Hi Tweets...Over the past two days I have made two trips east from Ocean
Shores; to Olympia and back on Wednesday, and to American Lake and back on
Thursday. As usual I keep my eyes peeled for birds.

On Wednesday, I saw a Turkey Vulture at the Humptulips River Bridge on Hwy
109, Hoquiam area, and two more in the Monte-Brady area, with five more
circling something in a field near Elma, and a final TV over the hills just
south of Hwy 8 at the Ranch House BBQ, about 5 miles east of Olympia. Then
while passing by Capitol Lake in Olympia and telling my friend of the recent
post about a sighting of a Mute Swan...there it was, about 20 feet off the
bank! So we stopped and got out, watching it feed for about 20 minutes.

Thursday's trip to American Lake...great weather for the second day in a
row, and again I saw turkey vultures; 1 at MP 14 between Ocean Shores and
Hoquiam and 1 at Monte-Brady Loop exit off Hwy 12. While at American Lake I
could hear an Osprey calling but couldn't see it. It was coming from the
north end of the lake. Only a few gulls and 3 Double-crested Cormorants
visible on the lake, a couple of Song Sparrows on the fence-line below me, a
Red-breasted Nuthatch calling from the trees above me, and a few kinglets
flitting above.

On the way home from American Lake we drove around the Burrows Rd. loop and
saw approx 65 Greater White-fronted Geese in one of the cranberry fields.

Finally, for those traveling to the beaches this weekend, keep in mind the
high tide is in the afternoons, and we have had 10 to 11 ft high tides this
week, though they are decreasing over this weekend. We also now have a radar
here on the coast as you have probably heard, and I can vouch for the
accuracy; it is really cool to be able to make plans to be outside, knowing
when to get inside before "it" hits!

Dianna Moore
Ocean Shores, Wa.
dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com