Tweeters,

Four of us got to JBLM (Lewis), and the area near my home in Roy, and had
two species that we don't usually find among the 80 species we saw: HERMIT
WARBLER and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. The warbler, a life bird for me (I don't
usually go chasing birds unless they're something like a Citrine Wagtail),
we found at the migrant "trap" on the east side of Training Area 4 just
south of the ORV staging area along the 2nd Division Range Road -all of us
saw and heard the bird, and Graham got a (not real clear but useable) photo.
A pair of orioles was just east of the Muck Creek Bridge, on the south side
of the creek, just past the mass of what I think are Himalayan honeysuckle.
(The only other orioles I've ever found at JBLM were at American Lake).
Note: I have some info regarding access to JBLM at the bottom of this
sighting report.

Other notable sightings on this rain-free day include the following:

8 warblers - Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Gray,
Hermit, Wilson's, MacGillivray's, and Common Yellowthroat.

5 woodpeckers - Downy, Hairy, Pileated, and Red-breasted Sapsucker and
Northern Flicker.

4 wrens - House, Pacific, Bewick's, and Marsh.

6 swallows - Tree, Violet-green, Cliff, Barn, Northern Rough-winged, and
Purple Martin

About 40 Evening Grosbeaks flying over my home (Avian Acres).

2 flycatchers - two Pacific-slope and at least four Olive-sided.

Great Horned Owl

Notable misses include Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, and Willow
Flycatcher.

Our route and new or notable sightings at each stop are below:

Avian Acres (Roy) - PURPLE FINCH, HOUSE WREN, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK,
AMERICAN CROW, TREE SWALLOW, CHIPPING SPARROW, DARK-EYED JUNCO, EVENING
GROSBEAK, RED CROSSBILL

JBLM

Chambers Lake - west side only - (toward the north end) - AMERICAN ROBIN,
SPOTTED TOWHEE, MOURNING DOVE, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, EUROPEAN STARLING,
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, COMMON MERGANSER, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, SAVANNAH
SPARROW, PIED-BILLED GREBE, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, BARN
SWALLOW, YELLOW WARBLER, WILSON'S WARBLER, PURPLE MARTIN, VIRGINIA RAIL,
CLIFF SWALLOW, CANADA GOOSE, WOOD DUCK, RING-NECKED DUCK, MALLARD, COMMON
RAVEN, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD

Chambers Lake (middle) - KILLDEER, BUSHTIT, SONG SPARROW, BROWN CREEPER,
DOWNY WOODPECKER

Chambers Lake (south) - BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, LAZULI
BUNTING, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET

Brandenburg Marsh (along road toward and nearby) - ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER,
CASSIN'S VIREO, MARSH WREN, STELLER'S JAY, TURKEY VULTURE, RED-TAILED HAWK

Muck Creek Bridge - NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, NORTHERN FLICKER,
CALIFORNIA QUAIL

Lewis Lake - OSPREY, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE, BEWICK'S WREN

Along the Range Road south of Training Area 5 (north side of 91st Division
Prairie artillery impact area) - WESTERN BLUEBIRD, AMERICAN KESTREL

Observation Post (OP) 8 - BALD EAGLE, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, MACGILLIVRAY'S
WARBLER

2nd Division Range Road (along the hillside of Training Area 4) - VAUX'S
SWIFT, HERMIT WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, PACIFIC-SLOPE
FLYCATCHER, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, WESTERN TANAGER, PACIFIC WREN, PILEATED
WOODPECKER

Story Road, just at the entrance to the road up to OP 10 - HAIRY WOODPECKER,
WARBLING VIREO

End of Story Road - WESTERN MEADOWLARK

Muck Creek Bridge - just east along the creek - BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (pair)

Gravel road from the Range Road to Chambers Lake, near Brandenburg Marsh -
GREAT HORNED OWL

Johnson Marsh - west side near middle - SORA

Roy - near church - EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE

Roy - 48th Ave S - BREWER'S BLACKBIRD

Roy - Avian Acres - HOUSE FINCH, BAND-TAILED PIGEON, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY,
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER

The 80 species we tallied (with only a few heard-only birds) was the most of
any one-day trip I've had to JBLM.

Here's the bad news: The Range Control Office, where you need to go to get
the area access pass to legally get to the training areas that are open on a
particular day, is no longer open on weekends, and is only open until 5pm
weekdays (it used to be 24/7). I'm trying to figure out how to help people
get area access passes during the week - the passes are good for 2 years
from date of issue. If I have a car load of people with passes, I can easily
lead a trip to open areas, and show you how to access those areas and let
you know the most productive places to go on your own after that. I'll be
working with the Seattle Audubon and WOS field-trip folks, as well as others
to find the most reasonable solution that doesn't entail me making a whole
lot of trips to JBLM on my free time - we might be able to come up with
something when the doldrums hit this summer. I'll be working this as Spring
heads more toward Summer.

Many thanks to Margaret, Graham, and Jeff for putting up with my foibles -
and glad that you were able to add so many Pierce County birds to your
respective lists.

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis

Avnacres4birds at outook dot com