LITTLE GULL - in between meetings on Sat. I ran up to Pt. No Pt. About
4, during a late afternoon sun break, saw the adult Little Gull to the
east of the point out in the channel, with a few Bonapartes, heading
south. They always seem plump to me, with the rounded wings. The black
underwing contrasting with the light gray mantle was almost
semaphore-like as it flew south - black/gray/black/gray. The main group
of Bonies (sev. hundred) was just off the dock to the north.

WILLET - 6 at the mouth of North River west of Raymond Sunday morning.
Imm. BALD EAGLE waiting patiently nearby, along with many AMER. WIGEON,
NO. PINTAIL, GR-W. TEAL and others.

BAR-TAILED GODWIT - returning from Tokeland where I waited patiently at
and just after high tide, found the large flock of MARBLED GODWITS
resting on a long narrow mudflat on the east side of the North River bay,
about a mile south of that bridge over Smith (?) Creek. This was about
11:30, about an hour after what I was told and seemed to be high tide at
Tokeland (10:13). Something flushed the birds at one point, they lifted
up, and there was the BAR-TAILED in with the hundreds of MARBLEDS. A
really nice bird, really stood out, as previous observers had noted, from
the tawny/cinnamon tones of the larger birds.

There were maybe 40 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS and 80 or so WHIMBRELS on the
west side of the drive down the little Tokeland Peninsula, right after
high tide. It was spectacular, though with back-lighting couldn't really
appreciate the color.

Finally, after an interview fell through I decided to head out to Ocean
Shores. Beautiful clear views of the entire Olympic Range from Damon
Point. It was windy and birding was slow - no Snow Buntings or Longspurs
- but at the sewage treatment plant was a CATTLE EGRET lurking about.

It's been fun getting more of a chance to bird up in Washington. I'm
appreciating not only the beauty of your landscape but also how different
it is from Oregon - w. Washington so much more low-relief, Rainier so
massive and present, such massive swatches of even-aged "forest", so much
more estuary and wetland.

Tom Love
Dept. Soc/Anth
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR 97128
tlove at linfield.edu
tel: (503) 434-2504