We went to Toke Point on Saturday hoping to see the Bar-tailed Godwit,
but were unable to locate the bird. Sunday, we went to Ocean Shores
hoping (again) for a Rock Sandpiper. There, luck was with us and we
located a Rock Sandpiper, as well as 2 Sandhill Cranes, and some
"little" Canada Geese.

We arrived at Toke Point at about 11:00 AM, which about high tide.
The Marbled Godwits were roosting on the jetty, as were a couple of
fellow Tweeters and a few fishermen. We made our way out onto one of
the floating docks to scan the flock of Godwits. Shortly, the
fishermen decided to leave, and spooked the whole flock. The birds
circled for several minutes before settling back on the jetty. It was
thrilling to be practically in their midst as they circled. There
were hundreds of them. You could hear the wind in their wings. We'd
seen these birds before, several times, but never quite like this. As
they circled, we were able to see clearly that they was no bar-tailed
among them.

Moving to the other side, where Don Baccus reported seeing the
bar-tailed on Thursday, we noted several Willets, a few Brown
Pelicans, and one more Marbled Godwit roosting on the pilings. On a
floating dock on the marina side, was a Whimbrel.

Farther back up the peninsula, a paved side road loops to the west
and skirts the breakwater. On the exposed mud beyond were many
Long-billed Curlews, Black-bellied Plovers, and Dunlins.

Near Grayland, from the car, we saw one Merlin.

Having spent the night in Aberdeen, we headed for Ocean Shores on
Sunday. We arrived about 11:00, again about high tide. We decided to
check for "rockpipers" on east end of the jetty first. We saw 2 Black
Turnstones.

A quick check of the west end of the jetty revealed that is was too
rough for us. Saw no "rockpipers" there. But we did run into a pair
of Tweeters from Pennsylvania, who were also hoping for a Rock
Sandpiper. We told them about the other end of the jetty, and how to
get there.

At Damon Point there was a Peregrine, and on the central pond, a group
of 20 or so Canada Geese. With them were 6 individuals of one of the
smaller subspecies. I'll send a separate post with more about these
geese.

At the Game Range, we observed two Sandhill Cranes feeding on the
marsh. We watched them for a few minutes before they took flight,
heading south. We've never seen Sandhills west of the Cascades
before.

Returning the the east end of the jetty at about 2:00 PM, there were
now five Black Turnstones and one Rock Sandpiper. It appeared to be
an adult in nonbreeding plumage with no trace of rufous on the
shoulder. Noticeably smaller than the turnstones. Surfbirds were
conspicuously absent, and we saw no Wandering Tattler.

We hope the fellow from Pennsylvania also saw the Rock Sandpiper. We
drove around a bit, looking for him, but couldn't find him.

Randy Deardorff / Barb Smith
curlew at eskimo.com
Seattle, Washington USA