Hello Tweeters,

I birded today (12/20) with Tim Perkins and Ryan Shaw in the Ocean
Shores area. We had 95 species during the day, mostly regulars with a few
good ones mixed in. We started the day in Hoquiam at sunrise, but couldn't ref
ind the Bean Goose. There were not many birds around in the morning, but
there were about 45 RED PHALAROPES in the pond and a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER on
the shoreline with about 60 LEAST and 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS, and several dozen
DUNLIN.

We then birded a small part of Ocean City State Park for passerines,
and had a HERMIT THRUSH feeding on Evergreen Huckleberries plus a half dozen
VARIED THRUSHES, two TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, and a PURPLE FINCH overhead.

Next on our last-minute itinerary was the Pt Brown Jetty at Ocean
Shores. Our best bird of the day was in a flock of rockpipers at the base of
the jetty (huge waves were breaking over the entire jetty). The flock
consisted of 15 BLACK TURNSTONES, 19 SURFBIRDS, 16 tschuktschorum (Bering
Sea) ROCK SANDPIPERS, and 1 ptilocnemis (Pribilof) ROCK SANDPIPER, which I
managed to videotape very close-up. The Pribilof was distinctively pale gray,
especially on the mantle and head, and was sparsely marked on the bright
white underparts. It also had nearly pure white outer rectrices and a very
broad wingstripe. In addition, structurally it was much bulkier than the
birds we're used to, and had a proportionately larger head. This was also one
of the larger Rock Sandpiper flocks I had seen. Other birds at the jetty (had
to be viewed from the rise near the trail to the parking lot, as the jetty
would have been very wet) included:

Red-throated Loon 15
Common Loon 1
Horned Grebe 1
Western Grebe 6 - including one stranded on the beach for a bit
NORTHERN FULMAR 5
dark SHEARWATER sp 4 - very likely Short-tailed
BROWN PELICAN 5
Brandt's Cormorant 4
Pelagic Cormorant 20
Brant 5
Black Scoter 3
Surf Scoter 15
White-winged Scoter 2
Common Goldeneye 1
Red-breasted Merganser 4
Semipalmated Plover 1
Red Phalarope 1
Black-legged Kittiwake 15
Common Murre 2

Our next stop was Damon Point, seemingly soon to be "Damon Island" by
the time these storms end. The area was fairly dead, though there was a
RED-THROATED LOON in our old "pond" which is now a saltwater slough. There
were also several WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS in it. A juv pealei PEREGRINE FALCON
flew over as we were walking back to the car. Tonquin Ave game range access
was also very slow, mostly because the tide was WAY up. We then left the
Ocean Shores area to try for the Bean Goose again in the afternoon. We walked
out to the end of the Sandpiper Trail, and had great looks at the SWAMP
SPARROW that has been present since 12/9. Shortly thereafter, a female
columbarius MERLIN flew in and perched above our heads, and an adult anatum
PEREGRINE FALCON rushed by just inches from the water. We soon realized it
was making an attack on a moderate sized flock of DUNLIN, which were wheeling
back and forth in a panic. In no time the Peregrine swooped up, nailed a
Dunlin which (we think; it went so fast that it's hard to tell for sure) fell
into the water. The falcon did another turn and picked up its quarry, then
carried it off to the west.

That was our day. Good luck and good birding!

Charlie Wright
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20021220/8b0909d3/attachment.htm