Hello Tweets,

Yesterday(November 24th)we birded primarily in Lewis Co. with a total of 70 species for the day considering very few passerines we noted,but overall a good assortment of other species. The weather remained unstable all day with at times clear,sunny skies then turning cloudy with heavy rain at times,but overall a nice day. Our main route consisted of beginning in the Meadows area in both Thurston and Lewis Cos. including along Goodrich Rd. and Meadows Rd. We then proceeded west along Prather Rd. to the Independence area then south along Lincoln Creek Rd. to Ingalls Rd. then continuing onto Bunker Creek Rd. to the town of Adna at Hwy.6. We then checked a few additional areas during the remainder of the afternoon in and around the Chehalis-Centralia area and ended the day along Big Hanaford Rd. at the Centralia Steam Plant.

We did encounter fairly good numbers of waterfowl at several locations considering the vast amounts of flooded areas,as well as shorebirds and gulls too. Raptor numbers were good with our main raptor highlights beginning with a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK observed flying over Goodrich Rd. in Lewis Co and flying west over open fields into Thurston Co. Next, 2 adult WHITE-TAILED KITES were viewed in our spotting scope perched atop 2 tall trees along the edge of open field west of Ingalls Rd. These were surprisingly our only White-tailed Kites of the day so we felt fortunate,as we checked most other traditional areas including along Bunker Creek Rd. An immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK was perched atop a small tree at a residence along Bunker Creek Rd. before quickly flying off to the east.

The "lake" at the end of Goodrich Rd. just beyond the sewage treatment facility yielded good numbers of waterfowl with our best waterfowl species consisting of a lone and possibly injured adult Greater White-fronted Goose,as well as 6 Tundra Swans and several other much more common waterfowl species. A single "Aleutian"Cackling Goose was noted amongst a small flock of Cackling Geese foraging in a corn stubble field just beyond the lake. This location and the extensive flooded areas along Big Hanaford Rd. near the Centralia Steam Plant hosted the greatest numbers of waterfowl,as well as shorebirds too. We encountered another "Aleutian"Cackling Goose with 50 Cackling Geese and our only Eurasian Wigeon of the day along Big Hanaford Rd, east of the Centralia Steam Plant.

Shorebirds species of the day consisted of 5 species including 6 Long-billed Dowitchers along Bunker Creek Rd. north of Adna and a single Western Sandpiper amongst a flock of 75 Dunlin and 25 Black-bellied Plovers along Goodrich Rd. 50 Black-bellied Plovers and 200 Dunlin were observed along Big Hanaford Rd. west of the Centralia Steam Plant and along Bunker Creek Rd, north of Adna we located a shorebird flock that consisted of 15 Black-bellied Plovers and 60+ Dunlin. Our best gull species of the day went to 1-2 first-year THAYER'S GULLS and a 1st year WESTERN GULL amongst a large,but scattered gull flock along Bunker Creek Rd. north of the town of Adna. The main species within the gull flock were Mew and Ring-billed Gull with smaller numbers of Glaucous-winged Gulls(including "Olympic"Gulls),as well as 2 adult Herring Gulls and 3-4 California Gulls.

Other highlights of the day included the following species:

Am.Kestrel
12 birds noted from various locations including along Prather Rd.,Bunker Creek Rd. and Hwy.6 between Adna and I-5.

Peregrine Falcon
1 immature bird hunting over open fields west of Goodrich Rd.
1 adult bird along I-5 near Chehalis

Red-breasted Sapsucker
1 bird at Centralia

Hairy Woodpecker
1 bird along Big Hanaford Rd. west of the Centralia Steam Plant

Yellow-rumped Warbler
45+ birds in a single flock along Prather Rd. just west of Meadows Rd.,Thurston Co.

Western Meadowlark
50+ birds along Meadows Rd.
70 birds along Bunker Creek Rd.



Good birding,

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