Have you been to Frye Cove, McLane Creek or the Olympia waterfront area to bird? Now is the time to get out there and do so! We have three new trip reports that will help you explore these locations. Here are some excerpts:
From Paul Hicks scouting the Olympia waterfront and Capitol Lake:
Port Plaza at Anthony’s Homeport Restaurant (704 Columbia NW, near the Farmer’s Market)
Best bird here: Long-tailed Duck. Because they’d been recently reported in West Bay, we searched and finally spotted them some 4000 feet away near the big green metal warehouse toward Smyth Landing (1801 West Bay Dr NW), with numbers of scaup and goldeneye nearby. An ornamental tree in front of Anthony’s attracted House Finch, Pine Siskin, and American Goldfinch.
From Mary McCallum scouting Frye Cove County Park on Steamboat Island:
Frye Cove has a 2.2 mile network of dirt trails. Trails are wide and well maintained but moderately steep with some high steps. An exception is the picnic area that can be accessed below the parking area down the asphalt driveway (gated). The most popular trail and recommended trail for birders is the wooden-signed 1 mile “Cove Loop Trail” that descends through forest from the parking area past the former home site/picnic area to the main shoreline on Eld Inlet. Here are good viewpoints to scan for water birds with a spotting scope although many water birds feed in the near-shore shallows and can be observed with binoculars. The trail then loops back to the parking lot along the bank high above the north shore of Frye Cove with peek-a boo views of the cove through the shrubbery.
From Bonnie Wood scouting McLane Creek Nature Trail (due to be posted Dec 30)
Much beloved by Thurston County residents seeking Rough-Skinned Newts, Wood Ducks, and birdsong, McLane Creek’s 1.5 miles of paths and boardwalks wend through diverse second-growth forest and along the edge of a beaver pond. A visit in the winter offers an advantage because deciduous trees are bare and you may locate birds more easily than in summer’s thick canopy. On the other hand, winter’s cold keeps birds relatively quiet and hidden.
We have more reports lined up for the upcoming winter months. All of these – both current and past reports – are posted on our website. For many of us, getting outside and looking for birds is the thing that will get us through the long dark months ahead. Remember – spring and vaccinations are coming!
