Subject: No post-noon luck with Sharp-tailed sandpiper
Date: Sep 28 18:55:17 2002
From: JanFWatson at aol.com - JanFWatson at aol.com


RE: <<<Hey tweets, we just got back from the Hoquiam sewage ponds, and the
sharp-tailed sandpiper is still there. In fact, it's exactly where it's
been reported, at the far southwest end, near a log. Marv Breece relocated
it at first light this morning, and John and I arrived shortly after to
benefit from Marv's quick eyes.>>>

I KNEW we should have left first thing in the morning for Hoquiam! We got
there about 2:00. Three other birders had been there since 12:30 or so.
None of us were able to locate the sharp-tailed sandpiper. At one point,
seven sets of eyes worked that area and the shore from the northwest point.
The last three holdouts left about 3:30. No luck.

We did make a quick stop at Bottle Beach app 4:00. We watched about 30 Black
Bellied Plovers, none in breeding plumage. No golden plovers. A single
willet flew by as we left. There were app 10 common loons just off the spit.
Lots of ring billed gulls, with a couple of mew gulls mixed in. Golden
crowned sparrows were active along the trail.

We also saw 8 turkey vultures circling a field near the bridge in Montesano.

Jan Watson
Rochester, WA