Hey all,

I spent a great couple of days in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties this
weekend. Ryan Shaw, Tracey Norris, and I left Tacoma on Saturday morning
and spent a relaxed day birding at Ocean Shores and vicinity. Our first
stop was in the brush east of the Silver King Motel near the Ocean Shores
Marina. A bit of pishing brought in a cooperative PALM WARBLER with a flock
of sparrows. Noticing lots of birds in the Bill's Spit area, we headed over
there and scanned through 5-10,000 CALIFORNIA GULLS, but found nothing
unusual. One LONG-BILLED CURLEW on the flats. We then parked and walked
out to the washed out pond on Damon Point. There we found the largest flock
of golden-plovers any of us had seen in Washington (49 birds total). Our
thorough break-down was 38 PACIFICS, 6 AMERICANS, and 5 that we deemed
unidentifiable. There were also 4 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS and 1 PECTORAL
SANDPIPER in this area. After getting our fill of these birds, we walked
along the west side of the point and into the game range. Four BLACK
SCOTERS, but not much else of note. At Ocean City State Park there was a
flock of ca. 80 GREATER YELLOWLEGS. Continuing south, there were seven or
so GREAT EGRETS in North Bay just west of Westport. At Midway Beach we
happened upon 10+ SNOWY PLOVERS along the high tide line. Stops at Tokeland
Marina and near the Westport Coast Guard Station failed to produce any
shorebirds, but there was one late YELLOW WARBLER at Tokeland.

Today was an extraordinary trip with Westport Seabirds. Just to name a
couple of highlights (I think one of the spotters will follow with a
complete report) we all had a total of 30 (!) SOUTH POLAR SKUAS and 9
FLESH-FOOTED SHEARWATERS. In addition, excellent numbers of some species
which have been very scarce of late. Calm, overcast weather was extremely
enjoyable!

This evening Jessie Barry, Mike Dossett, and I made several stops in the
Ocean Shores area again. First near the Hoquiam Sewage Treatment Plant,
there was a flock of 28 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS and also 3 MARBLED GODWITS on
the shores of Grays Harbor. At Damon Point we were somewhat disappointed to
find the pond devoid of any activity outside of pipits, but our spirits were
quickly uplifted when we stumbled upon a flock of golden-plovers in the
dunes as we walked back towards the parking lot. This group had 36 birds,
including 25 or so Pacifics, 3 Americans, and the remainder unknown. Likely
part of the same flock as yesterday. Two juv. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS with
the flock was interesting. And as a perfect ending to the day, we spotted a
nice SNOWY PLOVER while slowly approaching them.

Cheers and good birding.
--
Charlie Wright
Sumner, WA
charlie at birdwright.com