Hi Tweets,

This morning (Monday, April 9) Barbara and I dodged rain showers in the Kent Valley while trying to get caught up on the current transients and returning summer resident species. Our start at Lake Fenwick Park in Kent ended with a downpour after 15 minutes, so we drove to the area between Emerald Downs and SR 167 where we had some slight clearing before the rains drove us northward, first to the Certainteed / Toycrafters ponds east of SR 167 and south of S 277th St, then up to S 204th between Frager Rd and Orillia Rd. We turned up 41 species before we gave up as the rains caught us again there.

The species of the day was the Violet-green Swallow, the Kent Valley seemed full of them, we estimated a total of 800 at our four stops alone. We also saw six Northern Rough-winged Swallows at Lake Fenwick, and a dozen Barn Swallows at S 204th St, both firsts for us in King County this year. We saw 6 Greater Yellowlegs (Emerald Downs and S. 204th St), and 2 Wilson's Snipe at S 204th. At S 204th St we found one American Pipit south of the road, and at Emerald Downs we got a brief look at one Common Yellowthroat, as we heard a second one a hundred yards away.

Good birding!

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.websterATcomcast.net