Tweeters,

Fine weather and a great day birding for seven of us (one no-show won't be
invited back to any Fort Lewis trip I run in future) on a tour of Fort Lewis
for a Seattle Audubon Birdathon trip: 67 species in all. Muck Creek Bridge
produced again, with a WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, five of six swallows (PURPLE
MARTIN was the lone hold-out there, and the top bird: a WESTERN KINGBIRD to
the west side and among the snags to the south. At one point, at least four
of the five swallows were lined up along a phone wire, thus allowing nice
comparisons.



Most of the fort ranges were open, which made it easy to bird some good
places. Right at Range Control, we had WESTERN BLUEBIRD, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH,
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, and VAUX'S SWIFTS. On the way
to Range Control we had a BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. We headed out on the Second
Division Range Road and hit paydirt along training area four (TA4), where we
found SAVANNAH SPARROW, CASSIN'S VIREO, AMERICAN ROBIN, TREE SWALLOW,
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER, PINE SISKIN, YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW, NORTHERN FLICKER,
GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, WILSON'S WARBLER, SONG SPARROW, OLIVE-SIDED
FLYCATCHER, and the warbler of the day: a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER that came
back to show us all the field-marks for this well-seen male bird. Everyone
contributed a sighting here, which really made it a group event.



Further along Second Div Range RD, we found COMMON RAVEN (more ravens than
crows seen today), RED-TAILED HAWK (juv - several adults were seen in other
areas), MOURNING DOVE, AMERICAN CROW, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, AMERICAN COOT,
HOUSE WREN (one of several in various places), and PURPLE FINCH. Interesting
to note that Purple Finches were scarce, unlike previous years when PUFI was
one of the most common finches.



Swinging back east along the 91st Div Prairie, we stopped off at Observation
Post (OP) 8, where we found a very cooperative OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER (same
spot as last week) that was seen by all (unlike the other bird in TA4).
Here, we also saw YELLOW WARBLER, SPOTTED TOWHEE, and BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD.



We'd been told that a Barn Owl nest was in a broken-down latrine at OP3. On
the way to that site (along the dirt road), Nif spotted a juvenile GREAT
HORNED OWL, of which a couple of us managed to get photos. We made it to the
old latrine, but it didn't look as if there'd been any owl nest there for
quite some time - no whitewash, etc. Making the best of the site, we managed
to find AMERICAN KESTRELS hunting over the artillery impact area.



After stopping at the Muck Creek Bridge (birds mentioned in the first
paragraph), we headed to Lewis Lake, where we found CANADA GOOSE, AMERICAN
WIGEON, PIED-BILLED GREBE, OSPREY, and RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER (tip of the
hat to Dave for that one).



The tank bridge at Nisqually was cluttered with folks, but we did find our
first WESTERN TANAGER there. Backtracking past Muck Creek, we headed east in
TA6 to Brandenburg Marsh, where we again had PURPLE MARTINS, along with
MARSH WREN, TURKEY VULTURES (two, coasting very rapidly downwind to the
south), and MALLARDS.



Chambers Lake yielded pairs of WOOD DUCKS and DOWNY WOODPECKERS, a PURPLE
FINCH, and several BUFFLEHEADS. Johnson Marsh was a bust for rail responses,
but we did see a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD there.



Back at Roy, we piled out of cars at my house just in time to get a
PEREGRINE FALCON, which obliged us and soared back toward us after heading
away. Down in the wetland, we got the rails: SORA (heard and seen), and
VIRGINIA RAIL, which obliged us by sounding off repeatedly after being
silent at first.



The total list of birds includes the following (only seen at Roy = R):

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Wigeon

Mallard

Bufflehead

Pied-billed Grebe

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon - R

Virginia Rail - R

Sora - R

American Coot

Glaucous-winged Gull

Rock Pigeon (I)

Mourning Dove

Great Horned Owl

Vaux's Swift

Rufous Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Western Kingbird

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

Bushtit

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Bewick's Wren

House Wren

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Western Bluebird

American Robin

European Starling (I)

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

MacGillivray's Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Western Tanager

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Purple Finch

Pine Siskin

American Goldfinch



May all your birds be identified,



Denis DeSilvis

Roy, WA

Mailto: avnacrs4birds at q.com