Hi All -

We had a good WOS trip to Whidbey Island today. We arrived at Crockett
Lake about 7:45 and initially scanned the west side of the lake in
company with Stuart McKay. Under cloudy skies we had many, many
shorebirds (probably several hundred), primarily peeps in view. Mostly
WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS. Most of these birds were in very nice
plumage and provided good studies. There were at least three
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS - two juveniles and one adult. A sprinkling of
yellowlegs were also present.

Next we went around to the east side of the lake and got very close
views of the shorebirds at that location. We had probably 50 dowitchers,
approximately 40 LONG-BILLED and 10 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, including
one very bright, crisp juvenile. Gave great comparisons. Both GREATER
and LESSER YELLOWLEGS were around, again great comparisons. At both
locations there were quite a few SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. The east side
also had a good collection of WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS, and at least
one SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. There was at least one BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
present and at least one PECTORAL SANDPIPER. At that point all the
shorebirds went into the air, circled and when they returned the
black-bellied and pectoral were not in sight.

We stopped at Fort Casey SP and had a good variety of passerines
including: BROWN CREEPER, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, PURPLE FINCH,
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, SPOTTED TOWHEE and SWAINSON'S THRUSH. Down by the
bluff we picked up PIGEON GUILLEMOT, RHINOCEROS AUKLET, COMMON MURRE and
MARBLED MURRELET.

At Penn Cove we had WHITE-WINGED and SURF SCOTER.

A most enjoyable day, with about 62 species, and lots of great views and
comparisons.

All birds seen:

Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Mallard
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier - female
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-necked Pheasant
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Heermann's Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Hummingbird sp.
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
American Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Common Yellowthroat
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia.com