Hello Tweets,

Today Dave Hayden, and my mother and I birded coastal Grays Harbor Co.,
mainly at Ocean Shores from 8am-4pm, as we were joined throughout our stay
with Ken Knittle, and two of his birding friends,as well as a few additional
birders we ran into in the field at various locations. Our best highlight
came at the end of the day on our way home with juvenile BUFF-BREASTED
SANDPIPER near Nisqually in northern Thurston Co., as we watched this
individual loosely associating with a flock of Killdeer, as Michael Dossett
later joined us, and viewed this sighting. We located the bird within 5
minutes upon arriving at the exact location noted in several of the previous
observations, but the bird would fly around and forage with the nearby
Killdeers to different locations within the same field. We extensively
covered the general Damon Point area during two visits in search of this
species, but had NO LUCK, as three individuals were noted the previous
evening at the base of Damon Point, but they could still be around. In
addition we searched a few other areas including the Ocean Shores Game
Range, where appropriate habitat was available, but still No Luck. Weather
conditions throughout the day were very favorable with mostly sunny skies,
but moderate constant wind at times closest to the water. In general
shorebird numbers were very low, but we still managed to locate a few
highlights, with the notable species at selected sites and times, as they
occured:

Ocean Shores Golf Course 8:05am-8:15am

13 Black-bellied Plovers(flying over)
2 Pectoral Sandpipers

Damon Point 8:15am-10:15am(outgoing tide), 2:40pm-4pm

28 Brown Pelicans
5 Green-winged Teal
23 Northern Pintail
3 Northern Shovelers
1 Am.Wigeon
110+ Surf Scoters
22 White-winged Scoters
1 Osprey(notable for location)
27 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Whimbrel
7 Marbled Godwits
17 Sanderlings
1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
44 Western Sandpipers
21 Least Sandpipers
4 Baird's Sandpipers
3 Pectoral Sandpipers
1 Short-billed Dowitchers
1 Long-billed Dowitchers
2 Common Snipe
3 Mew Gulls
36 Vaux's Swifts(notable high count)
13 Horned Larks(with 1 adult observed sitting at nestsite/with eggs)
26 Am.Pipits
2 Orange-crowned warblers
5 Yellow Warblers
1 Lapland Longspur

Ocean Shores Game Range(accessed from Marine View Drive)
10:20am-11:30am(incoming tide)

7 Red-throated Loons
14 Brown Pelicans
1 female Harlequin Duck
2 female Red-breasted Mergansers
1 female SNOWY PLOVER
2 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Black Turnstone
6 Least Sandpipers
2 Pectoral Sandpipers
47+ Vaux's Swifts(with Barn Swallows)

Ocean Shores STP/Ocean Shores Game Range 11:45am-12:30pm

1 Green-winged Teal
1 Whimbrel
1 Cooper's Hawk
8 Am.Pipits

Ocean Shores Jetty 12:40pm-1:20pm

2 Pacific Loons
1 Sooty Shearwater
33 White-winged Scoters
1 Wandering Tattlers
4 Black Turnstones
8 Surfbirds
14 Sanderlings
1 Least Sandpiper

Bill's Spit 2pm-2:30pm

1 female Red-breasted Merganser
2 Semipalmated Plovers
38 Least Sandpipers

Hwy.12 at MP 19, west of Elma,Grays Harbor Co. 5:08pm

1 Greater White-fronted Goose(flying over with 16 Canada Geese)

Hartman Rd. near Nisqually,Thurston Co. 5:50pm-7pm

1 Virginia Rail(calling)
1 juvenile BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Western Scrub Jay(observed on nearby 7th Ave.)
8 Am.Pipits

Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net