Hello Tweets,

This afternoon my mother and I checked a few locations today in eastern Grays Harbor Co.,mainly along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.(including along Foster Rd.)and along Wakefield Rd. south of Elma. Our main purpose was searching for the RUFF,which we located along Foster Rd. beginning at 12pm and at that location off on and until 4:30pm amongst 100 Greater Yellowlegs, 4 Wilson's Snipes, and 1 Long-billed Dowitcher. The Ruff was easily observed in our spotting scopes at this location after we initially checked along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. south of Gillis Rd. that yielded decreasing numbers of Greater Yellowlegs with only 12 birds noted. The Ruff was very active during all our observations foraging,preening and at one point the bird joined a flying flock of 40+ Greater Yellowlegs as the all flew around the general area before returning back to feed more actively. The bird at times was somewhat more difficult to locate,as it foraged amongst the Greater Yellowlegs. Overall the bird was much buffier than we had observed on the 5th of March,but the scaly back and mantle pattern was very noticeable,as were the white underparts in which the "splotchy" areas on the upperbreasts and sides were occasionally observed in our spotting scopes. Due to the increasing windy conditions after 2pm we were also able to observe the loose,floopy tertial that waved in the wind as the bird foraged and white areas on either sides of the breast below the wings were noted. Of additional note while watching the Ruff was an abbarent Greater Yellowlegs that was of normal shape,size ,and structure as the nearby Greater Yellowlegs ,BUT showed an overall pale brown back with NO distinct pattern on the mantle and back and a slight distinct pale brown un streaked breast band or "bib" with completely white underparts extending up to the breast. A Turkey Vulture was also observed at this location foraged and walking on the ground amongst a few Am.Crows and Ravens and at one point the bird even ran and hopped around in search of some available food on the ground before flying off to some trees to roost.

Other notable species that were observed along Brady Loop and Foster Rds. included the following:

3 Cinnamon Teal(2 males and 1 female)
1 male Am./Eurasian Wigeon intergrade
1 female rufous morph Eurasian Wigeon
14 Turkey Vultures
1 Am.Kestrel
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
15 Black-bellied Plovers(including 1 bird in full breeding plumage)
140 Greater Yellowlegs(counted from three seperate locations)
3 Least Sandpipers
13 Dunlin
2 Western Scrub Jays
1 Common Yellowthroat

We also checked the sparrow location along Wakefield Rd.,where the weedy field is still quite wet with a large flooded area that hosted 4 additional Greater Yellowlegs among good numbers of Green-winged Teal,Northern Pintails,Mallards,and Am.Wigeon. Sparrow numbers were quite low during an hour visit,but the Spizella sparrow was again located as was a single Swamp Sparrow in the wet,weedy field for sparrow highlights. The Spizella sparrow observed at two seperate times showed a much more distinctly pale brown or tawny rump patch,unlike the gray rump as noted in previous visits,but the bird was not very cooperative and observed alone with nearby sparrows. The bird also showed more regrowth of the tail and other feathers that seemed lacking in past visits. Other species noted at this location included:

1 pair of Osprey(flying to and from active nestsite near Vance Creek Co. Park)
1 adult male Northern Harrier
1 Wilson's Snipe
5 Common Yellowthroats
13 Lincoln's Sparrows
1 male Purple Finch

A single female Am.Kestrel was observed to and from destinations along Hwy.12 west of Elma.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net





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