Hello Tweets,

Yesterday(Aug.14)my mother and I birded along and near the coast in Grays
Harbor and northen Pacific Cos. with great weather with mostly sunny skies
and mainly calm winds. We started at the Chehalis Wildlife Area, near Elma,
where a female BLUE-WINGED TEAL was noted, and 2 AM.KESTRELS, with one
along Brady Loop Rd., and the other at Elma. At Tokeland both BAR-TAILED
GODWITS were observed at incoming high tide, directly with a flock of 90
MARBLED GODWITS and a lone SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER roosting along the jetty
at the marina. Other birds present included: 8 WILLETS, 2 SPOTTED
SANDPIPERS, and 4 WHIMBRELS. Further north along SR 105 at North Cove a
MARBLED MURRELET, 1 WESTERN GREBE, and good numbers of SOOTY SHEARWATERS,
BROWN PELICANS, and HEERMANN'S GULLS were seen offshore. Back in Grays
Harbor Co. at Bottle Beach, east of Westport the shorebird flocks were
rather small, but consisted of 1 AM.GOLDEN PLOVER, 2 MARBLED GODWITS, 8
RUDDY TURNSTONES, 18 WHIMBRELS, 13 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 8 SHORT-BILLED
DOWITCHERS, 67 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, 245 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, and 124 LEAST
SANDPIPERS. At Ocean Shores, birding was quite slow, with highlights only
at Damon Pt., with 1 LAPLAND LONGSPUR, 4 HORNED LARKS, and 3 RED-BREASTED
MERGANSERS, and at the Ocean Shores Game Range, where another AM.GOLDEN
PLOVER, with 48 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, 8 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 385
WESTERN SANDPIPERS, 70 LEAST SANDPIPERS, and 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, with
the added presence of a PEREGRINE FALCON, and 3 NORTHERN HARRIERS, and a
surprising OSPREY. AT the mouth of Grays Harbor, good numbers of the
"common" alcids, 128 BROWN PELICANS, 56 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, both SURF and
WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, and 27 RED-THROATED
LOONS among other species.

Good Birding!

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net