Subject: Ocean Shores sightings
Date: Aug 4 21:33:37 2001
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded the Ocean Shores area, along checking Brady
Loop Rd. to and from destinations, as the weather was quite favorable
throughout the day, with only a few isolated scattered showers as we drove
through Montesano and Aberdeen. The manin highlighlight of our trip was a
large numbers of roosting shorebirds at outgoing tide on the Ocean Shores
Game Range at 3pm containing 8 species of shorebirds, as we watched them
occasionally feeding on the exposed mudflats, as it has been several years
since we have seen any good numbers of shorebirds at this location in fall
migration.

We started out at Mud Bay/Madrona Beach Rd. at 9am off of Hwy.101, west of
Tumwater at outgoing tide, where we located a flock of 90 BONAPARTE'S GULLS,
with many still in full breeding plumage.Other species of note at this
location included:

27 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper
2 Least Sandpiper

Next, we arrived at Brady Loop Rd. at 10am,(after observing a single WESTERN
SCRUB JAY at Elma along Hwy.12), as we quickly checked a few locations along
the western portion of the "loop" with the following highlights:

1 Am.Bittern
1 Greater Yellowlegs
5 Long-billed Dowitchers

Heading west we continued to the Hoquim STP, after leaving a large
rainshower, as we checked the main pond, and located a few highlights
including:

3 female Cinnamon Teal
8 Greater Scaup
1 remaining oversummering female BUFFLEHEAD
1 female COMMON GOLDENEYE(good August record)

At Cyber Lake along S.R.115 we located 54 Greater Yellowlegs, and a lone
Long-billed Dowitcher, as they roosted on the wooden bridge across the lake

We arrived at Ocean Shores at 11:30am, and checked the Ocean Shores Golf
Course thouroughly, with the best shorebird diversity at the pond located on
the first 9 hole course, with 12 Long-billed Dowitchers, and a single
Greater Yellowlegs, despite several active golfers.

Next, we travelled to Damon Point where shorebirding was very slow, but the
only shorebirds of note were at the Damon Point pond, despite it rapidly
changing conditions. We werre able to locate relatively good numbers of
juvenal "peeps", as well as additional adult birds, and additional sightings
including:

1 Red-throated Loon
6 Brown Pelicans
267 Western Sandpipers(212 adults, 55 juvenals)
76 Least Sandpipers(50 juvenals, 26 adults)
1 Short-billed Dowitcher
5 Semipalmated Plovers
2 Horned Larks

On the way out we checked the base of Damon Point, and the eastern edge of
the Ocean Shores Game Range, where a single MARBLED GODWIT was noted flying
over towards western portion of the game range, with a possible injured
leg/foot, due to seeing it dangling in flight.

At 2pm we arrived at Bill's Spit at incoming tide, where we ran into Hank
Vail, who birded with us during our entire stay there, as we checked the
sandy spit(s), and limited exposed mudflats, as good numbers of both
California and Ring-billed Gulls roosted, among a few species of shorebirds,
and other highlights including:

34 Surf Scoters
1 female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER
35 Semipalmated Plovers
2 Greater Yellowlegs
38 Whimbrel
1 MARBLED GODWIT
140 Western Sandpipers
84 Least Sandpipers
1 Short-billed Dowitcher
2 Long-billed Dowitchers

At 3pm we birded the Ocean Shores Game Range until 4:15pm, as we extensively
checked several flocks of incoming shorebirds flocks, among the existing
flocks, while we talked with Scott Rea, who has spent significant time at
Ocean Shores, as he is working on his future Empidonax Flycatcher book, as
he reside near the base of the game range along Marine View Drive in his
motor home with a Michigan license plate,(but we are unsure of his exact
home), and goes out daily checking shorebird diversity since July. He was
also here last summer to early September, and is very interesting to talk
to, as he has very much information and knowledge, as he talked with us, and
is probably willing to help out any birders at this location for any recent
sightings until he will depart the area, and tells us of two recent SNOWY
PLOVER sightings at the western edge of the Ocean Shores Game Range, where
he located an adult last weekend, and an immature today, but we did not see
or pursue the actual birds. NOtable species during our entire visit
included:

5 Pacific Loons
3 Red-throated Loons
32 Brown Pelicans(greatly increasing numbers from the last few weeks)
3 GREAT EGRETS(roosting with gulls, and minor flocks of shorebirds on the
exposed mudflats)
3 Surf Scoters
227 Black-bellied Plovers
78 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Whimbrel
3 Ruddy Turnstones
27 Red Knots
265 Western Sandpipers(210 adults, 55 juvenals)
154 Least Sandpipers(32 adults, 122 juvenals)
57 Short-billed Dowitchers
21 Long-billed Dowitchers
2 PARASITIC JAEGERS

At 4:30pm we checked the Ocean Shores Jetty, as crowds of beachcombers
gathered near the entrance, but a relatively good "rockpiper" group was
noted among other species including:

780+ Sooty Shearwaters
21 Brown Pelicans
2 Wandering Tattler
4 Ruddy Turnstones
26 Black Turnstones
11 Surfbirds(with one breeding plumaged bird that had 3 bands on two legs,
with 1 red and 1 orange band on the left leg, and flourescent green band on
the right leg)
1 Black-legged Kittiwakes

Heading back, we rechecked the Ocean Shores Golf Course, where the
Long-billed Dowitcher flock grew to 14 birds, and the single Greater
Yellowlegs still remained in the same shallow golf course pond.

On our way home we also rechecked Brady Loop Rd. at 6pm, where a quick check
of the same existing area as visited before included:

1 Green Heron
1 female Cinnamon Teal
4 Greater Yellowlegs
5 Least Sandpipers
8 Long-billed Dowitchers


On a side note to all birders: While visiting with Hank Vail at Bill's Spit
today, he informed us the he had an adult female BAR-TAILED GODWIT at Bill's
Spit on the July the 29th(last Sunday)at 9:30am, just after high tide, so we
thought we would pass this information onto other birders, as it may
reoccur, but could have moved on. As far as our sightings, we were surprised
to see NO Turkey Vultures during the entire day, as we usually always see
good numbers of this species in this region at a given time, but we didn't
extensively look for them.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net