Yesterday Carol Schulz and I went birding all around Ocean Shores. During
the day we stopped at hotspots like Brady Loop wetland, Bottle Beach, Damon
Point, Hoquiam STP, Ocean Shores Game Range and STP, and the Tokeland Marina.
On our way to Bottle Beach we decided to stop at Brady Loop just to make sure
that we could find the wetland (thank you everyone for the directions). It
was still dark when we arrived at Brady Loop. We heard many SWAINSON'S
THRUSHES migrating overhead and a single BARN OWL was flying over the corn
fields.
So we headed to Bottle Beach. The sky was light by the time we got there
and the tide was coming in. The shorebirds were extremely active and we found
the following shorebirds and waterfowl:

2 PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVERS
78 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS
50 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS
5000 WESTERN SANDPIPERS
200 LEAST SANDPIPERS
1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER
4 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS
150 NORTHERN PINTAIL
50 AMERICAN WIGEON
4 CINNAMON TEAL
3 GREEN-WINGED TEAL

On our way out we found a very bold VIRGINIA RAIL and within the next 10
minutes heard at least 4 more. Warblers were not active and we only found 1
Orange-crowned Warbler with all the Common Yellowthroats. Our next stop was
Tokeland Marina. When we got there we found that the birds instead of
roosting on the jetty were all feeding and roosting on the sand right next to
the dock, about 15 feet away from us! I easily picked out 3 BAR-TAILED
GODWITS out of the following other shorebirds:

400 MARBLED GODWITS
17 WHIMBRELS
14 WILLITS
100 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (listen for their "tututu" call)
3 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (listen for high-pitched "keek" call)

And now we headed to Brady Loop Wetland. When we first arrived the place
appeared to be dead. I walked all around and eventually found a pond with
some shorebirds in it. We found the following:

1 PECTORAL SANDPIPER (a life bird for me)
1 LEAST SANDPIPER
2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS
3 LESSER YELLOWLEGS
1 flyby SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
2 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES (1 juvenal bird came very close and was on the pond
much of the time and 1 adult male flyby)

A NORTHERN HARRIER flew by and spooked all of the birds off of this pond
which then circled overhead and landed on a larger pond. I walked over to the
pond that they landed on and continued to watch these same birds when all of
a sudden the shorebirds burst into the air and flew to the South. Amazing.
After a while another LEAST SANDPIPER landed on the mud. The water is quickly
drying up but the farthest pond from the road seems to have a lot left.
We then headed to the Hoquiam STP. Not much of note here but we found the
following:

14 LESSER SCAUP
27 GREATER SCAUP

We made a quick stop at Cyber Lake and found 38 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 1
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER roosting on the few logs left on the lake. Some of
them were even roosting on the fishing dock!
Now we headed on to the Ocean Shores STP. Here we found 5 NORTHERN
SHOVELERS. Out on the jetty here there were 100s of BROWN PELICANS and
HEERMAN'S GULLS. A BLACK TURNSTONE and a RHINOCEROS AUKLET flew by and 2
COMMON MURRES were way out in the water.
Next we went to the Ocean Shores Game Range. Here we just found:

70 LEAST SANDPIPERS
40 WESTERN SANDPIPERS
50 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS
1 HORNED LARK

Our next stop was Damon Point. It took a while to find what we think is the
Damon Point Pond. When we did find it, it looked pretty quiet but it quickly
became more active as birds came in to roost. Here is the list of species we
saw at this location in the 3 hours we stayed here:

6 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS
1 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER (this bird flew in right as we arrived and stayed
the whole time we were there)
4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS
6 GREATER YELLOWLEGS
1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS
400 WESTERN SANDPIPERS
100 LEAST SANDPIPERS
1 PIED-BILLED GREBE

Around Damon Point we also saw:

3 HORNED GREBES
13 RED-THROATED LOONS
9 PACIFIC LOONS
4 COMMON LOONS
5 HORNED LARKS
20 BLACK TURNSTONES

We left Damon Point at dusk. On our way home we wanted to stop at Brady Loop
wetland again to see if we could hear other migrating birds or a Barn Owl. As
we pulled in we heard more SWAINSON'S THRUSHES. We set up the scope on the
half-full moon and waited. After a while we saw a bird flick past. And then
another. We saw around 10 birds go past the moon in the 15 minutes we
watched. Nice way to end a good day!

Visit my birding website at:
http://hometown.aol.com/birdking88/index.html

Birdking88 at aol.com
Charlie W. Wright
Sumner, WA
Age 11