Subject: Bottle Beach & more
Date: Sep 21 22:21:18 2002
From: Lynn & Carol Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Hi Tweets & Friends:
Today was a beautiful day to be at the ocean, with exceptionally clear skies
and a temp of 70 degrees. A slight breeze was also most enjoyable. A small
group of us from Rainier Audubon met in Fife at 7:30. By 8:30 we were at
Mud Bay, west of Olympia. The tide was out a little and there were 4
Greater Yellowlegs. Across the highway from Mud Bay, and down old hwy 410
to the right is Perry Creek. The fish weren't running yet, and the water is
low. We didn't see any birds, but will check again in October, when Perry
Creek can be very productive.
At Montesano we turned south on 107, went about 2 miles past Preacher
Slough, and turned right on Blue Slough Rd (incorrectly called S. Bank Rd in
DeLorme). This eventually brings you out to hwy 105, the highway to
Westport, avoiding the congestion in Aberdeen. Now on 105 we went just past
the cannery at the Johns River, and turned right into the Oyster company.
>From there we listened to many Golden-crowned Sparrows and viewed the
mudflats. The tide wasn't out very far yet, and there were no shorebirds
yet.
We went to Bottle Beach and were walking out to the beach at 10:15.
Now I'll explain why we were there so early. The tide guide said the high
tide at Aberdeen would be at 2:12 pm and that the ocean beaches are 1/2 hour
before that. But I have found that the ocean beach high tides are at LEAST
1 hour earlier! And that Bottle Beach is best 2 HOURS EARLY. Therefore we
arrived 3 hours early... ? Okay, so the tide was really far out there...
But we waited and had a great time trying to see the birds anyway. There
were a lot of Black-bellied Plovers. I counted 155 at that time. Probably
about 100 Dowitcher sp. The tide was still out about 2 blocks at 11:30 but
we thought it was okay viewing. By 12:10 it was about right, and by 1:15
the show was over.
During that time we saw the following highlights:
Black-bellied Plovers - 155
Dowitcher sp - approx. 100
Sanderlings - several
Pacific Golden-Plover - 2
Juv. Red Knots - 2
Parasitic Jaeger - 1
Western Sandpiper - greater than 100
Least Sandpiper - 1
>From Bottle Beach we visited Acosta 3rd Street Pond across the road (which
had no birds at 1:45). Next stop was the beach to the west of Twin Harbors
State Park on the outer coast, (near Westport) where we had some peeps
flying, Pacific and Red-throated Loons, W Grebes, and Common Murres.
In Westport we viewed the bay from the Pt Chehalis Rocks park, and from the
tall viewing stand in the north part of town. While there were many birds
in the area, none seem notable enough to report here.
It was a great day at the ocean.
Carol Schulz
DesMoines
linusq at att.net