Nature Watch For Mat

All sorts of birds are out-and-about this month, making May one of the most colorful (and noisy) times of the year. Spring has also sprung in the Puget Sound region's lowland forests, where numerous types of wildflowers can be seen.

Through mid-May, gray whales and various shorebirds will continue migrating along the Washington coast en route to summer feeding areas in Alaska and the Arctic.

Here are some tips on what to watch for in May:

What to watch for Where to look

Blacktailed deer and Rocky Mountain elk Gold Creek Pond

(Kittitas County, near Keechelus Lake)

Broad-tailed hummingbirds, green-tailed Blue Mountains towhees, mountain quail and several (near Walla Walla) species of woodpeckers

Chilean fire tree, dogwood, magnolia, Washington Park Arboretum mountain ash and rhododendron (Seattle)

Gray whales Washington's coast

(Westport has several charters

daily)

Pied-billed grebes (waterfowl) Green Lake

(Seattle)

Littleneck clams, steamer clams, Kopachuck State Park butter clams, geoducks, (near Gig Harbor, Pierce County) and oyster harvesting (Only during the first two weeks of May; permit required.)

Migration and nesting for Neotropical Dungeness National birds such as black-throated sparrows, Wildlife Refuge Brewer's sparrows and hermit warblers (Clallam County)

Peregrine falcon eggs expected to hatch Washington Mutual Tower first week of May (Seattle)

Western sandpipers and several other Washington's coast migrating shorebirds (through mid-May) (Good viewing points at Bowerman Basin in Grays Harbor County and

Leadbetter Point on the Long

Beach Peninsula)

Skunk cabbage in bloom Mount Rainier National Park

Wildflowers, including Along the Mountain Loop Oregon grape, red currant, Highway (Snohomish County) red elderberry, salal, trilliums and wild violets

- Compiled by Lisa Pemberton-Butler

Sources: The Audubon Society, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, "Washington Wildlife Viewing Guide" by Joe La Tourrette, "The Seasonal Guide to the Natural Year" by James Luther Davis