Hello Tweets,

Six of us enjoyed a windy spring day with mostly cloudy skies and
intermittent sprinkles. Temperatures were between 47 and 59 degrees
Fahrenheit. We met 6:30a at the McDonald?s P&R at 512 and I-5, good morning
coffee with WESTERN SCRUB JAY, NORTHERN FLICKER, GOLDFINCH, and SAVANNAH
SPARROW. Cruising south on the interstate, we saw an OSPREY at the osprey
nest on the white cell phone tower west of I-5 between exits 125 Bridgeport
Way and 124 Gravelly Lake Rd. On our way to the Blue Heron Bakery, a
RING-BILLED GULL and KILLDEER were also seen.

Mud Bay, across from the Blue Heron Bakery, proved to be a productive area.
We had great looks at RED CROSSBILLS, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS,
GLAUCOUS-WINGEDXWESTERN HYBRID GULLS, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, GREATER SCAUP,
BUFFLEHEAD and another Osprey. We also saw VIOLET GREEN SWALLOWS, TREE
SWALLOWS, CLIFF SWALLOW, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, SONG
SPARROW, EUROPEAN STARLING, GREAT BLUE HERON and MALLARD. In the afternoon,
on our way home, this same area helped us to ratchet up our list with HOODED
MERGANSER, BALD EAGLE, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, BELTED KINGFISHER and HOUSE
FINCH.

At the first parking lot into the McClane?s Creek Trail, we added to our
warbler list with wonderful looks at BLACK-THROATED GREY and WILSON?S
WARBLERS. Interestingly, we only saw male warblers. We were pleasantly
surprised to see HUTTON?S VIREO and also saw STELLAR?S JAY, COMMON RAVEN,
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, AMERICAN CROW and BEWICK?
S WREN. On the McClane?s Creek Trail we had terrific observations of
PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER, WOOD DUCK, CANADA GOOSE, PIED-BILLED GREBE,
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and TURKEY VULTURE. We also saw
RUFUS HUMMINGBIRD, SPOTTED TOWHEE, and Song Sparrow. We heard MARSH WREN
and WINTER WREN, and the Pied-billed grebe was very vocal as well!

Taking Delphi Road to Waddle Creek Road to Sherman Valley Road provides
access to Capitol Forest and the C Line Road. Ascending Capitol Mountain
along C Line Road we made several stops for birding. Along the way we saw
MCGILLIVRAY?S WARBLER, AMERICAN ROBIN, DOWNY WOODPECKER, VARIED THRUSH,
Wilson?s warbler, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Pacific Slope Flycatcher and
Winter Wren (singing everywhere!). We were in the clouds, wind and rain at
the summit. We missed our target bird, the Hermit Warbler, but added to our
list with the DARK-EYED JUNCO.

Jeff and I were desperate to get another opportunity to photograph a
Northern Mockingbird we believed we saw on our scouting trip 4 days earlier
at Mima Mounds. Brad Waggoner, Charlie Wright and Merrill Ryan were not
able to confirm our poor quality photos from previously, and speculated we
had actually seen a Townsend?s Solitaire. So with the approval of the
group, we headed down the mountain to Mima Mounds Nature Preserve for more
birding. Unfortunately, no luck finding the mocking bird or solitaire,
however we did see RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, PINE SISKIN, NORTHERN HARRIER,
BAND-TAILED PIGEON, PURPLE FINCH and VESPER SPARROW. We heard EVENING
GROSSBEAKS but could not visualize them. We also saw more Savannah Sparrow,
Winter Wren, White-crowned Sparrow, Common Raven, Barn and Violet-Green
Swallow.

Along Waddle Creek Road headed south from Mima Mounds, in rural housing
development, we saw AMERICAN KESTRAL, MOURNING DOVE, ROCK PIGEON and BREWERS
BLACKBIRD. We took a left, headed west, onto Bordeaux Road into the
southeastern region of Capitol State Forest. A few miles along this road,
on the left hand or south side you?ll see a sign for the Bob Bammert Grove
Trail. This is steep 1.5mile loop hike into beautiful Pacific Northwest
rainforest, which is worth the walk without the great birds. On our
scouting trip, we had Great Horned Owl and Northern Pigmy Owl. Ironically,
our first species on the trail was a rooster Chicken, which startled us with
its crowing. Needless to say, that put a damper on our NOPO pishing.
However, we did hear BROWN CREEPER and SOOTY GROUSE deeper into the woods.

On the way home, we saw a RED-TAILED HAWK. We had 67 species for the day,
Winter Wren were singing everywhere. Black Hills and the Capitol State
Forest provided a wonderful variety of habitats and great birding. We all
looked forward to returning on a field trip sometime soon!

Good birding,

Shep Thorp Jeff Cohen
sthorp at theaec.com <mailto:sthorp at theaec.com>
kokobean2 at hotmail.com <mailto:kokobean2 at hotmail.com>
253-370-3742 206-354-5542