I was in the Seattle area from 7/26 through 7/29 and while my wife attended
a meeting at UW, I did some birding (as well as a bit of relaxing!). I was
fortunate to be able to hook up with the SAS field trip to Ocean Shores lead
by Mark Moon on Saturday, 7/28. There were only 3 or us and I was enlisted
to drive which I did not mind as I was happy to make my first trip to Ocean
Shores with someone very familiar with the area. Following are a few bird
notes of interest.

7/26 - I spent several hours at the "Montlake Fill" and saw ~35 species all
of which I presume were expected. I did hear a GREEN HERON near the ponds
and on the main pond saw several LEAST & WESTERN SANDPIPERS and a single
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. This is very nice spot which I would be happy to
visit regularly if I lived in the area! BTW the Union Bay Natural Reserve
(or whatever it is) is a much nicer name although I realize "Montlake Fill"
is traditional and easier! In the afternoon I walked the Marsh Trail from
the museum and had an additional 1 or 2 GREEN HERONS and several dragonflies
which I am just starting to learn (picked up D. Paulson's dragonfly guide
from the SAS book store).

7/28 - Ocean Shores area:
We stopped along Burrows Rd. and I was happy to hear several PACIFIC-SLOPE
FLYCATCHERS calling loudly which do sound quite different from the
Cordilleran's of north-central Idaho.

After a quick stop at the OS State Park we drove the beach from Ocean Shores
north to the OS State Park. Between the 2 ends we found several large flocks
of SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS which I made some rough counts of coming up with
400 - 500, possibly more. They were feeding on "blood worms" and seemed to
be doing quite well. I presume this is close to the peak time for adult SEPL
migrating through. Also present were SANDERLINGS (50 - 100), LEAST and
WESTERN SANDPIPERS, a WHIMBREL and a RUDDY TURNSTONE. (a dozen RUDDY & 1
BLACK TURNSTONE were present in the area in the evening)

At the inlet we saw hundreds of RHINOCEROUS AUKLETS flying in and out, many
carrying fish in their beaks (as I understand it many head 30 miles up the
coast w/ beakfulls of fish to their nesting colonies). Also present were
SOOTY SHEARWATERS flying near the inlet mouth, as well as Common Murres,
gulls, cormorants, and Caspian Terns. A small flock of SURFBIRDS also flew
by.

There was not much happening on the bayside w/ Bill's Spit being devoid of
shorebirds but we did see the BALD EAGLE nest near Harborview Rd. (?) with 2
fledging sized young (the nest is essentially in several back yards). At
Damon Pt. pond there were a small flock of SB DOWITCHERS and several flock
of WESTERN SANDPIPERS (~100 total). One of the WESTERNS had 2 orange leg
bands plus a traditional silver band which I will report to the USGS Bird
Banding Lab.

A drive along the beach in the evening produced a gull flock with 4 adult
HEERMAN'S GULS and 3 adult basic plummage BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES and most
of the same shorebirds seen earlier plus a few more turnstones (see above).

A very enjoyable trip and I look forward to spending more time in Ocean
Shores in the future!

thanks, Charles.


---
Charles Swift
charless at moscow.com
Moscow, Idaho