A message from Bob Morse:

THEY ARE BACK!!

Thousands and thousands of twisting, turning shorebirds have arrived at the
Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge in Hoquiam, just in time for this
weekend?s Shorebird Festival.

Most of the shorebirds are Western Sandpipers with their rufous breeding
plumage but there are also Semi-Palmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher,
Dunlin, and Red Knot mixed in with them. There was even a report of a
possible Black-headed Gull in the area. Typically, the shorebirds spend 3
to 4 days feeding and resting on the mud flats as they prepare for the next
leg of their spring migration to their breeding grounds in Alaska.

The best time to see these shorebirds is an hour or two before high tide as
the shorebirds are pushed close to shore by the rising tide and are easily
studied from the viewing platform at the refuge?s Boardwalk. High tide on
Saturday is 10:30 AM and on Sunday it is at 11:30 AM.

There will be volunteers and bird experts on the Boardwalk on both days
with their scopes to show the shorebirds and explain more about their
migration.

The Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival is held this weekend with field trips
to Ocean Shores, Westport, Pt. Grenville, and the Lake Quinault Rain
Forest. Lectures for beginning birders, on shorebird identification,
coastal raptors, and a series of other subjects are all open to the public,
for a small fee. There are exhibits, a pancake breakfast (Saturday), 10k
and 2 mile runs, special hands-on activities for children, and a banquet
Saturday evening featuring author Jack Nesbit. For more information on the
festival activities, check out their web site at www.ghas.org.

Come enjoy the spectacle of shorebird migration along the Washington Coast
this weekend. It is one of the most amazing birding events along the coast.

Bob Morse, author, A Birder?s Guide to Coastal Washington