Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded the Ocean Shores area, starting with a WESTERN
SCRUB JAY at Elma, along Hwy.12 ,with several notables highlights at Ocean
Shores itself, probably due to the relatively favorable conditions unlike
past weeks, with today being mostly cloudy, and only minor wind at times,
closest to the water. We also managed to encounter several birders in the
field, as we birded at several locations. The main highlight was a
SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER off the Ocean Shores Jetty, observed between
9:40am-10am, with 5 passes offshore, and 1 pass at close range, just off the
jetty, amongst high waves. This was my first record of this species from
mainland Grays Harbor Co., and my mother's first record ever, as we watched
the bird for 20 minutes off and on, as it flew offshore.

We started out at the Ocean Shores Golf Course, where a brief stop was made,
as we observed 10 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at 9am, then we headed towards
the O.S.Jetty, but managed to locate the 2 TROPICAL KINGBIRDS at 9:15am upon
a brief stop at the Ocean Shores Marina, where the 2 birds actively pursued
any insects available, as they perched on nearby wires, and bushes/conifer
trees, before flying back along a canal, paralleling Pt.Brown Ave.to an
extent, before the birds flew out of sight, until we located them again at
3:25pm at the same location. Other species at the O.S.Marina included:

76 LEAST SANDPIPERS
14 WESTERN SANDPIPERS
1 MARBLED GODWIT
1 PEREGRINE FALCON
16 Black Turnstones

At the Ocean Shores Jetty, the high waves persisted, as they came over the
jetty on several occasions, and NO "rockbirds" were evident on our first
stop here, but 15 Black Turnstones were noted later in the day at outgoing
tide. The best notable species here was as mentioned before the SHORT-TAILED
SHEARWATER, observed only on our first stop in the morning, as were 3
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES. 4 BRANT were noted offshore heading south on our
second stop, as our only ones of the day.

At Damon Point we hiked the area, just east of the "pond", as we encountered
and photographed the immature SNOWY OWL(first located by my mother,as she
scanned the appropriate habitat, where we have encountered this species
before at this location, along with other notable observed highlights today
including:

1 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
24 Black-bellied Plovers
210 Dunlin
1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS
13 GREATER YELLOWLEGS
8 SHORT-EARED OWLS(our first record number at this location, as the birds
were flushed by my mother from the dunes and native vegetation at close
range, before returning to their original spot, as we headed back to our
vehicle)
17 HORNED LARKS
2 PALM WARBLERS
3 LAPLAND LONGSPURS
8 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS

We checked the shoreline, and dunes behind the Ocean Shores S.T.P., where we
located 3 pairs of HARLEQUIN DUCKS along the jetty at outgoing tide, 5
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, as they hunted the nearby open fields to the north and
west of the sewage ponds, 7 LEAST SANDPIPERS, and 1 SAVANNAH SPARROW
foraging in the dunes, directly behind the fenced ponds. A immature NOTHERN
SHRIKE was encountered along Fairwood Drive, accessed from Marine View
Drive, and 2 VARIED THRUSHES were perched in a tree along Marine View Drive,
as we headed to the O.S.Game Range. We walked the south beach along the
O.S.Game Range at 2:45pm, where we encounterd and photograhed the same
immature MERLIN of the columbarius or Prairie subspecies, and approxiametely
the same time of day, as on the 19th of November on the same, perched on a
dead driftwood stubble within 3 feet, being the closest range. The perch
might be a favorable perch of this bird, as it hunts the area for
shorebirds, and other prey. 22 BLACK SCOTERS were noted offshore among Surf
Scoters. We checked the O.S.Marina, where the 2 TROPICAL KINGBIRDS, being
previously mentioned, as they were encountered being chased by an adult
NORTHERN SHRIKE, our second of the day, before the conflict settled,
allowing the birds to perch on nearby wires until we left the area.

Our final stop of the day was made at the Hoquim S.T.P. at 4:15pm, where 37
CANVASBACKS, 21 RUDDY DUCKS, and 1 REDHEAD were noted, as the pond was the
wind conditions were great, unlike past visits here at the same time of day.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net