Hello Tweets,

Today we enjoyed another day birding in northern Lewis Co. with just a few noteworthy sightings to report. We began in Thurston Co. along Independence Rd.,where the RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was again noted from the same general vicinity tan in previous visits. The bird was present between 2pm-2:30pm on the west side of Independence Rd.along the edge of the flooded area just south of Van Dyke Rd.,where the bird perched in a deciduous tree before disappearing back into thick cover. The bird made it's short appearance today after a 2 hour search,so everyday seems different and it could have been that the bird had already eaten prior to our visit.

Away from the Red-shouldered Hawk the other main highlight from this location was a flock of 10 WESTERN BLUEBIRDS that flew north along Independence Rd. from Lewis into Thurston Co. towards the Chehalis River. Further south along Independence Rd. in Lewis Co. a single BARRED OWL was heard calling then located along Harris Rd. perched in a tall,dense Western Red Cedar tree. A single Red-breasted Sapsucker was also encountered near this same location.


On our way home we stopped by and checked along Goodrich Rd. in Lewis Co.,where a few highlights ended our day. We began with a small flock of large gulls that contained 1 WESTERN GULL,1 THAYER'S GULL, and 1 Herring Gull,which were all noted in flooded area directly across the road from the Centralia Wastewater Treatment Plant. 15 Black-bellied Plovers and 25 Dunlin were also noted at this location and further off in grassy fields a flock of 200+ AM.PIPITS that erupted up from the ground swirling around for a few minutes before dipping back into the dense grass. In the flooded area at the end of Goodrich Rd. good numbers of waterfowl were encountered of which highlights included 2 Ruddy Ducks. We drove over and checked along Wagner Rd.,where a large flock of grazing Cackling/Canada Geese persisted north of the end of the road. Further away in open fields and west of the end of the road were 19 Tundra Swans,which were also more closely visible from Meadows Rd. in Thurston Co. Our day ended with the lingering TOWNSEND"S SOLITAIRE that persists at a favored location along Goodrich Rd.


Good birding,

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