Tweets -

The Wood Duck ducklings I saw at the McLane beaver pond on 25 May are
thriving, and there is a new brood of 8 Mallard ducklings. Song bird
activity was low, but pretty good for a warm afternoon. The Swainson's
Thrush count was low.

Most interesting was finding a Painted Turtle ashore, sitting on a
trail-side patch of gravel, no more than 2 m from the pond shore, its
legs and head fully withdrawn. I got down on my hands and knees, took
off my glasses, peered under its carapace, and it withdrew its head
even more. I could find no evidence of it's digging a nest to lay eggs,
but it had not been here when I had passed by an hour earlier.

Complete bird list follows...

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

Date: June 8, 2009
Location: McLane Creek Nature Trail, Thurston County, Washington

Walked the 1.4-mile, figure-8, trail loop around beaver pond and
along McLane Creek, 1405 to 1605 pst. Bird Activity modest. Saw one
turtle, apparently a Painted Turtle, ashore along the train.


Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 5 [1]
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 10 [2]
Band-tailed Pigeon (Columba fasciata) 1 [3]
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus) 1 [4]
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 1 [5]
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 2
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 3 [6]
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 4 [7]
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 12 [8]
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 2
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 5
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 1 [9]
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 5 [10]

Footnotes:

[1] Female plus 4 Class 2 ducklings.
[2] Pair plus 8 Class 1 ducklings
[3] Heard.
[4] Female.
[5] Heard repeatedly.
[6] Calling, singing.
[7] Calling.
[8] Calling, singing.
[9] Singing.
[10] No more than 1 male or 4 females/juveniles seen at a time.

Total number of species seen: 14

Doug


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Douglas Canning
Olympia, Wash.
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