Greetings All
This afternoon I spent a couple of hours birding in the Kent Valley. I first
checked 204th Street, which is a small road between Frager and Orillia down
the hill from St. Patrick's Cemetery. There is tons of mud there, though it
could do with a little more water (it never rains in Washington!). Matt
Bartels beat me to finding the first SOSA there this year, but I figured I'd
check it out anyway. I found a Solitary Sand in the limited puddle north of
204th. South of 204th there were 3 Semipalmated Plovers. There were also
about 60 Least and 5 Western sandpipers, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, and some baby
Killdeer.
After that I wanted to check out a new wet area south of 212th that I've
driven by several times. I eventually got myself situated there after
multiple U-turns. The spot was full of shorebirds, including hundreds of
peeps, but the major surprise was a Black-necked Stilt. I took a bunch of
photos as the bird foraged and yapped happily. There was a psychotic crow in
the area that kept chasing the stilt around, but hopefully the bird will
stick around in spite of that. The mudflat is just west of the Frager
Road/212th Street intersection on the south side of 212th. They're putting
in a new road there and you have to be careful where you park. I'm not sure
if it will be a problem to park there on a weekday.
Cheers,
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington