Subject: [Tweeters] Joint Base Lewis McChord Eagles Pride Nature Walk -
Date: Dec 20 10:55:54 2013
From: Denis DeSilvis - avnacrs4birds at outlook.com


Tweeters,

Twelve of us hit the links yesterday at JBLM's Eagles Pride golf course,
starting out in a chilling cold (about 30 deg), but staying dry. This month
we decided to do a "mini-CBC" for our usual walk, and tallied some good
numbers for forest species among the 32 species we found. The ponds were
frozen over, so we didn't have any ducks, which is very unusual for this
time of year. Highlights of observations include the following:



Red Crossbill - given the lack of reports on this species in the area, the
three that Henry spotted, and that all of us saw and heard as they flew over
and back, were a definite plus. (With one area still to report at our
round-up tallying for the Olympia CBC, I believe that no Red Crossbills were
reported.)

Northern Flicker - as we started out at 8:00AM, we noted "a couple" of
flickers feeding along the road. Russ put a scope on them, and found 9
feeding in about a 20-meter stretch. None of us had seen anywhere near that
number together. (A flock of starlings descended on the spot where the
flickers fed, and the flickers fled.)

Varied Thrush - very good, close looks at 6 of them just east of the flicker
foraging area.

Golden-crowned Kinglets - these outnumbered all the other species in the
many mixed-species foraging flocks. At one spot along the trail just to the
east of Hodges Lake, we had both species of kinglets foraging on the crown
within a few feet of us.

American Goldfinches - three flew over - the only other finches we saw
besides the House Finches and Crossbills.



When Dave and I first got to the meeting spot, a young and an older coyote
trotted past about 50 meters from us. Later, our group got good scope views
of a coyote jumping and pouncing as it foraged along a fence line. In
addition, one of our group found a dead (frozen) Vagrant Shrew.



Russ loaded our sightings onto eBird, and are also shown below.



As an added note, Henry mentioned at the Lesser Goldfinches are still coming
to his feeder at his family's home in Centralia. If you're looking to add
this Code 5 species to your Lewis County list, check out the archived
Tweeters report from 11-3-2013. It's also on eBird.



Double-crested Cormorant - 7

Canada Goose - 28

Red-tailed Hawk - 2

Glaucous-winged Gull - 1

Anna's Hummingbird - 1 (m)

Downy Woodpecker - 1

Northern Flicker - 12

Steller's Jay - 12

American Crow - 12

Black-capped Chickadee - 7

Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 12

Bushtit - 16

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4

Brown Creeper - 1

Pacific Wren - 6

Bewick's Wren - 1

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 59

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 9

American Robin - 40

Varied Thrush - 6

European Starling - 36

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1

Spotted Towhee - 3

Golden-crowned Sparrow - 7

Fox Sparrow - 4

Lincoln's Sparrow - 1

Song Sparrow - 5

Dark-eyed Junco - 32

Red-winged Blackbird - 3

House Finch - 7

Red Crossbill - 3

American Goldfinch - 3



Upcoming Bird & Nature Walk schedule and meeting spot - we meet the third
Thursday of each month at 8:00AM:

- January 16, 2014

- February 20, 2014

- March 20, 2014 (First day of Spring!)

- Bird Walk start point: Bldg # 1514, Driving Range Tee, Eagles Pride Golf
Course, I-5 Exit 116, Mounts Road Exit.

- Other info: March, May, July, September Quarterly Sunday Bird Walks -
Schedule date & time TBD.



Happy Holidays, and may all your birds be identified,



Denis DeSilvis

Roy, WA

Mailto: avnacrs4birds at outlook.com