Hi Tweets-
I spent a couple hours this morning looking for shorebirds in Kent -

Best bird of the morning was a single Black-bellied Plover (BBPL), alone in the muddy fields at Smith Brothers Dairy. BBPL can be surprisingly hard to track down in King County, so it was exciting to stumble across one right at the start of the 'season'.

Up at Frager & 204th, the flooded fields held over 20 GREATER YELLOWLEGS (GRYE) chattering away, along with 50+ DUNLIN (DUNL) in every plumage combination.

Saturday, at those same fields , I also saw a large flock of American Pipits [30-50]. No sign of them today in my short visit, but they might still be around.

At the Kent Ponds, there were great numbers of swallows, including several Barn Swallows (BARS) and a couple Cliff Swallows (CLSW) in amongst the Violet-green Swallows and Tree Swallows. I looked for the previously reported Yellow-headed Blackbird, but had no luck.

Good birding,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA

Directions:
Smith Brothers Dairy: This is just north of 272nd Street on West Valley Hwy. West Valley Hwy runs parallel to SR 167 on the west side. North of the barn/farm area is a big muddy field. There are a couple pull offs where you can safely get all the way off West Valley to avoid the fast moving traffic.

Frager & 204th[or 205th?]. 2 ways to these fields. Coming off I-5 at the Orillia Exit [~152/151], come down the hill, go through the first stop light , then look for a small road running off Orillia to the left. Follow it down past a cemetary and a house, before coming to the flooded fields. You can also reach this spot from 195th [the East-west road that runs between Boeing Ponds & Kent Ponds). Coming from the east, cross the river and turn immediately right onto Frager. Frager runs north past a few farms, then just before it ends there is a left turn onto 205th. Turn, drive a quarter mile to get to the flooded fields.