Subject: [Tweeters] Thomas Pond, Kent - Solitary Sand. 8-29-09
Date: Aug 29 14:55:44 2009
From: Lynn & Carol Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Hi Tweets:
I was down at Thomas Pond in the Kent Valley this morning at 10:30 after the rains
stopped. Some friends were already there. Shorebirds at the pond were:
SOLITARY SANDPIPER - 1. Looked like a juv.
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 adult
Western Sandpiper - approx. 30
Least Sandpiper - approx. 10
Long-b Dowitchers - 3 (2 ad, 1 juv)
One Killdeer was heard and then flew.
A wetland ecologist, Emmett Pritchard came up to see some shorebirds, and warned us
that he had to rip out some purple loosestrife, and plant some plants, and that he
would be in the mitigated area. But he did not scare the birds away. In fact, when
he was way back toward the back he apparently flushed the Solitary Sandpiper so it
was visible out in the main pond area.
A beautiful Peregrine Falcon adult with a rich orange-tan breast and belly was
perched up on the power tower.

We then drove down to the huge warehouse at the south part of the Thomas field, drove
into the warehouse parking lot to skirt around some construction across the Frontage
Road, and drove to the back part of the south parking lot. There is a series of
ponds and a mitigated area back there.

We viewed the following at the Thomas warehouse ponds:
1 very-large adult Cooper's Hawk perched on a snag.
2 Green Herons
Wood Duck eclipse male - 1
Mallard female - 1
Hooded Mergansers - 4 (Females and eclipse plumage birds.)
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-winged Blackbirds - 6 flew up from marsh.

I drove north across 277th St to where I could view the juv OSPREY on the nest on the
lightstand in the big parking lot. The juvenile is very large now, probably about
the size of an adult. It is flapping its wings. It looks like there is a white
marker on its right wing were it folds up near the scapulars. Possibly a petagial
marker? When I got there to view it was eating a fish, but I did not see the adult.

Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines, WA
linusq at att.net