Tweets,

Today Eric Slagle and I birded our way through Grays Harbor County, tallying 67 species and lots of great birds!

We left Olympia around 7:30 am. Our first stop was Blue Heron Bakery where we twitched one cinnamon roll and one date cookie. Back on the road with our future fortification we next stopped briefly near Alma Ponds to view the Osprey nest, where we saw one adult on the nest, another adult flew by, and in the nest there appeared to be one baby, just a head peaking up over the edge of the nest...at least that's what it looked like to us.

We next birded Brady Loop Road. Some of the birds we saw were:
Brewer's Blackbird
Whimbrel (21)
Northern Harriers (2)
Barn, Tree, and Cliff Swallows
Savannah Sparrow (en masse!)
Mew Gull (1 lone gull)
Greater Yellowlegs
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Bald Eagle (one immature hunting)
Western Sandpiper
Common Raven
Osprey (1, the nest was empty however)
Ring-necked Pheasant
Yellow-rumped Warbler "myrtle"
Northern Flicker
Common Yellowthroat
Killdeer
Bonapart Gull (2, sitting in a field next to a puddle)

We saw at least one Turkey Vulture while driving on the freeway after leaving Brady Loop Road.

At Bowerman Basin highlights were the following:
Osprey (2 on the nest)
Mourning Dove
American Goldfinch
Caspian Tern (These birds were highly entertaining for all us birders sitting out at Bowerman Basin. While we all waited for the tide change and for more birds to come in, we watched the "fish strutting ritual" where one Tern seemed to be unsure if he wanted to give up the fish in the name of procreation...we all gave a running comentary. Then to make things even more interesting we all got to witness the Caspian Tern Carnival Show. This was the quirkiest mating ritual I have ever seen from wildlife. One Tern stood on the back of the other, feet between the shoulder blades, he just stood there...no hanky panky, at least not at first, I think we watched this for five to ten minutes, all wondering if we were going to see a Tern pyramid build or something. Finally though they seemed to remember what they were supposed to be doing, a little tail rubbing and the circus show was over. There were maybe 8 to 10 birders at the viewing platform at the time, all watched on and mo!
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one or two comments that ran a bit on the hilarious side.)
Marsh Wren
Yellow-rumped Warbler (both sub species)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher (heard only)
Long-billed Dowitcher (3 or 4)
Short-billed Dowitcher (1)
Western Sandpiper(1000s-10's of 1000s)
Dunlin(1000's - 10's of 1000s)
Black-bellied Plover (maybe half a dozen at most)
Red knot (2-5, they kept moving, not sure if we were seeing the same two birds in different spots)
Semipalmated Plover (1000s - 10's of 1000s)
Mew, Ring-billed, Western Gull
Great Blue Heron
Orange-crowned Warbler (heard only)
Common Yellowthroat (heard only)
Northern Flicker
Violet-green and Barn Swallow

At the Ponds near the treatment center and on the Bay scoped from the same spot:
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Gadwall
Bufflehead
Common Loon
Northern Pintail

At the Ocean Shores jetty:
Surf Scoter
Western Gull
Glaucous-Winged Gull
Wandering Tattler (both breeding and non-breeding plumages side by side, nice comparison opportunity!)
Black Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
Pelagic Cormorant
Savannah Sparrow (this bird was acting like a little rock sandpiper!)

We walked part way out towards Damon Point, turning around where we would have had to wade to get across but we still saw some great birds scoping from that point:
Marbled Godwit (1 lone bird)
Black Scoter
Whimbrel (2)
Dunlin
Brandt
Red-breasted Merganser
Black-bellied Plover (2)
Clark's Grebe (2 found accidentally when Eric over scoped the Mergansers...he said no they're Grebes...and I am wondering how I could mix up Mergansers with Grebes...he had me take a look and I grinned from ear to ear..."Eric", I said, "say hello to your very first Clark's Grebes." It was a great accidental find for him! This is very close to where I saw 2 Clark's Grebes back in February, on that trip, they had been in the Marina.)
Common Loon(1)


I think everyone heading out to the bird festival this weekend should have a great time, even on a breezy, misty day we had great birds! I already want to go back!

Happy Birding,

Maurie Kirschner
Olympia WA
outdoorchickerooatyahoo.com


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