Birders,

On Labor Day, September 3, I birded Marine Drive in Blaine, and a bit
of Drayton Harbor just south of Marine Drive, from about 4 to 7:30
P.M.-- bracketing the 14.1 foot high tide.

I started birding along Peace Portal Drive (the "main drag" of Blaine)
a few blocks south of downtown, where there is a good view of Drayton
Harbor. The mudflats were covered with gulls, but there was no sign of
the SNOWY EGRET I had come to see. However, after about 15 minutes,
the egret (which must have been close to shore, out of sight from my
viewpoint) took off and flew north, across the marina breakwater. I
relocated it along the muddy shore at the east end of the marina, just
"around the corner" from the boat launch where people have seen it
previously. The small size, dark bill (mainly bluish-gray, not black)
bare yellow skin at the base of the bill, crested head, long plumes on
the back, yellowish feet, and mainly bluish-gray legs confirmed its
identity as an adult SNOWY EGRET.

I then turned my attention to the shorebirds on the Semiahmoo Bay side
of Marine Drive, which were driven closer and closer to shore, and
finally up against the shore, as the tide got higher. The late
afternoon sunshine gave an excellent opportunity to identify
shorebirds, and I met Joe Mackie, who had come there for the same
reason. Among large numbers of WESTERN SANDPIPERS and BLACK-BELLIED
PLOVERS, we saw several scarcer species, including one MARBLED GODWIT,
one WILLET, and an immature AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER.

I observed a total of 39 species, as follows, between 4:00 and 7:30:

Common Loon 28
Red-necked Grebe 12
Great Blue Heron 8
SNOWY EGRET 1 adult
Double-crested Cormorant 150
Canada Goose 70
Mallard 150
Green-winged Teal 30
Northern Pintail 300
American Wigeon 60
Northern Shoveler 1
Surf Scoter 60
White-winged Scoter 10
Duck species 600
Black-bellied Plover 140
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER 1 juvenile
Killdeer 4
Semipalmated Plover 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 15
WILLET 1
MARBLED GODWIT 1
Western Sandpiper 1000
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 6
Mew Gull 2 adults
Ring-billed Gull 200
California Gull 10
Glaucous-winged Gull 400
Gull species 500
Caspian Tern 21 (mostly adults)
Common Tern 60
Rock Dove 25
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northwestern Crow 60
European Starling 6
Common Yellowthroat 1
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 2
House Finch 8
House Sparrow 4

At least 100 HARBOR SEALS were hauled out on the concrete breakwater
around the marina at Semiahmoo Spit, on the other side of Drayton
Harbor, as usual.

A very enjoyable afternoon of birding at Blaine! Many thanks to the
Whatcom County birders who have been reporting the rare birds at
Blaine over the last week or so on the "WHATCOM BIRDS" group.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops and Delta, BC
contopus at home.com