Hello Tweets,

Today we spent the day birding in the Elma-Brady area in eastern Grays Harbor Co. beginning along Wenzel Slough Rd. at Vance Creek Co. Park and continuing west to Brady Loop Rd. We also spent a short time birding north of Hwy.12 along East Satsop Rd. to the Mason Co. line and along Moore Rd. near the town of Satsop. We ended the day checking along Hwy.12 to Dunlap Rd.,which is northeast of Elma. We encountered a total of 75 species during the entire day with great weather all day,although fairly cold.

Our day was filled with good numbers of waterfowl specifically along the western portion of Wenzel Slough Rd. and also along Dunlap Rd.,which were all noted in recently flooded areas. We encountered both Trumpeter and Tundra Swan beginning with 10 Tundra Swans at the west end of a lake along the south side of Wenzel Slough Rd. immediately west of Vance Creek Co. Park. A flock of 10 Trumpeter Swans was viewed in a partially flooded corn stubble field along the south side of Hwy.12 near Satsop. What was most disturbing was a dead adult swan found laying in a flooded area along the western portion of Wenzel Slough Rd.(just east of the Goere's Farm). It was our first time ever encountering a dead swan through the many years we have birded this area,so either it was at some point injured and died or it was illegally shot. We were unable to identify the swan to species due to the head and neck being submerged in water and mud,but the bird overall seemed more the size of a Tundra Swan.

Just south of the Goere's Farm property along Wenzel Slough Rd. we had a good assortment of waterfowl and shorebirds all gathered in a flooded area viewed from the Newman Creek bridge. The lighting was excellent so we took advantage of scoping the mass of birds thoroughly. The flocks were primarily made up of Green-winged Teal and Am.Coots among many other species. The main waterfowl highlight from this location was 8 Ruddy Ducks,which are quite uncommon from this general area. A flock of 500+ Dunlin and 8 Black-bellied Plovers foraged around the shoreline,but overall remained very nervous. Another flooded area just south of the Newman Creek bridge yielded a lone Black-bellied Plover,5 Greater Yellowlegs and 18 Dunlin along with a few waterfowl species.

Our visit to Brady Loop Rd. was somewhat slow with most of any of the waterfowl observed in the private wetland immediately west of Foster Rd.,as viewed from Brady Loop Rd. Here,we encountered 85 swans that yielded both Trumpeter and Tundra Swans with a less than even mix of both species. Our last area that hosted swans was along the end of Dunlap Rd.,where a flock of 10 Tundra Swans flew in from the northwest to land in a partially flooded field with Canada Geese. Our only Cackling Geese of the day were 5 birds mixed with a large flock of Canada Geese in the gravel pit "pond" along Twidwell Rd.,which is accessed from Hwy.12 just northeast of Elma. This gravel pit pond also yielded an astounding flock of 267 Ring-necked Ducks,which is our personal highest count record for Grays Harbor Co.

Raptors were somewhat in low numbers throughout the day with a total of 10 species with our main highlight of the day being a adult GOLDEN EAGLE observed flying along East Satsop Rd. The bird drifted south towards Brady Loop Rd. and could show up almost anywhere. This represented our second personal December sighting of Golden Eagle from eastern Grays Harbor Co. We did encountered several Bald Eagles during the day from selected locations,primarily nearest the Satsop and Chehalis Rivers. Our second main raptor sighting of the day was a single OSPREY observed flying over the lake along the north side of Wenzel Slough Rd. at Vance Creek Co. Park. We presume this bird may overwinter at or near this location due to the food source and it would be a great bird to be seen on the Satsop CBC. Additionally,we located 3 species of falcons included 5 Am.Kestrels from scattered locations,2 Merlins and our last falcon species of the day,an immature Peregrine Falcon along Dunlap Rd.

Sparrow numbers were fairly nice,but some areas were more productive than others. Most bramble patches held Song and "Sooty"Fox Sparrows followed by Spotted Towhees with just a few of the patches having Golden and White-crowned Sparrows. Our only Lincoln's Sparrows of the day were located along Brady Loop Rd. with a total of 8 birds. 2 Savannah Sparrows were our best sparrow of the day that were encountered together along a brushy portion of Brady Loop Rd. Our only warbler of the day was a single Yellow-rumped Warbler observed in an old apple orchard along Brady Loop Rd.

A list of other notable species during the day included the following:

Horned Grebe
2 birds at Vance Creek Co. Park

Common Goldeneye
5 birds along Wenzel Slough Rd.
8 birds along Dunlap Rd.

Northern Harrier
1 bird along Brady Loop Rd.

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 bird along Wenzel Slough Rd.
1 bird along Schafer Boom Rd.

Cooper's Hawk
1 bird along Schafer Boom Rd.

Am.Kestrel
1 bird along Wenzel Slough Rd.
1 bird along Schafer Boom Rd.
2 birds along East Satsop Rd.
1 bird along Hwy.12 near Elma

Merlin
1 bird along Brady Loop Rd.
1 bird along Hwy.12 at North Blockhouse Rd.

Ring-necked Pheasant
3 birds(1 male,2 females)feeding on fallen apples along West Moore Rd.

Mourning Dove
2 birds along Brady Loop Rd.
50+ birds roosting in an apple orchard along Monte-Elma Rd.(just west of Moore Rd.)

Pileated Woodpecker
1 bird along Schafer Boom Rd.

Western Scrub Jay
1 bird along Hwy.12 at Elma
2 birds at Vance Creek Co. Park
4 birds along Brady Loop Rd.
2 birds at Brady
1 bird at Satsop
1 bird along Dunlap Rd.

Varied Thrush
3 birds along Dunlap Rd.

Western Meadowlark
5 birds along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.


Our mammal highlight of the day were 40 Roosevelt Elk along East Satsop Rd. in a large grassy field near the Satsop River.



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com