| The Tahoma Audubon Society Field Trip to Puyallup and Orting was remarkable for the great weather and the number of participants. Likely due to the PR in The News Tribune, with both Sunday and Friday notices in the activities section, we had 29 participants. Of these only 7 were TAS members. The TAS members were primarily ABC birders.The day started under bright sunny sky trying to pick the waterfowl on Bradley Lake out of the glare of the rare bright yellow thing in the sky. We managed to get a perspective showing beautiful scope views of 8 Hooded mergansers along with a Ringed-neck duck, American Wigeon, Mallards, and Double-crested cormorants as a male Belted kingfisher rattled at the end of the lake. In the nearby forested area we had 4 woodpecker species. Downy, Pileated, Red-breasted sapsucker and Northern flicker were seen or heard by some. On the way back to the car a nice winter mixed flock of songbirds responded well to Ken Brown’s Pygmy Owl whistle, and we tried but failed to find a Hutton’s vireo among the 30 or so Ruby-crowned kinglets mixed with good numbers of Golden-crowned kinglets, Black-capped chickadees. A Brown creeper gave everyone a close look at its typical tree trunk climbing feeding behavior.We headed for Orting as a 7 car caravan, leaving only a few Puyallup-only birders behind. The winter’s flock of 87 Trumpeter swans was compliant and we studied them and failed to pick out a Tundra swan at the corn field at Pioneer Way & Hwy 162. On the way to our next stop a Merlin atop a fir tree stayed for us to see in the scopes, and we headed on with only a minor traffic hassle. Next was a short stop by the Puyallup river behind Orting Middle school where adult and young Bald eagles roosted, we saw and heard Song and Fox sparrows, another Sharp-shinned hawk (juvenile this time) was sighted, and a pair of Gadwall swam in the collection ponds.
At the farm loop off Calistoga Road just across the Puyallup River we finished up our morning by finding an American kestrel, getting everyone great looks at Sooty Fox Sparrows, and seeing another Red-tailed hawk.
Everyone seemed to have a nice time. Many saw parts of our county they had not visited before. I was thankful for pleasant company, the birds, and most of all the sunshine. Life does seem a bit better after a day birding in the sunshine in Washington.
Day’s totals: 29 human participants, 40 species, and no accidents.
For those interested I also started an e-bird user called TASFieldTripLists. If trip leaders share their e-bird lists to that user name we will be able to have an ongoing record of field trip sightings that may be helpful in considering what trips may be good to repeat and as a tool for data keeping.
E-bird Trip List |
