Hi Tweeters,

I spent the morning at Nisqually NWR, and then I worked my way back home to Seattle via a few south King Co. saltwater parks, and finally stopping at the Montlake Fill.

Nisqually was very nice, with the following highlights (no Sandhill Cranes were apparent today):
American Bittern - great looks from the boardwalk a couple hundred feet down from the visitor center, my top target!
Common Yellowthroat - female/1st year male at the parking lot
Rufous Hummingbird - back in good numbers
Greater Yellowlegs - a couple flying around calling
Birds of prey - 9 species, including 4 Turkey Vultures, a Great Horned Owl, a Northern Shrike, and 3 falcon species in view simultaneously: American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, and Merlin
Waterfowl - lots of diversity, including 1 male Eurasian Wigeon, flyover of 6 Swan sp., and 6 Greater White-fronted Goose, seen in flight only, with one bird noticeably much larger than the other 5.

On the way back home, I was hoping to check a few parks in South King County for a White-winged Scoter and alcids. Not much luck, my modest highlights were:
Saltwater State Park: 1 Townsend's Warbler in mixed flock, 1 Thayer's Gull on beach
Des Moines Marina: 4 Dunlin on breakwater, Pigeon Guillemots and 1 Rhinoceros Auklet
Dash Point State Park: 1 Pileated Woodpecker, a couple of Red-throated Loons way out

Montlake Fill: No Say's Phoebe, and apparently I should have been there an hour earlier for the awesome Golden Eagle! I did see one very scruffy looking Barn Swallow that made me first think Cliff Swallow before seeing the long tail streamers.

Each of the state parks can be found in google maps by typing in: location, WA

Good birding,
Evan Houston
Seattle, WA