Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I spent a few hours between 3:30pm-5:30pm checking a few
locations in Thurston and Mason Cos.,mainly for shorebirds during incoming
tide with our main highlight being 2 juvenile SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS at the
Kennedy Creek Estuary in southern Mason Co.amongst a small flock of Least
Sandpipers. The birds foraged loosely with a few Least Sandpipers along the
rocky/muddy shoreline of Kennedy Creek as it empties into Oyster Bay. This
sighting and observation adds to the current "invasion" or above normal than
average numbers of this species in Puget Sound locations,so perhaps more
will be noted. Overall shorebird numbers at this location and other nearby
locations that we checked hosted very few numbers of shorebirds,but the
visits were still worthwhile. Another notable species early for the location
included 2 Horned Grebes in breeding plumage in Oyster Bay,along with 11
Surf Scoters. We managed to check a few other locations with a few more
notable species to be listed below in the order visited.

Kennedy Creek Estuary(accessed from Hwy.101) 3:30pm-4:10pm

2 Horned Grebes
11 Surf Scoters
3 Spotted Sandpipers
2 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS
17 Western Sandpipers
34 Least Sandpipers
170+ Bonaparte's Gulls
22 Caspian Terns
4(2 pair)of nesting Purple Martins

Madrona Beach Rd./Mud Bay 4:20pm-4:30pm

14 Greater Yellowlegs

Nisqually NWR 4:45pm-5:30pm

1 adult "Peale's"Peregrine Falcon
2 Spotted Sandpipers
1 Common Snipe
3 Purple Martins
2 Western Wood Pewees
1 Yellow Warbler
1 Wilson's Warbler


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net