Subject: Bar-tailed Godwit at Tokeland remains
Date: Sep 15 22:30:18 2001
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded the Ocean Shores to Tokeland route, along with
Larry Heinz of Rochester, who mainly birded with us until 2:30pm covering
areas at Ocean Shores and the Hoquim STP. We ran into Bill and Nancy
LaFramboise at Damon Point at 10:30am, then again at Tokeland at 4pm, where
they had previously located the adult nonbreeding plumaged BAR-TAILED GODWIT
before we arrived roosting with a flock of Marbled Godwits on the south most
dock within the Tokeland Marina. Upon our arrival my mother was able to take
several photographes of this individual, along with photographes taken by
Bill and his digital camera. The bird remained until we left the marina area
at 5:15pm, as it would mainly roost, and occasionally preen on the dock, and
the entire flock would fly up and around the marina, then back to the dock,
until 5pm, when the flock began to forage on the exposed mudflats within the
marina. The bird was easily picked out among the roosting Marbled Godwits,
by being overall paler, including the white underparts, paler upperparts,
white underwing linings observed in flight, white/dark brown checkered
rump(noted in roosting bird, and in flight),and whitish supercillium,
extending beyong eye. Back pattern was most distintive by showing NO buffy
edges on flight feathers, and tertials, but smooth pale gray tones on the
entire back, bordered by white feather edges, contrasting to the "barred
tail". The bird showed a smooth pale brown coloration along the upperback,
and on the head, contrasing to the paleer underparts, making it unmistakable
during most observations, but is clearly the same individual noted by us on
September 1st, and 2 other previous observations.

Throughout the day at Ocean Shores shorebird numbers remained quite low at
most locations, except for our largest flock of Western Sandpipers at one
location, being 3,300+ birds at Bill's Spit at incoming tide. Weater
conditions were quite limited at most locations, with locally dense fog at
Ocean Shores that remained persistant at times during our entire stay there,
but occasional clearings occured, until we left Ocean Shores when skies
remained mostly cloudy to partly sunny skies to Tokeland, then locally dense
fog formed back on our way home to the Elma. A list of our highlights at
listed locations and times follows:

Tonquin Ave.(Lake Minard) 8:30am

1 EARED GREBE(photographed)
3 Fox Sparrows

Damon Point 9:45am-11am(incoming tide)

14 Common Loons
1 Red-throated Loons
1 Horned Grebe
26 Brown Pelicans
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
24 Semipalmated Plovers
11 Marbled Godwits
22 Western Sandpipers
26 Least Sandpipers
1 Baird's Sandpiper
3 Pectoral Sandpipers

Ocean Shores Game Range/Oceans Shores STP 11:15am-11:50am

4 Common Loons
2 Red-throated Loons
3 Western Grebes
28 Brown Pelicans
450-500+ Double-crested Cormorants
12 Northern Shovelers
2 Red-breasted Mergansers
1 Black Turnstone
2 Am.Pipits

Ocean Shores Game Range(accessed from Marine View Drive)
12pm-12:35pm(outgoing tide)

3 Black-bellied Plovers
14 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Marbled Godwit
1 Black Turnstone
280+ Western Sandpipers
58 Least Sandpipers
1 Baird's Sandpiper

Bill's Spit 1pm-1:15pm

5 Common Loons
1 Whimbrel
17 Marbled Godwits
3,300+ Western Sandpipers
2 Least Sandpipers
1 Sanderling
2 Mew Gulls
1 Herring Gull
1 Fox Sparrow

Hoquim STP 1:50pm-2:20pm

1 Brown Pelican
1 GREAT EGRET
7 Green-winged Teal
17 Northern Shovelers
2 Greater Scaup
2 Lesser Scaup
1 Common Goldeneye
1 Bufflehead
1 Ruddy Duck
2 Violet-green Swallows(with up to 12 Barn Swallows)
1 WILLOW FLYCATCHER(quite late for location, as it was observed foraging
loosely with a small flock of Yellow Warblers in several willow trees, north
of the sewage pond)
6 YellowWarblers
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler


MP 31 along S.R.105, east of Westport 3pm

11 GREAT EGRETS

Tokeland 3:40pm-5:30pm

7 Common Loons
8 RED-NECKED GREBES
18 Brown Pelicans
18 Green-winged Teal
9 Northern Pintails
5 Am.Wigeon
5 Greater Yellowlegs
12 Willets
2 Whimbrels
11 Long-billed Curlews
1 BAR-TAILED GODWIT
387 Marbled Godwits(with one bird with broken/injured wing)


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net