Hi Tweets,


Yesterday, September 29, Barbara and I spent a beautiful fall day in
Jefferson County and found a lot of wintering birds had arrived. Temps
varied from the upper 40s early to the mid 60s. Our trip list totaled 67
species. We started at the Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend. We found lots
of ducks on the lake, most were AMERICAN WIGEON and RUDDY DUCKS, though
after a few minutes Barbara found our first EURASIAN WIGEON of the
fall. VIRGINIA
RAILS and MARSH WRENS sounded off in the marsh grass, and we found several
GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 4 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS at the east end of the
lake. Nearby, in the brush and trees, we found a good suite of sparrows:
SAVANNAH, FOX, SONG, WHITE-CROWNED, GOLDEN-CROWNED, DARK-EYED JUNCO, and
SPOTTED TOWHEE, plus recently-arrived RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, and some of
the usual suspects. At Fort Worden we walked from the Marine Science Center
out to Point Wilson, turning up the standard gulls ? HEERMANN?S,
WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED, MEW, and CALIFORNIA, a lone CASPIAN TERN, and a
flotilla of 16 fresh-plumaged HARLEQUIN DUCKS. Our best bird near Point
Wilson was a lone WESTERN MEADOWLARK, a Code 4 bird in Jefferson County,
that dove into the grass as a prowling NORTHERN HARRIER went by. At Point
Hudson we saw a couple dozen gulls hovering over a large seal or sea lion
hoping for fish scraps. A lone WESTERN GREBE offshore here ? the only one
we saw yesterday -- reminded us of how few of these birds we?ve been seeing
recently.


We chased a reported GREAT EGRET near the south end of Discovery Bay
without success, but did turn up our only AMERICAN KESTREL there, kiting
over the grass near the hamlet of Discovery Bay, and spotted a PEREGRINE
FALCON wading carefully through a tidepool nearby. We finished our day
sharing the fabulous view atop Mount Walker with the GRAY JAYS and VARIED
THRUSHES.

Good Birding!


Paul Webster

Seattle

paul.webster at comcast.net
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