Tweeters,

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunlit day to visit Fort Lewis, which I did with
my brother-in-law, and during which we saw an interesting variety of birds,
although not that many on the species count (36). In addition to getting
some much-needed vitamin D, we traversed parts of the post that I'd not been
to before, including the area along the south side of the artillery impact
site (91st Div Prairie) all the way to the Nisqually River, and to the
northeast of Johnson Marsh just to the west of Hwy 507.



Highlights included HERMIT THRUSH, WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, TRUMPETER SWANS,
paired-up WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, NORTHERN SHRIKE, and two separate instances of
RED-TAILED HAWKS interacting with and driving off BALD EAGLES.



Doug (my b-i-l) spotted the first of the WESTERN BLUEBIRDS on the west side
of Second Division Range Road, just north of the intersection with Story
Road. We headed west on Story Road, not finding much except high numbers of
AMERICAN ROBINS, and then hooked up with the West Perimeter Road. There,
above the area near the town of Nisqually, we found WINTER WRENS, both
Kinglets, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, as well as the
HERMIT THRUSH.



Backtracking along Second Division Range Road where it runs east between the
10th Field Artillery Bluff and the 91st Division Prairie, we got good looks
at a COOPER'S HAWK (our first raptor of the day) as well as a pair of
WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. Again, AMERICAN ROBINS were sprinkled nearly everywhere
(not near the Coop, though!) on the prairie side of the road.



We stopped to look for early swallows at the Muck Creek bridge, but only
found SONG SPARROWS on the way out. At Lewis Lake, the species count went
up, with our first RED-TAILED HAWK, COMMON GOLDENEYES, DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANTS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, PIED-BILLED GREBES, and BUFFLEHEADS. The
cormorants (3 this time) seem to like this small lake, and I've seen at
least one there in every visit this year.



I decided to continue along the south side of the impact area, and we found
a pair of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS that were checking out a nest box. We followed
the road to the end at the one-lane Nisqually River bridge, where we found
out our first interaction between what appeared (later) to be a resident
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) and a transitory BALD EAGLE, with the RTHA winning.
Later, just east of the bridge and north of the river in a small wetland, we
found two RTHAs perching on a snag. Going back along the road toward Lewis
Lake, we picked up a NORTHERN SHRIKE, about a half-mile east of the bluebird
box.



Back at Muck Creek bridge, we found two WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, the first I've
seen in this particular area. It isn't surprising that they're there,
considering that just to the east in Roy is a small population of this
Corvid. We also got our second sighting of what appeared to be a well-fed
coyote there.



We found five TRUMPETER SWANS (the first I've seen at the Fort), and single
CANADA GOOSE and AMERICAN WIDGEON in a small lake just off Hwy 507, to the
northeast of Johnson Marsh. The wetland isn't named on my map, and
GoogleEarth wasn't help either. It may be in training area 9, but I can't be
sure. At the same location we observed our second RTHA-eagle interaction,
with the eagle again coming out second. I guess residents definitely have
territorial imperative.



In a different wetland further to the north (same vicinity), we found two
pairs of HOODED MERGANSERS. It looks as if some relatively new swallow boxes
are there, and it might be worth checking later in the Spring. Coming back
toward Johnson Marsh, it appears as if the biologists have set up some more
bat-boxes. (I spotted a set of bat-boxes a few weeks ago set up to the west
of 8th Ave E near the stream there on Fort Lewis.)



Despite blundering onto a road that had Stryker vehicles undergoing training
for new drivers (with observers who all returned our waves), we managed to
stay out of trouble and have a good time, see birds on a nice day, and get
nicely prepped for a fine "happy hour" time with our wives at the Adriatica
Grill near Tacoma Mall.



The complete species list (for those interested) follows:

Canada Goose

Trumpeter Swan

American Wigeon

Mallard

Ring-necked Duck

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Pied-billed Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Bald Eagle

Cooper's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Flicker

Northern Shrike

Steller's Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Bewick's Wren

Winter Wren

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Western Bluebird

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Varied Thrush

European Starling (I)

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco



May all your birds be identified,



Denis DeSilvis

Roy, WA

Mailto: avnacrs4birds at q.com