Tweeters,

I led a Black Hills Audubon Society field trip yesterday (Saturday) that
was focused mainly on the Elma hills north of the town of Elma, Grays
Harbor County. We followed Newman Creek Road up into the private
forestland to the north. We had a pretty good morning, finding 51
species. The best among these were several Northern Pygmy-Owls calling at
two of our first three stops, and one bird that allowed good scope viewing
for 5-10 minutes. We also had multiple sightings of Western Tanagers, an
Olive-sided Flycatcher foraging in a clearcut, several calling Blue
Grouse, lots of Pacific-slope and Willow Flycatchers and Band-tailed
Pigeons, and a quick fly-through of Evening Grosbeaks.

After lunch, we spent about an hour searching the Porter to Oakville area
for the Crested Caracara without luck, which was not a big surprise. We
then visited Tenino, Thurston County, to check on the Clay-colored Sparrow
and found it immediately at the same location that it's been at since
first being discovered. It seems to be highly reliable and offers
excellent looks, which makes it an ideal target for chasing!

Gary Wiles
Olympia, WA
wilesharkey at yahoo.com


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