Tweeters, sorry for the delay (Tim's post spurred me to action) but Gary
Wiles and I also saw the P/FOOTED GEESE (and 2 W/Fronteds) yesterday at K
Street (about 8:30ish AM). We started the day there with some slight
drizzle, it turned to a good hour of rain on our way to the Westport Jetty.
Due to the conditions of the rain and the higher than expected tide we
skipped right to Tokeland in order to catch the godwit flock at their
preferred roost.

Reached Tokeland marina before 10:00 with mist and pretty high winds (15mph
at times?). Here we had huge numbers of the normal shorebird species for
Tokeland. Probably over 900 MARBLED GODWITS were present at times, they
seemed to now prefer standing along any exposed sand in front of the large
dropoff in front of the parking area. When the moved to roost on the dock
they almost completely covered it. Years prior I have seen a large flock
covering the entire end of the dock, but the numbers yesterday were probably
close to double that. Also present were 14 WILLETS (most I've seen here)
and 42 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (also a high count here for me). We had a
flyby of 4 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER calling, they were later seen foraging in the
open grassy area behind the parking area with some Killdeer. Gary flushed a
WILSON'S SNIPE near the Scotch Broom behind the parking area. Also had 2
each of WHIMBREL and DUNLIN, the latter eventually becoming closer to 15
birds. The marina waters had good close views of a Common Loon and 6 or 7
WESTERN GREBES. In the vast H. Blackberry patches behind the trailers we
pished up 6 "Sooty" FOX SPARROWS easily with some silent B/C Chickadees
mixed in. Also here were both R/W Blackbirds and smaller numbers of
Brewer's Blackbirds with one W/CROWNED SPARROW (I believe 'pugetensis' if I
remember the details right).

At Graveyard Spit further down the road we had: 1 each BALD EAGLE (adult)
and N. Harrier. A solo MARBLED GODWIT and nice mixed flock of foraging
SANDERLING and more DUNLIN.

Driving up to Westport without rain, but higher winds (20-30 mph at jetty)
we noted a single GREAT EGRET near Oyster Bay before reaching Ocosta from
the south. At Ocosta 3rd Street we had a female 'YELLOW-SHAFTED' FLICKER
near the first side road.

Stopped at Brady Loop (west portion) and Foster RD where we saw the A.
Kestrel, R/LEGGED HAWK, PEREGRINE FALCON and a MERLIN (the last swooping in
on the large shorebird flock in the flooded fields at Foster RD). The
shorebirds were many, but only 2 species noted: B/B PLOVER and the many
DUNLIN. No swans noted in these sections.

Also on 10/08 I birded downtown Olympia where I had a flock of 30 DUNLIN
near Genoa's (at the end of Marine View DR near Swantown Marina off East
Bay). Also here was a nice flock of 70 MEW GULL. At Capitol Lake (north
section) I had 50 more DUNLIN swarming about near the parking area off 5th
Street. Across the lake was another swarm of 60 DUNLIN, eventually they
landed on some rocks near the railroad tracks. When I looked up I was
treated to a flyover of a nice adult PEREGRINE FALCON. Both the falcon and
Dunlin can be hard to see in downtown Olympia, more so with the Dunlin. Had
never seen Dunlin at Capitol Lake before, there just isn't much room for
them to land anywhere. Also counted 170 pigeons above Bayview Thriftway
just for the hell of it, they were lined up so nicely on the wires and I
needed to practice for the X-Mas count!

Good Birding everyone! And make sure you try at least one CBC this year!!!!
Remember those resolutions from last January? Check WOS.ORG for details.

Jason Paulios
Jpaulios at earthlink.net
Olympia, WA