Tweeters,

I led a Ranier Audubon trip to Fall City and Carnation yesterday. Weather was cool, but partly sunny and dry. In the interest of space, I have only indicated species seen once, even though they may have been seen several times throughout the day.

We made a brief stop at the Preston ball field on Preston-Fall City Road and picked up Brewer's Blackbird, Varied Thrush, White-Crowned Sparrow, Junco, Starling, Robin, Song Sparrow, and Violet-green Swallow.

Along the Raging River and Twin Rivers Golfcourse we picked up Black-capped Chickadee, Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Audubon's), Robin, Brown Creeper, Downy Woodpecker, Tree Swallow, Great Blue Heron, Flicker, Ruby-crowned kinglet, and crow.

Next stop was Rutherford Slough where we added Ring-necked duck, Bufflehead, Savannah Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Rufous Hummingbird (heard J-dive only), Vaux's Swift, Canada goose, Turkey Vulture, Wood Duck, Bewick's Wren, Red-tail Hawk, Rough-wing Swallow, and Red-winged Blackbird. Also, we observed a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers at the nest hole across the slough. We suspected that they had young, as the pair was quite active with frequent trips to and from the nest.

At Chinook Bend Natural Area, we picked up Osprey, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Towhee, Orange-crowned Warbler, Pacific Wren, American Goldfince, Common Yellowthroat, Pileated Woodpecker, and Steller's Jay.

We then stopped at the overlook just before the Nestle Farm. Here we observed the Bald Eagle nest and it appeared that they were incubating. A Mourning Dove flew over, Purple Finches were singing, and a Ring-necked Phesant called from the fields below.

At Sike's Lake, several Cackling Geese were observed on the water with a couple of Double-crested Cormorant. A female Harrier was seen hunting over the fields, and a flock of perhaps 40 American Pipits flew in to join a lone Killdeer just below us. Here, we picked up Mallard and House Sparrow for the day. Beyond the lake we continued down around the corner to a farm house. A Merlin streaked past us and landed in a tall Cottonwood to allow for scoping. It perched for approximately 5 minutes before taking off and was not seen again. We had Cliff and Barn Swallow on the power lines above and heard House Finches nearby.

A brief stop at the Carnation golf course yielded little so we took the advice of a fellow birder and continued on down the road to a previously flooded field with good mud hoping for shorebirds. We were not dissapointed. A breeding plumage Dunlin was observed near a Killdeer. Then the bird of the day appeared. One in our group spotted a Semipalmated Plover feeding near the Killdeer. The size difference was quite interesting to observe and this was a life bird for me! Yeah! Here, we added Pine Siskin as well flying over.

A great day out with friendly birders and even a bit of sunshine. Ahhhh, spring!

Amy Schillinger-Powell
Renton, WA
schillingera at hotmail.com