Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and today was an unexpectedly beautiful day. I headed to Thurston County to look for some winter birds for my county list, and to see some different areas from the usual Pierce haunts.
First stop was at Tolmie State Park where early AM sunshine, light at my back, and calm water yielded great baywatching, and I saw all 3 loons, Pacific was a new county bird, and a distant Rhinoceros Aucklet was too. All fall huge flocks of Pine Siskins have been in the area, and today was no different, with a
Next stop was a new area for me, the McLane Creek Nature Trails, where no new Thurston birds were found, though I listened and looked for Red Crossbills and Hermit Thrush in good habitat. It is a really beautiful spot, with well maintained and lightly used trails. Check out the Wood Ducks, Gadwall and the pond itself.
I finished the day with two stops near the capital in Olympia, getting Barrow’s Goldeneye at KGY Point (named for the radio station there I think) and Western and Herring Gulls on the north pool of Capital Lake. 56 Canvasbacks were the only filter-busting species there. No rain all AM, and a nice outing with 5 new Thurston birds, ending the day at 164 for the county life list.
Good birding and good day!