year. I easily flushed that many from the road while driving
between my early stops, so they're out there.

Remember to sign up for a route next year at
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/participate/ , there were at least 6 vacant
routes available this year according to their map
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/results/routemaps/washington.cfm?StateNumber=89
.

This year I saw more species, added a few to the list and missed a few that
I saw last year. I'll arrange the birds seen below with the total number
seen/heard followed by the number of stops where they occurred.

Canada Goose 5 / 1 (new to the count)
Mallard 1 / 1 (new to the count)
RN Pheasant 3 / 3 (new to the count)
Blue Grouse 2 / 2 (new to the count)
DC Cormorant 5 / 2 (new to the count)
GB Heron 1 / 1
Green Heron 1 / 1
Bald Eagle 2 / 1 (saw before the official counting period, doesn't count)
RT Hawk 3 / 2
Killdeer 4 / 3
Wilson's Snipe 1 / 1 (new to the count)
GW Gull 7 / 2
Caspian Tern 2 / 1
Rock Pigeon 49 / 6
BT Pigeon 10 / 7
Great Horned Owl 1 / 1 (saw before the official counting period, just
outside of Raymond)
Common Nighthawk 2 / 2
Vaux's Swift 1 / 1 (new to the count)
Rufous Hummingbird 14 / 13
Belted Kingfisher 2 / 1
Downy Woodpecker 1 / 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1 / 1 (new to the count)
Pileated Woodpecker 1 / 1 (new to the count)
N. Flicker 7 / 7
Olive-sided Flycatcher 2 / 1
Western Wood-Pewee 1 / 1 (new to the count)
Hammond's Flycatcher 1 / 1 (at last stop after official time limit, just
like last year!)
Willow Flycatcher 37 / 20
PS Flycatcher 29 / 23
Cassin's Vireo 1 / 1 (new to the count)
Hutton's Vireo 1 / 1
Warbling Vireo 23 / 18
Steller's Jay 7 / 5
Western Scrub-Jay 1 / 1
A. Crow 35 / 20
C. Raven 11 / 11
Tree Swallow 4 / 2
VG Swallow 24 / 15
Cliff Swallow 5 / 3
Barn Swallow 40 / 18
BC Chickadee 11 / 9
CB Chickadee 3 / 3
Bushtit 3 / 1 (new to the count)
Bewick's Wren 4 / 4
Winter Wren 10 / 8
Marsh Wren 10 / 7
GC Kinglet 5 / 4
Swainson's Thrush 81 / 39
A. Robin 72 / 36
Varied Thrush 4 / 2
E. Starling 28 / 15
Cedar Waxwing 29 / 17
OC Warbler 15 / 12
Yellow Warbler 2 / 2 (new to the count)
BT Gray Warbler 6 / 5
Common Yellowthroat 29 / 20
Wilson's Warbler 34 / 24
Western Tanager 6 / 6
S. Towhee 9 / 8
Savannah Sparrow 15 / 12
Song Sparrow 36 / 25
WC Sparrow 10 / 7
Oregon Junco 7 / 5
BH Grosbeak 10 / 9
RW Blackbird 12 / 8
Brewer's Blackbird 2 / 2
BH Cowbird 12 / 10
Purple Finch 3 / 2
House Finch 5 / 3
Pine Siskin 1 / 1
A. Goldfinch 24 / 18
Evening Grosbeak 3 / 3
House Sparrow 16 / 7


Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA