Subject: [Tweeters] Pierce County Big Day
Date: May 9 12:09:02 2010
From: Charlie Wright - c.wright7 at comcast.net


Hello All,
Bruce LaBar, Ryan Merrill, Annie Meyer, Peter Wimberger, and Wynne Brown (plus two of Peter's students for part of the day) set out on our "Purdy to Paradise" Birdathon route yesterday. It was a fantastic day of blue skies and migrants, with several rare birds for the county. All day, nearly every time we got out of the van, we saw at least one new species.
We started at Purdy Spit at 5:30. Saltwater species were quite plentiful though we struck out on shorebirds. Leaving Purdy at 6:45 we already had 60 species. We were off to a good start!
Titlow Beach Park gave us three migrating Eurasian Collared-Doves, a CLARK'S GREBE with Westerns far offshore, a Bonaparte's Gull, and three Marbled Murrelets. In the forest we had both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawk and brief views of several warblers. Then it was through a few neighborhoods to pick up Western Scrub-Jay (no problem this year) and to Point Defiance. At Point Defiance we started seeing a nice movement of Western Tanagers overhead. While not the awe-inspiring sight of last year's Birdathon, it was still great to see. Mixed in we heard and very fleetingly saw 3 Bullock's Orioles. Also in the park, a Cassin's and a number of Hutton's Vireos, a NASHVILLE WARBLER, and a late Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We then checked Gog-Le-Hi-Ti which had Yellow Warblers and Marsh Wrens. Marine View Drive gave us a flock of 115 Band-tailed Pigeons.
>From there we headed inland. At Spanaway Marsh (accessed at the end of 176th Street) we found a calling DUSKY FLYCATCHER. Also picked up here were Red-breasted Sapsucker, Wood Duck, and Ring-necked Duck. A quick pull-in to see the Western Bluebirds at McChord and then to Thirteenth Division Prairie on Ft Lewis. We made a brief stop and heard distant Western Meadowlark and Streaked Horned Lark singing, but missed Vesper Sparrow. Our first kestrel was on Fort Lewis too. We headed to Kreger Lake at mid-day. Things were pretty quiet in the "heat" of the day, but Cinnamon Teal and Turkey Vulture were found here and nowhere else in the county.
Next we headed to Paradise. Up at the top, other than fantastic views of the mountain, nothing but Gray Jays and ravens to be seen, but on the way down we did pick up Hairy Woodpecker finally. Along the short hot springs trail at Longmire, we had Varied Thrush singing late in the day, and a Golden-crowned Sparrow.
To end the day we went back to Kreger Lake just before dusk, hoping it would be more active than it had been at noon. We were right. At least three American Bitterns were "pumping" around the marsh, a Red-tailed Hawk dove upon our first Northern Harrier of the day, and a couple of Wilson's Snipes came out and winnowed over the lake, all while Virginia Rails and a Sora serenaded us. At that point we double-counted our list and confirmed that we had broken our record of 130 species by 1. A fantastic ending to a very enjoyable day.
Cheers,
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington