Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I checked the shorebird activity again at the east end of Alder Lake just west of the town of Elbe in Pierce Co. along S.R.7. We checked two times during the day beginning at 10:15am-11:05am with a return visit on our way home made at 2pm. The best viewing was again made during the morning,although diversity today was very scattered and much different in numbers compared to yesterday. The most notable shorebird species observed during our morning visit was a Semipalmated Plover that was not observed yesterday along with several species noted previously. During our morning visit we were joined by Jason Paulios and Gary Wiles and another birding/personal friend,who all observed several of the listed species before continuing on their trip to Paradise in search of the White-tailed Ptarmigans and other target species. It seems that this location may change at different times during the day or even daily due to the vast amount of exposed mudflats that can well visible from the air by migrating shorebirds,etc. The actual area covers nearly the entire extreme eastern edge of Alder Lake on both sides of the Nisqually River that flows into the lake from the east in both Pierce and Lewis Cos.,but the premiere shorebird feeding habitat and shoreline appears to be on the Pierce Co. side and is most accessible and best viewed along S.R.7. The exact length of area in which shorebirds are best viewed is very busy as far as traffic and parking is very limited with just a few shoulder pull-offs,primarily on the north side of the highway then walking over to the south side of the highway and scoping or scanning the mudflats from the other side of the metal guard rail for best viewing. Due to the large amount of area a spotting scope is well recommended if any other birders visit this location through the fall,which would vary greatly depending on each visit in shorebird numbers and diversity. Other nearby areas that may or can offer shorebird potential are accessed from the Sunny Beach Point Park along S.R.7 near the cut-off to Eatonville,in which water levels are also very low. A list of highlights encountered at this location during one or both visits included the following:

1 female Green-winged Teal
3 female Harlequin Ducks
1 Osprey
2 adult Bald Eagles
1 Semipalmated Plover
8 Spotted Sandpipers
2 Semipalmated Sandpipers
13 Western Sandpipers
42 Least Sandpipers
4 Long-billed Dowitchers
34 California Gulls

We checked several accessible points at Riffe Lake in Lewis Co.(accessed from the town of Glenoma off of Hwy.12 and from near Mossyrock),but water levels were very high so the potential for shorebirds is non existent,as in past years during the fall when water levels can also fall primarily at the extreme north end of Riffe Lake.

On our way home we checked the exposed shoreline of Alder Lake at Sunny Beach Point Park that hosted a few "peeps" including 1 Western Sandpiper and 11 Least Sandpipers. 5 Hooded Mergansers were also noted along with a few more common waterfowl species.


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net