Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I enjoyed a rewarding day birding at Ocean Shores and a few locations on route,including a stop made at Bowerman Basin and the Hoquiam STP along with a short visit to the south end of K Street in Hoquiam in search of geese flocks. The weather compared to yesterday was superb and calm throughout the day,despite having a rather late start for the day. Our main highlight of the day was an adult PALM WARBLER observed and located in an extensive Scotch Broom field immediately north of the Ocean Shores Marina bordering the Ocean Shores Community Club. This location has produced this species in past years,as the birds favor the dense stands of Scotch Broom for cover and often are observed foraging on the ground at times. This afternoon upon arriving at the location at 2pm(which we consistantly check at appropriate times during the year during our visits to Ocean Shores)the bird was observed flying into a thick patch of Scotch Broom bordering the Ocean Shores Community Club,then upon "pishing" the bird was well observed on an open branch and allowed good looks before it flew off into a dense stand of Scotch Broom. The bird was relocated within 10 minutes of searching and flew around the entire field of Scotch Broom and remained quite elusive at times,although continued looks of the bird were good,but brief. The bird was very noticeable and striking overall with the very striking yellow undertail coverts and rump contrasting to the paler,finely streaked upperparts. In flight the white spots were noted on the extreme outertail feathers,but was most noticeable on the bird was the dark chestnut crown bordering the pale supercillium,which is very distinctive for adult birds. This was our first encounter of an adult bird at Ocean Shore. Unlike in past years that we have encountered Palm Warblers at Ocean Shores this bird was unvocal,but the bird may call at anytime as it forages through the Scotch Broom. The bird tended to forage in the thickest portions of the Scotch Broom,but it was also observed on the ground and at the base of the stands and along the ground,as well as observed actively "flycatching" from the upper canopy of the Scotch Broom before returning into the dense stands of Scotch Broom until we left the location after 3pm.

Our day mainly began at the Hoquiam STP and along the Sandpiper Trail at Bowerman Basin,although we checked a few location upon arriving at these area including a quick stop made along Moore Rd. near Satsop,where the Greater Yellowlegs was again noted. In the large fields at the south end of K Street two large flocks of Canada Geese included up to 4 subspecies of Canada Geese and a few other water species before we drove to the Hoquiam STP. We checked the Hoquiam STP then walked the Sandpiper Trail boradwalk at Bowerman Basin,then we continued west to Ocean Shores where we birded until 5pm. A list of our most notable highlights for the day follow at selected locations:

Snow Geese
3(1 adult,2 immatures)remaining birds at Bowerman Basin

Black Scoter
28 at the Ocean Shores Game Range

Ruddy Duck
1 at the Hoquiam STP

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Pt.Brown Ave. near Grand Canal(Ocean Shores)

Cooper's Hawk
1 adult along Fairwood Drive(south of Marine View Drive at Ocean Shores)

Rough-legged Hawk
1 light-morph bird at the Hoquiam STP
1 light-morph bird at Damon Point

Am.Kestrel
1 along Moore Rd. near Satsop

Peregrine Falcon
1 at Bowerman Basin

Black-bellied Plover
8 at Damon Point
5 at the Ocean Shores Game Range

Semipalmated Plover
16 at the base of Damon Point

Black Turnstone
22 at the Ocean Shores Jetty

Surfbird
58 at the Ocean Shores Jetty

Western Sandpiper
20+ observed amongst large numbers of Dunlin at Bowerman Basin

Least Sandpiper
50 observed along the exposed mudflats along Grays Harbor bordering the Hoquiam STP

Rock Sandpiper
12 birds observed(including the single nominant Priblof race of the Rock Sandpiper)at the Ocean Shores Jetty

Wilson's Snipe
1 at the base of Damon Point

Red Phalarope
2 at the Hoquiam STP

Black-legged Kittiwake
7+ off the Ocean Shores Jetty

Anna's Hummingbird
1 observed along the Grand Canal near the Ocean Shores Marina

Western Scrub Jay
2 along Hwy.12 at Elma
5 at Satsop

Northern Shrike
1 adult at the Ocean Shores Game Range

Orange-crowned Warbler
1 along Paulson Rd. near the Hoquiam STP

Yellow-rumped Warbler
15+ near and along Marine View Drive at Ocean Shores

PALM WARBLER
1 adult north of the Ocean Shores Marina(bordering the Ocean Shores Community Club and Interpretive Center)

Lincoln's Sparrow
1 at Bowerman Basin
2 at the base of Damon Point

Western Meadowlark
8 at Damon Point



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.at.net