Tweeters,

Six of us birded the forested and prairie areas at the Fort Lewis portion of
JBLM, plus a bit at Roy, on an EXTREMELY wet Sunday: 2.1 inches of rain in
the 22 hours from Saturday evening until Sunday afternoon. The potholes on
base were mostly lake-like, and Nisqually Lake, which has been mostly dry
the past couple of years has more water in it than I've seen in about 10
years. Nonetheless, we saw 63 species, with the highlights being the
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT at the Muck Creek bridge (one of 8 warbler species),
and great looks at PURPLE MARTINS at the new nestboxes at Brandenburg Marsh.



On the drive to Range Control from the main gate, we picked up parking lot
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD and CANADA GOOSE, and a lone GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL across
from the Range Control office. Our first stop, the prime area of Training
Area 4 next to the Second Div. Range Road, produced CHESTNUT-BACKED
CHICKADEE and the first of several YELLOW-RUMPED and WILSON'S WARBLERS, as
well as our only TOWNSEND'S and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS. In addition, a
RED-TAILED HAWK flew off as we drove up to our parking spot. Further along
the road, we heard a PILEATED WOODPECKER, some PINE SISKINS, and a few
PURPLE FINCHES.



It was raining pretty hard when we stopped near Nisqually Lake, and we could
only ID AMERICAN COOT as one of the species there. Although we were blanked
on HOUSE WRENS at the usual spot near the intersection of the 2nd Div Range
Road with Story Road, our stop opposite the road that leads to Observation
Post (OP) 10 was a success, with at least two singing males there. We also
got WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and WESTERN TANAGER.



At our quick stop at OP 8, which looks south over the 91st Div. Prairie, we
heard a WESTERN MEADOWLARK calling in the distance.



We had just gotten out of our cars at the MUCK CREEK bridge, and I was
getting set up to play my iPod to perhaps get a response, when we heard the
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT call from the west side of the road (it's usually on
the east side). It flew past us, then perched and sang in full view of all
of us in one of its usual spots (at least usual the past two years). In
addition to the Chat, near the bridge we also saw KILLDEER, MOURNING DOVE,
WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, and YELLOW WARBLER. Heard
there were COMMON RAVEN and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.



We saw our only WESTERN BLUEBIRDS of the day from OP 2; an OSPREY was near
the nest platform at Lewis Lake, but we didn't see any waterbirds there.



Brandenburg Marsh and its continuation just to the east, always seems to
have a good variety of birds, and didn't disappoint us this time: WOOD DUCK,
MALLARD, VIRGINIA RAIL, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, STELLER'S JAY, PURPLE
MARTIN, VIOLET-GREEN and TREE SWALLOWS, MARSH WREN, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and
another WESTERN TANAGER were all there.



Johnson Marsh had a pair of RING-BILLED DUCKS, as well as a blackbird-mobbed
RED-TAILED HAWK that dove on and flew off with prey.



The drive through Roy to Avian Acres yielded BALD EAGLE, ROCK PIGEON, and
BARN SWALLOW. Our stop at Avian Acres gave us CALIFORNIA QUAIL, BAND-TAILED
PIGEON, AMERICAN CROW, BEWICK'S WREN, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAK, HOUSE FINCH, EVENING GROSBEAK, and HOUSE SPARROW.



Birds seen or heard at several sites include the following: NORTHERN
FLICKER; BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE; RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH; AMERICAN ROBIN;
EUROPEAN STARLING; SPOTTED TOWHEE; CHIPPING, SONG, and WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROWS; DARK-EYED JUNCO; RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD; BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD;
PURPLE FINCH; PINE SISKIN, and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.



Many thanks to the members of our steadfast group, and especially to Barbara
Webster, bird spotter and compiler extraordinaire.



May all your birds be identified,



Denis DeSilvis

Roy, WA

Mailto: avnacrs4birds at q.com