Saturday, 31 January, was the date for the annual Snowy Plover winter survey
along the coasts of Oregon and Washington. I thought Tweeters might be
interested in knowing how it went in Washington.

The short story is our composite count for Leadbetter Point, Midway Beach,
Westport, Damon Point, Connor Creek, and Copalis Spit: zero.

Don Williamson reported that Leadbetter Point had been overwashed considerably
by recent high tides, leaving almost none of the dry sand beach that seems to
be favored by Snowy Plovers. I found a similar situation on Midway Beach (a
1.5-mile stretch north of Cape Shoalwater), although some patches of dry,
unvegetated dune were still available.

Warren Michaelis reported "lousy conditions" at Damon Point and Oyhut Spits,
where wind made surveying difficult.

The zero count was a bit surprising; I expected plovers at Leadbetter Point and
Midway Beach, two areas that consistently support a few snowys each during
winter. Discovering winter Snowy Plovers any further north would have been
notable.

In other bird news, Warren found two Peregrine Falcons at Damon Point and one
flew past me on Midway Beach. Dunlin and Sanderling flocks were easily seen and
I found 8 Semipalmated Plovers just north of Warrenton Cannery Road.
--
Scott Richardson
northeast Seattle
salix at halcyon.com

Remember:
Female Belted Kingfishers have a rusty "belt," which the males lack.
Both sexes have a blue breast band.