Tweeters,
Six of us toured Ft Lewis on a cool, breezy, but very nice Saturday (no
rain!) during this Seattle Audubon Society Birdathon outing. Highlights
included CASSIN'S VIREO (life bird for some), BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLER, and PURPLE MARTINS. The vireo was very vocal, and rewarded most
of us with a view just east of Brandenburg Marsh, near a wetland that
now has some new martin residences. Although we didn't see Purple
Martins (PUMA) there, we did see two as they flew over us, vocalizing,
at Brandenburg Marsh. One of the three PUMA nesting trees has burned
down recently, and it looks as if one of the other trees has been taken
over by starlings. One "natural" PUMA nesting trees still remains, and
it could be that these two birds were checking that out. We didn't see
martins at their usual nest site at the north end of Chambers Lake.

The Black-throated Gray Warbler was seen along Second Division Road -- a
very productive birding area.

With the PUMA, we managed to get all six of the swallows we typically
see, adding Barn, Cliff, Tree, Violet-green, and Northern Rough-winged
at the bridge over Muck Creek at the east side of the 91st Division
Prairie. This is a prime spot for all those birds. In addition, we added
Common Merganser at Muck Creek -- a first for me on this side of Ft.
Lewis.

The usual sparrow breeders -- White-crowned, Savannah, and Chipping --
were prevalent. It might have been a bit early to see the man, and
almost ubiqitous, Yellow Warblers, but we did catch a few at Chambers
Lake.

Although we tried, we couldn't elicit responses from Sora and Virginia
Rails at Chambers Lake. I know they're around (many at my wetland in
Roy). We did manage to snag a Sora at the same spot as the vireo.

Our route included Second Division Road, 91st Division Prairie, a whole
lot of woodland to the north of this prairie (road maintenance in this
area changed my typical route), Muck Creek, Brandenburg Marsh, Chambers
Lake, and the east side of Johnson Marsh -- lots of Rufous Hummingbirds
there.

Interestingly enough -- we didn't see any gulls, of which California and
Glaucous-winged are usually in the area of the Post Exchange. We could
likely have scored a Brewer's Blackbird also had we stopped there.

Here's what we saw (54 species):
Canada Goose
Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Cassin's Vireo
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warber
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis
Seattle, WA
mailto:denis.j.desilvis at boeing.com