[Tweeters] Joint Base Lewis McChord birding - Tuesday, June 6

[Denis DeSilvis]

Tweeters,
On Tuesday, June 6, David M and I took a trek through some of the training areas (TA) at Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) under sunny conditions (42deg-78deg) and almost no wind. (All these areas are restricted access.)

Notable sightings include the following:
NORTHERN BOBWHITE - 3 at the Muck Creek restoration area, which is located next to the Muck Creek bridge to the east of the artillery impact area (91st Division Prairie).
BUFFLEHEAD - male - on a log at Lewis Lake - well seen with scope view.
HERMIT WARBLER - 3 in TA 8. These weren't reported on eBird. Very good views of a male, with another singing male nearby as well as a female.
BLACK BEAR - In the wetland just before and to the east of the JBLM Nisqually Bridge.

We started from the C-5 fuselage and headed directly for the Muck Creek bridge to the south. We found a LAZULI BUNTING as we drove there. A section of the road was being repaved, which meant we detoured on a dirt road for just over a half-mile. We decided to stop just off the dirt track to check for Vesper Sparrow (nope) and other species. Silly us! Along came quite a few of the larger military vehicles, including a Stryker. My SUV took an immediate dust bath!

Stopping at the Muck Creek bridge (I think some of the biologists at JBLM call it the "coyote bridge"), we traveled on the south side of the creek opposite the wildlife restoration area. We almost immediately heard a NORTHERN BOBWHITE calling, and tallied three separate calling bobwhites, and had an excellent view of one of them that cooperatively flew into a shrub in front of us. (See species list below.) Here we found the first of many YELLOW WARBLERS throughout our trip, including one carrying food.

At Lewis Lake we found two probable nesting pairs of RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS, which were the first of many of this species we found in quite a few parts of our trip. The big find here was a male BUFFLEHEAD on a log on the lake. We each looked through the scope and independently identified it as such. Although we didn't find NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS at the bridge - a disconcerting non-find because I've seen them there in season for over 40 years - we found at least 5 of them at Lewis Lake.

At the Nisqually River we "dipped" on finding Dippers, but David heard a crashing movement in the brush nearby. We both assumed it was a deer, but I managed to spot it as it fled away from us: black bear. A definite surprise!

We bypassed TA 10 (Johnson Marsh) because of Army activity (although it was listed as "open" on the access list for the day), and continued to TA 8 toward Spanaway Marsh. I took a side road, basically brush-busting along a not-well-used track and heard a HERMIT WARBLER singing above us. We hopped out and managed to get good views of a male. David spotted a female and also had quick view of another male nearby. (We had heard two males singing.)

We closed out the trip by deciding to get a better view of a LAZULI BUNTING. I had found this species almost every year at the hillside fronting Observation Post (OP) 8 on the north side of the artillery impact area. Sure enough, OP 8 came through and we had excellent views of a male.

Starting and ending with this gorgeous species was a treat!

Below is a simplified list of species we found at the three sites David reported on in eBird.

Muck Creek wildlife restoration site (26 spp plus 2 taxa)

Northern Bobwhite

California Quail

Mourning Dove

hummingbird sp.

Killdeer

Accipiter sp.

Red-tailed Hawk

Western Wood-Pewee

Willow Flycatcher

California Scrub-Jay

Black-capped Chickadee

Purple Martin

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Bewick's Wren

European Starling

Swainson's Thrush

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

Western Meadowlark

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Black-headed Grosbeak




Lewis Lake (26 spp)

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Mallard

Bufflehead

California Quail

Mourning Dove

Rufous Hummingbird

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Western Wood-Pewee

Willow Flycatcher

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Tree Swallow

Swainson's Thrush

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

American Goldfinch

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak



Brandenburg Marsh (15 spp)

Northern Flicker

Western Wood-Pewee

Purple Martin

Tree Swallow

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Marsh Wren

Swainson's Thrush

Cedar Waxwing

Chipping Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Orange-crowned Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Black-headed Grosbeak

May all your birds be identified,
Denis

Denis DeSilvis
Avnacrs 4 birds at outlook dot com

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