Subject: Willet at Kennedy Creek,Mason Co.
Date: Oct 15 19:06:40 2001
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I spent a few hours birding Thurston and Mason Cos.,
mainly in search of shorebirds at a few key locations including the mouth of
Kennedy Creek in southern Mason Co., and the mouth of Perry Creek and
southern portion of Eld Inlet. We also made a stop on our way home at
Nisqually NWR, and found many of the same species that we noted yesterday
within the same route taken, with a few additions. The best highlight was a
WILLET at the Kennedy Creek estuary, accessed from Hwy.101, which was
observed foraging loosely with Black-bellied Plovers. This is our personal
second county record for this species, with the other sighting also coming
from this same location on the 9th of September,1994. The bird in 1994
remained for a few weeks, and could be the same individual noted at nearby
Thurston Co. locations thereafter, including the south end of Eld and Budd
Inlets. Shorebird numbers should increase at the mouth of Kennedy Creek
through late fall, then primarily produce Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers
through winter.

A list of our highlights follows at selected locations:

Kennedy Creek estuary, Mason Co. 2:45pm-3:20pm(incoming tide)

32 Horned Grebes
1 EARED GREBE
42 Green-winged Teal
28 Northern Pintails
22 Greater Scaup
77+ Surf Scoters
2 Hooded Mergansers
1 Merlin
168 Black-bellied Plovers
1 WILLET
27 Western Sandpipers
19 Dunlin
68+ Bonaparte's Gulls
28 Mew Gulls
74 Ring-billed Gulls
33 California Gulls
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker

mouth of Perry Creek, Eld Inlet(Mud Bay),Thurston Co.(TH) 3:30pm-3:50pm

4 "Cackling"Canada Geese
1 Northern Pintail
6 Surf Scoters
1 Bufflehead
3 Hooded Mergansers
27 Killdeer
90 Greater Yellowlegs

Nisqually NWR,TH 4:05pm-5:35pm

1 Snow Goose
270+ "Cackling"Canada Geese
1 Ring-necked Duck
3 Northern Harriers
1 Cooper's Hawk
4 Red-tailed Hawks(including 1 adult dark-morph bird)
1 Am.Kestrel
3 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Common Snipe
1 Hairy Woodpecker
65+ Am.Pipits
22 Cedar Waxwings
2 Northern Shrikes
7 Yellow-rumped Warblers
3 Lincoln's Sparrows
9 Golden-crowned Sparrows
6 Western Meadowlarks


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net