This afternoon I walked the Cannon Footpath along the shore of Eld
Inlet's Mud Bay.

The weather was delightfully warm coupled with a cool breeze from out-
estuary. The big hit was at least 7 very vocal Greater Yellowlegs in
plumages ranging from winter to breeding with a variety of transition
formats. Some just wouldn't shut-up and issued 6- or 7- or 8-note
calls. And they were not following the tide; they kept flying back &
forth displaying themselves.

Another hit was two Horned Grebe, one in a near complete breeding
plumage, quite vivid and irridescent in the sunlight, the other in a
tricky transition plumage.

Complete list below...

This report was mailed for Doug Canning by http://birdnotes.net

Date: April 19, 2009
Location: Eld Inlet Mud Bay, Thurston County, Washington

Observing along the Cannon Footpath, 1500 to 1640 pst. During this time
the tide (as predicted for Rocky Pt. gage) was ebbing from 8.7 ft to
6.1 ft (MHHW = 14.7 ft).

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 2 [1]
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 6 [2]
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 54 [3]
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) 2 [4]
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 1 [5]
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 3
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 7 [6]
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
Unidentified gull (Larus sp.)
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia) 1
Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 3
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 1
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 1

Footnotes:

[1] Pair seen, others present but unseen.
[2] 3 pairs.
[3] Maximum count: 35 males, 19 females; others present.
[4] One in nearly complete breeding plumage; one in early transition
plumage.
[5] Diving in unusually shallow water.
[6] Maximum counted at any time; others present. Plumage ranged from
Winter to Breeding.

Total number of species seen: 19
*********
Doug


****************
Douglas Canning
Olympia, Wash.
dcanning at igc.org
****************