Tweeters,

Saturday (4/26) , seven of us braved the sunny weather and toured several
areas of Fort Lewis (FTL) for a Seattle Audubon Birdathon event, seeing 80
species in the area, and having some fun along the way. Bird of the day (at
least for some of us) was a EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE at the north end of
Nisqually Lake, about midpoint of the 91st Division Prairie. Other
highlights included a NASHVILLE WARBLER, six swallows (missed Bank), WESTERN
SCRUB JAY, a couple of early YELLOW WARBLERS, and a WESTERN MEADOWLARK.



Before we left the S 320th P&R to head for the Fort, we had a COOPER'S HAWK
fly through - a good start for the day. Since Range Control at FTL wasn't
open until 9am for access passes, we first hit the south end of American
Lake and the campground there (North Fort Lewis). Not that many species of
waterfowl, but COMMON MERGANSERS abounded - probably over 60. Birds found at
this site (and no other place on our trip) included AMERICAN WIGEON, COMMON
MERGANSER, BAND-TAILED PIGEON, BROWN CREEPER, VARIED THRUSH, and NASHVILLE
WARBLER. We saw an Empidonax flycatcher, but couldn't nail the species.



After checking in at Range Control and getting our range passes, we toured
the following areas: Second Division Road, 91st Division Prairie (along the
"artillery impact" area), the Muck Creek Bridge, Brandenburg Marsh, Chambers
Lake (northwest corner), Johnson's Marsh (east side), Thirteenth Division
Prairie (SCRUB JAY), and my home in Roy (CALIFORNIA QUAIL, SORA, EVENING
GROSBEAK).



Thanks to Mike West for being the first to aim his scope at the EURASIAN
COLLARED DOVE - and saying that he thought what we initially ID'd as a
Mourning Dove flying by and landing on a nearby tree wasn't. I believe that
all of us (Joyce Meyer, Curt Black, Megan Lyden, Katy Schloemer, MaryFrances
Mathis, Mike West, and I) managed to get a look at this bird - and ID it
correctly - before it flew off to the east.



Birds missing from the list that are usually on FTL at this time of year
include Great Blue Heron, Northern Shoveler, Bushtit, and Golden-crowned
Kinglet.



Here's the list of the 80 birds we saw:



Canada Goose

Wood Duck (many at Chambers Lake)

American Wigeon

Mallard

Green-winged Teal (Brandenburg Marsh)

Ring-necked Duck (many at Chambers Lake)

Lesser Scaup (Chambers Lake)

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser (Chambers Lake)

Common Merganser

California Quail

Pied-billed Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Turkey Vulture (2 seen)

Bald Eagle

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel (two - possibly a pair)

Virginia Rail

Sora

American Coot

Killdeer

Glaucous-winged Gull

Band-tailed Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Vaux's Swift

Rufous Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Cassin's Vireo

Steller's Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Purple Martin

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

N. Rough-winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Bewick's Wren

Winter Wren

Marsh Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Western Bluebird

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Varied Thrush

European Starling (I)

Orange-crowned Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Yellow Warbler (two at Brandenburg Marsh - not heard or seen elsewhere. Last
year at this time, the only YEWA were also near this site.)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Brown-headed Cowbird

Purple Finch

House Finch

Red Crossbill (seen at various places on FTL)

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch

Evening Grosbeak

House Sparrow (I)



Altogether, this was a very nice outing with a congenial group, great
weather, and good birding. Real fun!



On May 10, I'll be leading another Birdathon group to FTL, and it'll be
interesting to see what changes we see in the species - hope to see some
flycatchers, Cedar Waxwings, and more warblers!



May all your birds be identified,



Denis DeSilvis

Roy, WA

Mailto: avnacrs4birds at q.com