Hello All:
It was a most excellent day at Kent Ponds. One of the first birds of the day
was a Merlin that streaked by the nursery as we split into teams.

The first highlight of the day was the Yellow-breasted Chat singing loudly
from its traditional location on the lagoon island. A fly-over Semipalmated
Plover provided another good bird for the ponds. At the end of the census,
the entire group met up at the "grassy knoll" which is along 64th Avenue on
the east side of the ponds, across from Web Press. Scanning from there, we
had 7 Least and a Semipalmated Sandpiper feeding in some limited mudflat
habitat. As we were about to leave, someone spotted a raptor flying that
struck everyone as not being a Red-tailed Hawk. The jizz (especially the
long tail for a buteo), wing pattern, and tail pattern among other things
identified the bird as an imm. Red-shouldered Hawk as the bird passed
steadily by us and landed on a shorter snag way across the site,
unfortunately with too many heat waves for good views then.

We drove around to a closer point to view that snag, but the bird was no
longer sitting on it. A couple of us checked around later in the day, but
still had no luck relocating it. The bird could hang around for a while, as
long as it flies under the radar of the resident Red-tails. Could be
difficult to see. I would suggest checking the dense forest south of the
site, as well as anywhere at Kent Ponds.

That's all
Cheers and good birding,

Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington