Subject: Clark's Grebe and Brown Pelican in Thurston Co.
Date: Nov 4 15:53:48 2001
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded in Thurston and Mason Cos., covering a few
locations including: Boston Harbor, southern portion of Eld Inlet, Kennedy
Creek Estuary, and Nisqually NWR. Weather conditions were fairly good before
10:30am, then wind and rain increased sporadically at several locations. Our
main highlights were a CLARK'S GREBE at Boston Harbor, a CLARK'S/WESTERN
GREBE hybrid, and a single immature BROWN PELICAN at Woodward Bay, which are
all in Thurston Co. At Kennedy Creek we encountered our highest shorebird
numbers of the day within 3 species, along with tallying numbers with Joe
Buchanan of Olympia, who regularly surveys this location. On our way home we
ran into Dave Hayden at Nisqually NWR, as rain and wind began to increase as
we left for home. The following list of our highlights follows at selected
times and locations:

Boston Harbor Marina,Thurston Co.(TH) 9:20am-9:35am

10 Red-necked Grebes
8 Western Grebes
1 CLARK'S GREBE
5 Bonaparte's Gulls
2 Common Murres
4 Pigeon Guillemots
16 Rhino.Auklets

Woodward Bay/mouth of Woodward Creek,TH 9:45am-10:30am

1 Red-throated Loon
6 Red-necked Grebes
54 Horned Grebes(high count)
2 Eared Grebes
13 Western Grebes
1 CLARK'S/WESTERN GREBE hybrid
1 BROWN PELICAN(roosting with both Double-crested and Brandt's Cormorants on
offshore pilings)
173 Surf Scoters
8 White-winged Scoters
62 Barrow's Goldeneyes(high count)
47 Buffleheads
11 Ruddy Ducks
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
6 Greater Yellowlegs

mouth of Perry Creek,southern portion of Eld Inlet along Madrona Beach
Rd.,TH 11:05am-11:20am

4 Black-bellied Plovers
17 Greater Yellowlegs
3 Bonaparte's Gulls

Kennedy Creek Estuary,Mason Co. 11:45am-12:30pm(outgoing tide)

64 Horned Grebes(high count)
2 Eared Grebes
37 Northern Pintails
84 Greater Scaup
143 Buffleheads(high count)
2 Ruddy Ducks
143 Black-bellied Plovers
117 Western Sandpipers
3,800+ Dunlin
22 Bonaparte's Gulls

Nisqually NWR,TH 1pm-2:20pm

increasing numbers of Canada Geese, Northern Pintails, and other waterfowl
species
1 adult dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 adult "anatum" Peregrine Falcon
4 Common Snipe
1 California Gull
1 Thayer's Gull
1 Am.Pipit

Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net