Hi Tweeters--

I'll be heading out to Kalaloch on the WA coast mid-month and am looking
for some guidance on birding, as shorebirds are my absolute WORST thing! I
read with interest all the accounts from Bowerman Basin and Ocean Shores,
but the habitat at Kalaloch is different -- no backwaters, mud flats,
marshlands etc. Here it is evergreen forest up to the edge of a 20-25 foot
sand bluff which drops to very flat sand beach. High tide often almost
reaches the bluffs (in storms it does) and there are many huge driftwood
logs at the base of the bluffs. There are only a few surf rocks. Low
tide, due to the flatness of the beach, often leaves a 300-400 foot wide
beach area to explore.

Based on the shells I've seen, there appear to be lots of mussels, sand
dollars, clams, and some crabs that the birds eat. There are of course
gulls and sandpipers on shore, which I SERIOUSLY need help and practice at
identifying, plus cormorants (don't ask me which cormorant!) that sit on
the few offshore rocks. I almost never see any birds afloat on the waves,
other than the gulls and cormorants. Has anyone done any fall birding in
the central-coast area to give me an idea of what I SHOULD be looking for?
Based on the shells, would the best birding be as the tide turns to go out,
or is standard early-morning my best bet? I'd like to do a better job of
identifying species this year.

Thanks,
Marlene Penry
Seattle, WA
mpenry at compuserve.com