Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I spent a few hours checking 3 main shorebird locations
in Grays Harbor and Pacific Cos. at incoming tide including Midway Beach
Rd.,Tokeland,and Bottle Beach State Park(including Ocosta Third Street)with
our best highlight being an adult SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER during our late
afternoon incoming tide visit to Bottle Beach at 3:30pm amongst a flock of
16 Western Sandpipers and 25 Least Sandpipers. The bird was immediately
seperated from the other "peeps" by it's overall pale contrast and
distinctive shorter,stubbier bill than nearby Western sandpipers and NO
distinct bright rufous tones on the scapulars and crown as in nearby adult
Western Sandpipers,but more browner and drabber in plumage. The bird's crown
was distinctively seperated by the partial,but clear white
supercillium,clean white underparts and a distinct wash across the upper
breast that showed very fine streaking. The back pattern including the
scapulars were not as boldly marked or crisp as in nearby Western and Least
Sandpipers which made the bird easy to seperate from the other "peeps". This
was our earliest date for this species at a coastal locations,as we are most
aware they occur in northern Puget Sound,but more often later in the season
further south.

Overall shorebird numbers at all three visted locations were in NO
comparision to our visit to Ocean Shores yesterday,but several species were
notable. A list of our most notable species at selected locations and times
follows below:

Hwy.12 at Elma 12pm

1 Western Scrub Jay

Hwy.12(just east of the Satsop River Bridge)near Satsop 12:05pm

2 Western Scrub Jays

Midway Beach Rd.,Pacific Co.(PA) 1pm-2pm(incoming tide)

2 Brown Pelicans
8 Surf Scoters
14 White-winged Scoters
12 adult Snowy Plovers
8 Semipalmated Plovers
7 Sanderlings(in both breeding and alternate plumages)
15 Western Sandpipers
8 Least Sandpipers
22 Heermann's Gulls
9 California Gulls
8 Horned Larks

Tokeland,PA 2:30pm-2:50pm

225+ Heermann's Gulls
28 Ring-billed Gulls
87+ California Gulls
42 Caspian Terns
1 Willet
4 Whimbrels

Bottle Beach S.P./Ocosta Third Street 3:20pm-4:30pm

54+ Brown Pelicans
3 Black-bellied Plovers
7 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Whimbrel
1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
26 Western Sandpipers
47 Least Sandpipers
17 Short-billed Dowitchers
27 Ring-billed Gulls
6 California Gulls
8 Caspian Terns
1 Willow Flycatcher

On our way home we observed our fourth Western Scrub Jay of the day along
100 Street in Lakewood(west of I-5)near Tacoma.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
GODWIT at worldnet.att.net