On yesterday afternoon, Saturday, August 10, on the rising of
the tide at Kennedy Creek Estuary, Mason County, I saw a lone
juvenile Solitary Sandpiper along the edge of Kennedy Creek. I
identified it primarily by the vivid white eye ring and the
incessant bobbing, also by the dingy yellow-greenish legs and
black-tipped other-wise dingy bill. When first seen, Kennedy
Creek was still freely flowing; as the tide waters surged up
this reach of Kennedy Creek, the bird moved up-estuary.

Other birds seen:

Great Blue Heron: 1 adult
Mallard: up to 10 males in eclipse plumage
Killdeer: up to 3 heard
Western Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper: mixed flock of up to 100
Ring-billed Gull: up to 200, mostly adults
Caspian Tern: up to 14 adults and juveniles
American Crow: up to 21

As usual, the crows, gulls, and shorebirds were frequently
moving between Kennedy Creek estuary and Schneider Creek
estuary to the east, so the census numbers for these species
don't necessarily mean a whole lot.

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Douglas Canning
Olympia, Washington
dcanning at nisquallyestuary.org
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