I lucked into getting the best view of the Dotterel of anyone today, since I
had hoofed it out to the end of the spit, and was coming back when the bird was
spotted. Almost everyone was on the other side of the water from the bird.
Only myself and one other birder were on the "right" side of the tide channel.

I'll have to admit that my first impression of the bird through the scope was
"That's it???" Shorebirds are subtle. The more I looked, however, the more I
loved seeing this bird.

Here are some observations. First, the yellowish legs really stand out -- if
you are scanning a flock of mixed plovers, the legsmay be the best feature to
zero in on. Second, it is significantly smaller than a Black-bellied Plover.
Third, while both Golden-plovers and the Dotterel are brown-tan, the Dotterel
has a distinct peachiness to its coloration. This is especially true on the
flank wash and on the scapular feather edges. The white breast band was barely
visible, though sometimes it seemed to pop out at you.

Also notable is the cute face, with the notably dainty short bill. From the
back, the white supercillium is very obvious as it appears in the NGS guide.
However from the side it often seemed to give a different look. The auricular
spot would sometimes appear to curve up towards the back.

Also, the Dotterel was very nervous between 10:15 and 10:30, when I was
watching. While the Black-bellied Plovers were calmly resting, the Dotterel
was jumpy, backing away from a Pectoral Sandpiper, jabbing at a Dunlin, turning
around several times, and flattening itself to the ground once. Geez - it
should just relax and enjoy the Washington State hospitality.

For those wondering where the bird disappeared to, let me just say that as the
fog rolled in and Ruth Sullivan approached the bird for photos, it may have
seemed that she flushed the birds far away. In reality, they moved only 50
yards away from the crowd. When I left, the Dotterel was still with the BBPL
and Dunlin, just a little further out the spit than when first seen. But I
could barely see them in the thick fog.

All in all, a VERY satisfying bird.

Afterwards, I struck out AGAIN looking for the Hudsonian Godwit. There were
hundreds of Marbled Godwits, at least 86 Brown Pelican, hundreds of Heerman's
Gulls, and about 10 Caspian Terns at Tokeland, however.

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== hummer at isomedia.com