>OK tweeters! You've calmed my anxiety about asking for help so here goes.
>We're going to the south WA coast next weekend. We would love to see Godwits,
>Peregrine's, Snow Buntings and any owl species. What's a good "birdy" place
>north of Astoria, OR? I appreciate all of the positive, helpful responses
I got
>from my first post. Thanks!

We are not experts on this part of the state, but would like to recommend
birding Ocean Shores and Tokeland. We have been there several times in the
past couple of years and have found a wide variety of birds. In fact, it's
likely that we will be there this Saturday. We'll post what we see.

For a first time visitor, its a little tough finding the good birding spots
at Ocean Shores. We recommend getting Robert Morse's book "A Birder's Guide
to Ocean Shores".
A few locations to try are the jetty at the extreme south west edge of Ocean
Shores, the game range, Damon Point, and Bill's Spit.

Among other things, the jetty is a good location for "rock pipers" in
particular rock sandpipers. (see Randy Dearorff's post from 10/24/95). The
jetty extends inland to the east to an area refered to as the "game range"
and the sewage treatment plant. We are told that this is a good area for
snow buntings and will be looking for them when we go. We have seen merlin
here and should also be a good area for peregrine.

At the south end of Ocean Shores, but on the bay side of the penninsula, is
Damon Point. We have seen Peregrine's there twice this fall.

Bill's spit is located on the bay side of the penninsula. For us, it has
been a good location to see large shore birds (Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel,
and, Long-billed Curlew). Although we have not been there this late in the
year. Tide is a factor here too.

The Tokeland Marina (at the north end of Willapa Bay) has been the place for
Godwits. A Bar-tailed Godwit has been there for over a month along with a
large number of Marbled Godwits, Whimbrel, and Willets. We first observed
the Bar-tailed when we took the long way home from dropping our daughter off
at UW in late September. At that time there were approximatley 350 Marbled
Godwits. The Bar-tailed is in winter plumage and stands out as being a much
lighter bird than the Marbleds. To see these birds, it's best to be at
Tokeland within a couple of hours of high tide. Otherwise they are likely
to be a long ways off in the bay.

Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland WA
wlafra at oneworld.owt.com