Hi Tweeters,

Today 7 of us went on a Black Hills Audubon field trip to the Stanwood area. We ended up with a little over 50 species for the day and managed to stay dry most of the time. Here's the highlights:

Port Susan Bay Preserve: This is a Nature Conservancy property and permission must be obtained from the steward before one is allowed to access the 2.5 mile trail. Species included BARN OWL (1), CANVASBACK, AMERICAN AND EURASIAN WIGEON, GADWALL, RUDDY DUCK, GREEN-WING TEAL, RING-NECKED DUCK, MALLARD, N. SHOVELER, SNOW GOOSE, TRUMPETER SWAN, A. COOT, PIED-BILLED AND HORNED GREBE, RED-TAILED HAWK, N. HARRIER, BALD EAGLE, PEREGRINE FALCON, N. SHRIKE, DUNLIN, KILLDEER, TREE, VIOLET-GREEN, AND BARN SWALLOW, MARSH AND BEWECK'S WREN, as well as several other species of passerines.

Thomle Rd: The Snow Geese were all gone, including the Ross's Goose. We did find a good-sized flock of Green-winged Teal, but did not locate the Common (Eurasian) Teal that had been reported earlier in the week. We did spot the SNOWY OWL on the dike that several others had been reporting on Tweeters. It was far enough away that a scope is really necessary to see it clearly.

Stanwood, 100th St.: We located 1 roosting BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON in a large Douglas Fir behind the assisted living center. It really blended in. Dave Hayden's eagle eye picked that one out. Also seen were EURASIAN COLLARD-DOVE and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER.

Eide Rd: We tried hard for Short-eared Owls in the fields, but no luck. Lots of N. Harriers were about. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the owls were hunkered down in the fields. We did see a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK in a tree near the beginning of the road.

On the way back south, we detoured to Marymoor Park in Seattle to try for the Bohemian Waxwing that has been spotted there lately. We did not locate it (nor any Cedar Waxwings), but still found a number of good species, including ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, PURPLE FINCH, and DOWNY WOODPECKER.

It was a fun day with a really friendly and enthusiastic group of fellow birders.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Olympia
wheelermombi at comcast.net