Hey Tweets!

Had a lovely day of birding with JC Vicente and John Riegsecker in Mason today. The highlights were the rapid departure of winter birds and a nice mix of new arrivals. We were woken up by Barn and Barred Owls at Belfair State Park, and drove out to start our day at Wildberry Lake on the Tahuya Peninsula. We missed our targets: Gray Jay and Sooty Grouse, but did find a nice mix of warblers (Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's, Black-throated Gray, Orange-crowned, MacGillivray's, and a Townsend's Warbler that did a fine job of trying to make us think it was a Hermit) and Flycatchers (Pac Slope, Hammond's and Olive-sided). We had a vocalizing Mountain Quail in that area and caught one skittering away at Mary Hrudkaj's place later in the morning.

Belfair added Yellow-rumped Warblers and Caspian Terns, but was largely void of the winter ducks. At Theler, we had first of year Yellow Warblers, Purple Martin, Black-headed Grosbeak and Warbling Vireo. We finished the day with all of the expected swallows, and even a Lincoln's Sparrow at Hunter Farms. Full details after the whole trip is done on my blog: www.masoncountybirding.blogspot.com

Tim--Sent from my iPhone