Subject: [Tweeters] Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area
Date: Sep 10 21:23:17 2012
From: Kim Thorburn - kthorburn at msn.com



Many of us are familiar with the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area for shorebirding and waterfowl on the lakes. As alkaline lakes, they are often dry patches of white minerals by this time of year and we bypass the area. There's another reason for an late summer/autumn visit.

The SLWA headquarters building is an old ranch house in a grove of various deciduous trees. In the past couple of weeks of short periods of birding, I've seen Nashville, Wilson's, yellow-rumped warblers, a first-year male American redstart, Cassin's vireo, warbling vireo, most of the empids, golden-crowned kinglet, red-breasted nuthatch, Lincoln sparrow, red-naped sapsucker, and previously, golden-crowned sparrow among the myriad white-crowned sparrows. It would not be surprising if more birding eyes turned up a vagrant eastern warbler.

Good birding, Kim

Kim Marie Thorburn, MD, MPH
509-465-3025 phone
509-599-6721 mobile