Tweeters,

Sorry for the delayed reporting, but a birthday sojourn kept this from getting out there sooner. I wasn't at the Eagles Pride monthly bird walk, but Russ Smith and others kept this one going strong. Russ's (edited) notes are pretty easy to follow!


It's hard to compare with past June trips as the last 2 ('16, '17) were both rainy. Today was a sudden low pressure and change in weather from Wednesday's heat and it was overcast.....but the birds seemed to like that (as Nathanael predicted) and were quite active and vocal....perfect!!!

I (Russ) asked at the end for "bird of the day" and got a variety of choices ranging from the MACGILLIVRAY'S, the CEDAR WAXWINGS, the fledgling RED-TAILED HAWK teetering in the nest, the 8 species of warblers, to the WESTERN TANAGERS.

Per Dave's suggestion, we found CEDAR WAXWINGS in the shoreline willows around the small pond with aeration (hole #9). We had a very vocal HOUSE WREN near the maintenance yard light post nest (3rd year) and suspected fledglings nearby. What I call the Slot or Power Line Alley produced lots of birds including the TOWNSEND'S WARBLER high. While calling it to show others, a MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER flushed from low and gave us long views from several locations. Mitch had a visual sighting of a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. I later confirmed it with a single callback reply.

We had flycatchers vocalizations throughout the day including PACIFIC-SLOPE, WILLOW, and WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE with visual sightings often as well on all 3 species. As we left the golf course (#4) toward the residential backyard with waterfall, we immediately picked up a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and then a HUTTON'S VIREO. The backyard gave us multiple RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS (family) and lots of BUSHTITS. From the northern boundary road overlooking Hodge Lake we had a sighting of the RED-TAILED HAWK nest with adult (who left) and a downy-covered fledgling teetering around the edge of the nest flaying its wings. We picked up our only CALIFORNIA SCRUB-JAYS and STELLAR'S JAYS as well as some MOURNING DOVES there. We had WILSON'S WARBLER'S in the low spot a little east of there with the small wetland south of the boundary road and understory brush perfect for Wilson's.

We continued to sporadically pick up WESTERN TANAGERS, seemingly always in breeding pairs, first by sound and then visually throughout the day...beautiful birds and the consensus favorite.

Approaching the 12th hole (water), while waiting for the stragglers to catch up before calling for the frequently found MACGILLIVRAY'S there in the past, a CASSIN'S VIREO sounded off with most of us getting challenging views of a pair over 5 minutes as they moved about.

Approaching Hodge Lake, we not only got lots of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, but also several NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS to complement the ones found earlier at the maintenance yard pond. Lots of BARN SWALLOWS all day, following us at low (2 ft) elevations as we crossed grassy areas.

A great group of birders and a great day of birding!


The JBLM Eagles Pride GC birders meet the third Thursday of each month at 8:00AM. Starting point is Bldg # 1514, Driving Range Tee, Eagles Pride Golf Course, I-5 Exit 116, Mounts Road Exit. Upcoming walks include the following:

• July 19

•August 16

•September 20

Anyone is welcome to join us!


Temp in the low-mid 60's, overcast
52 species (+1 other taxa)

Red-tailed Hawk 3 one adult flyover, 2nd adult on nest, fledgling standing up within nest (NE of Hodge Lake, seen from roadway along north edge of course property)
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Band-tailed Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 3
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Rufous Hummingbird 6
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 5
Western Wood-Pewee 10 heard throughout the day and area, some visually verified
Willow Flycatcher 7
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 11
Hutton's Vireo 3
Cassin's Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo (Western) 1
Steller's Jay 1
California Scrub-Jay 2
American/Northwestern Crow 7
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 5
Tree Swallow 9
Violet-green Swallow 20
Barn Swallow 60
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 14
Bushtit (Pacific) 17
Red-breasted Nuthatch 13
Brown Creeper 3
House Wren 5 seen in 3 different locations
Pacific Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
Swainson's Thrush 30
American Robin 80
European Starling 24
Cedar Waxwing 20
Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens) 3
MacGillivray's Warbler 2 found in "power line alley", ironically flushed when calling for Townsend's Warbler. Multiple, long views
Common Yellowthroat 4
Yellow Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1
Townsend's Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 2
White-crowned Sparrow (pugetensis) 17
Song Sparrow 12
Spotted Towhee (oregonus Group) 16
Western Tanager 8
Black-headed Grosbeak 6
Bullock's Oriole 1 sighted at SW end of power line alley, later on west outside had single callback
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Purple Finch (Western) 10
American Goldfinch 5

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46719697

May all your birds be identified,

Denis DeSilvis

avnacrs4birds at outlook.com

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