Tweeters,

On Sat. Jan 11th, Jamie Acker, Brad Waggoner and I headed to Ocean
Shores to certify why the pelagic trip had been canceled. Needless to say,
Phil Anderson should be profusely thanked for keeping us off the ocean! The
winds were near gale force and the rain was pelting us horizontally most of
the afternoon.
The most notable sighting for the day was of a Red-shouldered Hawk at
Ocean Shores just north of the marina and the Community Club. We turned
right (east) onto Perdita Rd. from Discovery Ave. (heading north on
Discovery). The hawk was on the phone line at the intersection of Catala and
Perdita. Perdita becomes "Gunderson" as the road continues east. We got
excellent looks at the bird as it landed and then flew successively to 2 low
perches in the trees on the south side of Perdita Rd. Brad was able to
video-tape the hawk. We last saw it fly around the corner of Catala and
Perdita (SE corner) heading toward the Community Center. Its tail feathers
were very worn, and the bird was rather wet, so we did not pursue it further
in the stormy conditions. It was an immature.
We started at Satsop at about 8:30. After a few minutes a Greater
Yellowlegs flew into the wet area on Moore Rd. But try as we might, the Ruff
never showed up. We checked the adjacent flooded and plowed fields with no
success. A Pileated Woodpecker and a Scrub Jay were our consolation prizes.
Putting our best spin on our luck, we tackled Hoquium with faith (?) that the
Bean Goose might materialize. All manner of Canada Goose forms were present
at K Street, but we could find no sign of the Beaner.... The Hoquium Airport
was devoid of Geese.
The weather notwithstanding, we decided to make the most of the day.
Including a Red Phalarope seen off Bainbridge Island's Yeomalt Point on
Friday afternoon (Jan. 10th) from Brad Wagoner's boat, we tallied 17 species
of shore birds for the "day":
Black-bellied Plover many at Midway Beach south of Grayland St. Pk.
Snowy Plover 1 Midway Beach
Semi-palmated Plover 8 Midway Beach
Killdeer 10 Satsop
Gr. Yellowlegs 1 at Satsop
Willet 1 at Tokeland
Whimbrel 1 at Tokeland
Long-billed Curlew 20+ Tokeland
Marbled Godwit 50+ Tokeland
Black Turnstone10 Ocean Shores Jetty
Surfbird 5 Ocean Shores Jetty
Sanderling 100s Midway Beach
Least Sandpiper 8 Hoquium, 3 Midway
Rock Sandpiper 2 Ocean Shores Jetty
Dunlin many, widespread
Long-billed Dowithcher 2 Tokeland
Red Phalarope 1 Yeomalt Pt. east side of Bainbridge Is.

With 8-9 more species possible, (Golden Plover ssp., Black
Oystercatcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Wandering Tattler, Spotted Sandpiper, Ruddy
Turnstone, Western Sandpiper, and Common Snipe) not to mention any real
rarities like a Ruff or Mt. Plover, a Janurary shorebird list from Washington
of 26 species or more is possible!! Viewing conditions at Tokeland were poor
at best with a low tide and horizontal rain. The shorebirds were spread out
on the mud flats at quite a distance, so most views were marginal, but the
Whimbrel, Willet, and the 2 LB Dowitchers were on the open mud in the marina.
We stopped at Satsop on our return and the Gr. Yellowlegs was
still there, but, alas, no Ruff.

Good birding,
George Gerdts
Bainbridge Island
geopandion at aol.com