Subject: Western Washington Birding Trip Aug 30th-Sept 9th. (Spotted Owl, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Wilson's Storm Petrel, Lapland Longspur) - Long
Date: Sep 14 20:53:49 2001
From: Matthew Moskwik - mpmoskwik at hotmail.com


Tweeters

Sorry that my report is late, but I have been in the process of moving from Elk to Cheney. I left home on August 30th and returned on September 9th. I spent a total of eleven days birding and was able to find 47 life birds. I want to thank everyone that helped me in the field and with information about the area. Below I will list the highlights of each day on the trip.

Aug 30th at Dungeonis Spit
150 Short-billed Dowitchers
100 Black-bellied Plovers
1 Black Oystercatcher
1 Rhinosaurus Auklet
1 Common Loon
Pigeon Guillemot (abundant)

Aug 31st at Neah Bay
Pigeon Guillemot (abundant)
1 Black-legged Kittiwake
25 Surf Scoter
10 White-winged Scoter
1 Greater Yellowlegs
Harlequin Ducks (abundant)

Sept 1st at Rialto Beach
Brown Pelican (abundant along the entire coast, especially at ocean shores therefore I won't mention them again)
10 Sooty Shearwaters
2 Black Oystercatchers
1 Sea Otter

Sept 2nd at Ocean Shores
1 Common Murre (Game Range)
15 Sanderlings (Game Range)
10 Ruddy Turnstones (Game Range)
1 Surfbird (Gravel Bar in Game Range, is this an odd area to find them?)
1 Pectoral Sandpiper (Ocean Shores Sewage Lagoon)
10 Killdeer (Game Range)

Sept 3rd at Ocean Shores
10 Ruddy Turnstones (Jetty)
1 Wandering Tattler (Jetty)
8 Black Turnstones (Jetty)
1 Red-throated Loon (Game Range)
1 Whimbrel (Game Range)
4 Semipalmated Plovers (Game Range)
4 Black-bellied Plovers (Bill's Spit)
6 Red Knots (Bill's Spit)
2 Short-billed Dowitchers (Bill's Spit)
2 Pectoral Sandpipers (Game Range)
1 Marbled Godwit (Bill's Spit)
10 Surf Scoters (Game Range)
5 White-winged Scoters (Game Range)
1 Lapland Longspur?? (Fields around Ocean Shores Sewage Lagoon)
1 Harlequin Duck (Game Range)

Sept 4th at Ocean Shores
30 Semipalmated Plovers (Damon Point)
2 Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Damon Point)
7 Red-throated Loons (Game Range)
5 Surf Scoters (Game Range)
2 White-winged Scoters (Game Range)
2 Pectoral Sandpipers (Game Range)
1 Spotted Sandpiper (Game Range)
3 Wandering Tattlers (Jetty)
Sooty Shearwaters (Thousands at the Jetty)
1 Surfbird (in flight at Game Range)
1 Harlequin Duck (Game Range)

Sept 5th
5 Black-throated Gray Warblers (Ocean City State Park)
5 Willets (Tokeland Marina)
I met up with Charlie and Carol Shultz at the Tokeland Marina and spent the day birding with them
335 Marbled Godwits (Tokeland Marina)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tokeland Jetty)
1 Bar-tailed Godwit with Marbled Godwits (Graveyard Spit)
Several Long-billed Curlews (Graveyard Spit)
12 Snowy Plovers (Midway Beach)
2 Black-bellied Plovers (Bottle Beach)

Sept 6th Westport Pelagic Trip (I will simply list birds seen)
Red Pharalope
Pomarine Jaeger
South Polar Skua
Sabine's Gull
Cassin's Auklet
Black-footed Albatross
Northern Fulmar
Pink-footed Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Flesh-footed Shearwater
Buller's Shearwater
Fork-tailed Storm Petrel
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Pacific Loon
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinosaurus Auklet
Black-legged Kittiwake
Long-tailed Jaeger
1 Red-neck Phalarope (Bottle Beach)

Sept 7th at Point No Point
300 Common Terns
2 Parasitic Jaegers
Pigeon Guillemots (abundant)
2 Western Screech Owls (Bainbridge Island)

Sept 8th
2 Marbled Murrelets (Point No Point)
Pigeon Guillemots (abundant at Point No Point)
3 Anna's Hummingbirds (Discovery Park)
1 Spotted Owl (Liberty)

Sept 9th
1 White-headed Woodpecker

Other life birds not mentioned in report: Brandt's Cormorant, Heermann's Gull, Western Gull, Glaucus-winged Gull, Northwestern Crow, and Pelagic Cormorant.

Matthew Moskwik
Cheney, Washington
mpmoskwik at hotmail.com