The Washington coast is frequently cited as one of the best areas for
sanderling in the US, though relatively little information has been published.
Part of the work I'm doing on sanderling is looking at the abundance and
distribution of birds around Washington. Current areas of interest are:

The timing and magnitude of spring and fall migration.
Important stopover sites for migrating birds.
The numbers and distibution of wintering birds.
Differences if any, between Puget Sound and the outer beaches.

I survey the beaches from Point Brown to Ocean City every month, which
provides useful data. However I'd be interested in help to expand the coverage
around the Grays Harbor area. Information from other areas will be important
to identify the relative importance of different areas around Washington.

The information I'm looking for is:

1) Number of birds - record how accurate the count is - whether individuals
were counted or block counts were used, or even a rough estimate.
2) Composition of flocks by age - if they stay still long enough :-) -
juvenile sanderling are pretty distinctive.
3) What they were doing - feeding, preening, roosting, flying (include which
direction).
4) Date and time.
5) Place - be as accurate as possible, map references, using latitude and
logitude, township grids or DeLorme references would be great.
6) How much beach you looked at.

The birds at Ocean Shores range along several miles of beach, so information
from roost sites would be ideal. Even if no birds were seen then that also
very useful information.

I can be reached at:

5200B Ravenna Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105
phone: (206) 522 1855
email: stuart at blarg.net

Thanks in advance,


Stuart MacKay