Subject: 5/5 Grays Harbor Trip
Date: May 5 22:19:15 1994
From: Laura Saavedra - lsdb at u.washington.edu


I went to Grays Harbor today and had lots of sun and good diversity of
shorebirds (12 species). Bottle Beach was by far the best single spot
with 10 species, including ~200 Red Knots. Bowerman was pretty tame in
comparison (mostly Dowitchers and Western Sandpipers far out on mudflats)
and the Ocean Shores Golf Course had only 1 mixed flock of 30 Marbled
Godwits and Whimbrels at high tide. The Game Range and Damon Point had
good diversity and low numbers as well. The jetty had 2 Black
Turnstones and 2 Wandering Tattlers and many migrating Pacific and Common
Loons. Two questions: 1) at Bottle Beach about 20% of the Black-bellied
Plovers were in winter plumage - are these birds that have wintered in the
area and not yet migrated or do some birds (e.g., immatures) migrate and
then molt on the breeding grounds? 2) Is the proper collective noun for
Knots a "tangle"?