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Matt Pike and I worked over Thurston County
in search of all things feathered on Saturday, May 15. We started in Capital forest at about 4:30am
with Mt. Rainier and Venus beautiful in the
predawn light. As the sun rose a Spotted
Towhee rang the chorus bell and the robins jumped into full song. Soon the Song Sparrows joined in, followed by
Chestnut-backed Chickadees, a Hammond?s
Flycatcher and some MacGillivray?s Warblers in the background. The bass line was carried by a Mourning Dove.

We moved around the hillside picking up Olive-sided
Flycatchers, Rufous Hummingbird, and a stunning Hermit Warbler. The hills provided many fine finds such as
House Wren, Hairy Woodpecker and Band-tailed Pigeon.



We moved into the lowlands with a stop in Mima Mounds. A Western Meadowlark greeted us, and I caught
the end of a Sooty Grouse humming.
Ravens and a Cooper?s Hawk had the small birds upset, but not much was
new here.



We traipsed around the southwest corner of the county coming
up with many farmland birds. Chipping
Sparrows and Oregon Juncos kept the Christmas tree farm ringing; a Eurasian
Collared Dove put in an appearance; Red-breasted Sapsuckers showed up in
numbers; and a male Northern Harrier cruised a field on a mission of mousy
intent. We left for Tenino with most of
the passerines under our belt, but several specialties to go.



The marshes around Tenino were not so productive, but the
overhead show was ok. The Red-winged
Blackbirds were hammering on a Red-tailed Hawk.
A Western Wood Pewee quietly sallied out for flies, and several
Yellow-rumped Warblers did too. We soon
headed north to hit the saltwater and start our ducks, but a stop at the Weir
Prairie produced a Western Bluebird and a Vesper Sparrow.



The Bayview Grocery in downtown Olympia was a great place to pick up our
initial gulls with at least one clean Glaucous-wing and a stunningly white
Glaucous Gull. We tried Priest
Point Park
but too many picnickers and too many tree leaves blocked the water views. Boston
Harbor was a hit, Purple
Martins chattered away while we scoped the deep waters finding Pigeon
Guillemots and a pair of Marbled Murrelets.
We moved on to Woodard
Bay which was a very
productive spot. Three species of
cormorants and two of loons added spice to several new ducks such as Surf
Scoters, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers.




The afternoon wore on and the tide was on the rise as we got
to Luhr Beach.
There we added American Wigeon with a Eurasian for icing. The distant flock of Common Goldeneye seemed
pure, and Ring-billed Gull and Caspian Tern added to our slim list of larids.



We headed to Nisqually NWR having saved the best location
for last. It did not fail us. Several Cackling Geese were still present on
the entrance road. We walked first to
the twin barns picking up Golden-crowned Sparrow and Swainson?s Thrush along
the way. The new outer dike trail was
splendid with great looks at three Wilson?s
Phalaropes, Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teal, and Long-billed Dowitchers. Five Yellow-headed Blackbirds were an unusual
treat. A Spotted Sandpiper teetered
around on the mud hummocks and a few Least Sandpipers settled in for a
spell. The day closed with Wilson?s Snipe piping and
a Virginia Rail whinnying in the cattails.
A pair of Greater Yellowlegs landed as we headed back to the parking
lot.



We were lamenting one particular hole on our list when a
soft chatter caught our attention. Soon
a Bushtit carrying some bugs paused as it crossed our path, and then headed
towards its pendulant nest just off the trail.
He proved to be our last bird of the day. Our desperate drive around Capital Lake
for a grebe was fruitless; even the local swift at my house would not show.



Our final tally put us at 123 species, a truly magnificent day of birds for our small county.Tom Schooley, Olympia, WAschooleymccartan at comcast.net