Hello Tweets,

Today Jim Pruske and my mother and I participated on the Satsop CBC with very wet and rainy conditions all day! We encountered a total of 70 species with our main highlight of the day being a BLACK PHOEBE observed and heard calling at 2:55pm from private property near Elma. The bird was very active and only seen briefly,but well as the owner graciously allowed us permission to see the bird better. The bird was noted "flycatching from a few trees before flying to a small group of trees on the property,then suddenly the bird flew behind the home and could not be relocated. During the entire time of the observation of about 4 minutes the bird called constantly,but upon trying to relocate the bird we did not hear it and presumed it went to a roosting spot for the day. It was no doubt a great and unexpected bird to see and we definitely plan to go back to try and get a photo of the bird. This bird represented the 2nd Grays Harbor Co. record to date to our personal knowledge!

Our other main highlight of the day was an adult "BEWICK'S" SWAN observed at 8:30am along Dunlap Rd. along with 4 Trumpeter Swans and 3 Tundra Swans. The bird was first detected as we scoped a distant flooded area that hosted good numbers of waterfowl along the west end of Dunlap Rd.(just north of a set of guard rails near the end of the road). The bird was immediately separated from the other swans by clearly showing a distinct,fairly large yellow area near the base of the bill,but otherwise the bird was somewhat similar in structure to that of the nearby Tundra Swans. The yellow area at the base of the bill was very near or slightly half the length of the bill. It was an exciting bird to see and our personal firsts of this rare subspecies! This location is a regular wintering area for both Trumpeter and Tundra Swans,but they do move around alot due to waterfowl hunting,etc. Essentially,if the "Bewick's"Swan is there it could easily be viewed in a spotting scope from the road,if it isn't behind a blind area.


Throughout the day we braved the near constant rain at times covering areas in and around the Elma area and it was good to end the day with a great bird! The preliminary tally for the Satsop CBC came to 99 species(with 1 party unaccounted for during the compilation). A few of our other highlights encountered included the following species:

825 Green-winged Teal(notable count)
3 Greater Scaup
1 Peregrine Falcon
1 SOOTY GROUSE
50 Dunlin
17 Wilson's Snipe
4 Herring Gulls
1 Thayer's Gull
45 Mourning Doves
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
25 Western Scrub Jays
3 Cedar Waxwings
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 White-throated Sparrow
5 Purple Finches
18 Evening Grosbeaks


Good birding,

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