Hi Tweets -
I was back down in the Kent valley this morning, hoping for new
arrivals. The shorebird numbers are still doing pretty well, though
the mud at the 204th St. fields looks a little drier than last time.

At 204th St. [accessed off either Orilla Rd. or off 195th , north on
Frager, then west on 204th], the fields south of the road had good
numbers of LEAST & WESTERN Sandpipers. A little further east, and
then looking north of the road around all the stumps, there was a
SOLITARY SANDPIPER, 1-2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, and 1-2 LESSER
YELLOWLEGS. A flock of AMERICAN PIPITS flew over, but never settled
down for looks anywhere. Also present were a few WILSON'S SNIPE and
several KILLDEER including the cute little fuzzy ones.

Boeing Ponds was pretty quiet, but at the intersection of 59th and
195th there were 3 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE mixed in with some
Canadas.

Kent Ponds [Green River NRA] - looks promising but I didn't find any
shorebirds - there was a nice pair of CINAMMON TEAL present though,
viewed from the south viewing tower.

At W.Valley Hwy & 277th [Smith Bros Dairy] - north of the
intersection, on the west side of the road:
A flock of ~150-200 peeps, mostly LEASTS but good numbers of
WESTERNs, with a few DUNLIN thrown in.

W.Valley Hwy & 285th - east from W.Valley Hwy, the ponds in the
fields north of here look decent, but I didn't turn up more than a
few Leasts and one American Pipit.
However, a warning: Be careful if you park on the south side of 285th
between W.Valley Hwy and the house - there is a Killdeer nest in the
gravel on the south side. I was lucky to have just stopped ~5 feet
before it; there but for fortune drove I....

Down by Emerald Downs, the Black Phoebe was still hanging around at
its designated place -- this is the second time though that I've seen
it venture as far west as the parking spot at the turn in the road --
so if you go looking, watch the entire stretch of road here.

In the evening, after reading Connie's post from the Fill, I decided
to enjoy more time outside - No luck relocating the YELLOW-HEADED
BLACKBIRD, but the BLUE-WINGED & CINAMMON TEAL were hanging out in
the main pond & shoveller pond, and VAUXS SWIFTS eventually made an
appearance late.

Finally, at sunset I checked in with the Ballard, Shilshole Bay
Martin gourds - and a pair of PURPLE MARTINS had arrived and begun
checking out one of the gourds - yay. I've been checking in for the
past 3 evenings hoping to see the arrivals - sounds like they are
showing up everywhere this weekend. Thanks again to everyone who is
carrying on Kevin's work this year -

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA

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