Hi Tweets,

To go with the other great birds in Pierce County lately, Wayne & Margie Sladek, Heather Ballash & I, found a White-tailed Kite on Joint Base Lewis McChord today. It was feeding on rodents on the open prairie near Artillery Range 74. Also present along with the beautiful blooming Camas flowers were some good prairie type birds: Chipping Sparrows, Western Bluebirds, one Western Kingbird and Western Meadowlarks. Vesper sparrow has also been found here in the recent past.

This is potentially an active Artillery Range and you'll see the large signs telling you just that. You can go onto this portion of the base, but you cannot leave the sides of the main paved road. Areas designated as Ranges are never open to the public. Areas designated as Training Areas are often open to the public after you obtain a 2 year range pass at Range control. They'll explain the drill on how to find out which Training Areas are open.

To get there from the Roy Y: Turn off of Hwy 7 south onto Hwy 507 south until you see East Gate Road. Turn west and go until you see a very large plane fuselage. (you'll see the gate if you go too far.) Turn south on unmarked road with artillery warning signs and continue until you are in the middle of a prairie area and the Range 74 sign. The bird was working in the area directly to the east of the sign.

Good birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma WA
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