Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and led a rewarding TAS(Tahoma Audubon Society)field trip from Brady Loop Rd. to the Raymond Airport covering areas in both Grays Harbor and Pacific Cos. The day remained mostly cloudy with heavy rain showers at times with heavy southerly winds(producing higher than normal water levels),especially at Midway Beach to Tokeland and as a result produced unexpected pelagic species that made the day much more worthwhile. We encountered a total of 98 species for the entire day with several key highlights to mention,of which most of the participants observed. Our main highlight of the day was a single Fork-tailed Storm Petrel that was observed at extremely close range in very windy conditions immediately south of the Tokeland Marina in Willapa Bay at Tokeland. This location actually produced 2 other normally pelagic species including up to 5 dark-morph Northern Fulmars and a single Sooty Shearwater,of which both species were observed in Willapa Bay just offshore from the Tokeland Marina during our visit between 2:45pm-3:30pm. The Fork-tailed Storm Petrel was a special highlight for everyone because we observed it at very close range for approximately 5 minutes viewing the bird in great detail, as well as observed the typical storm petrel feeding behavior,including behavior noted as the bird occasionally dove for food,as it actively foraged and plucked food from the surface of the water while in flight. The bird came within 8-10 feet of us and allowed a few photographs to be taken.

We began our day with a brief drive along Brady Loop Rd., then continued to the Hoquiam STP,where we encountered our first main highlight of the day,being a male Redhead amongst a large flock of both species of scaup and other waterfowl and waterbird species. Other noted species at this location included 2 Eared Grebes and 3 Greater White-fronted Geese flying over among other species. Our next visit was made at Bottle Beach during incoming tide,where we encountered up to 3 Pacific Golden Plovers in separate flocks of Black-bellied Plovers and other shorebirds species,which all allowed excellent looks and comparisons in separating species,as the shorebirds foraged on the exposed mudflats. Continuing onto Westport up to 11 Great Egrets were observed as we were driving along S.R.105 at Bay City with 2 additional birds noted at Westport for a total of 12 Great Egrets for the day. At Westport we encountered our first heavy rains and winds of the day,beginning with a check made at the eastern portion of the Westport Marina. We immediately located a flock of 120 Marbled Godwits roosting on rocks next to the coast guard station along with a few Heermann's Gulls. As we were standing and watching the Marbled Godwit flock and other species a single Ruddy Turnstone was scoped and observed briefly resting on the extensive protective row of pilings within the marina,before flying off to unknown locations. We continued onto Westhaven State Park, where we ate lunch then checked the Westport Jetty. A fairly good check of the offshore waters close to shore north of the jetty produced a single Red Phalarope,but otherwise Grays Harbor was quite empty away from relatively good numbers of Brown Pelicans and Heermann's Gulls. Continuing south our next stop was made at Midway Beach Rd.,where conditions began to clear just slightly,but remained very windy with rain too,as we spent an hour walking the open beaches,as well as the inland dune areas in search of several target species,of which we got 3 out of 4 species. Our main highlight at this locations was up to 17 Snowy Plovers observed roosting above the high tide line in less exposed sandy areas away from the direct affects of the heavy winds. In addition we encountered 2 separate flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese flying over heading south totaling 38 birds, up to 12 "Streaked"Horned Larks and our other shorebird highlight that included a single Short-billed Dowitcher amongst a flock of 8 Black-bellied Plovers and our only Greater Yellowlegs of the day observed flying over and actively calling. Heading south at Tokeland,where our main efforts were made at the Tokeland Marina(due primarily to extremely high southerly winds)that hosted a the large lingering flock of Marbled Godwits that contained 480+ birds that were all observed roosting on the furthest south wooden dock in the sheltered marina area. Up to 12 Willets were noted in the general marina area along with 5 Long-billed Dowitchers roosting amongst the Marbled Godwits. While watching the roosting Marbled Godwit flock we focused our attention into Willapa Bay when almost immediately the Fork-tailed Storm Petrel was noted and watched for a fairly brief period flying very close to shore,then back out further into Willapa Bay,then further efforts in our spotting scope produced a single Sooty Shearwater,then ending our "pelagic species" day with 5 Northern Fulmars loosely flying alone. Our final stop of the day was made at the Raymond Airport,where conditions were quite slow with just a few species noted.

A list of additional highlights noted during our day included the following species:


Western Grebe
12 off Bottle Beach
8 at Westport
18 at Tokeland

Brown Pelican
10 off Bottle Beach
165+ at Westport
9 off Midway Beach Rd.

Double-crested Cormorant(notable counts)
1650+ off Bottle Beach in South Bay
180+ flying over the Willapa River at the Raymond Airport

"Cackling"Canada Goose
45 over Midway Beach Rd.

Canvasback
4 at the Hoquiam STP

Ring-necked Duck
8 at the Hoquiam STP

Red-breasted Merganser
3 off Bottle Beach
18+ at Tokeland

Ruddy Duck
17 at the Hoquiam STP

Northern Harrier
1 at the Hoquiam STP

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 at Bottle Beach

Cooper's Hawk
1 at the Hoquiam STP

Am.Kestrel
1 along Foster Rd.(Brady Loop Rd. complex)

Merlin
1 along S.R.105 east of the Raymond Airport

Peregrine Falcon
1 adult at the Hoquiam STP
1 adult at Bottle Beach

Am.Coot
1 at the Hoquiam STP

Black-bellied Plover
72 at Bottle Beach
21 at Midway Beach Rd.

Semipalmated Plover
45 at Midway Beach Rd.

Black Turnstone
8 at the Westport Jetty

Sanderling
30+ at Bottle Beach
9 at the Westport Jetty
130+ at Midway Beach Rd.

Western Sandpiper
2 at the Hoquiam STP
90+ at Bottle Beach
23 at Midway Beach Rd.

Least Sandpiper
45+ at Bottle Beach
18 at Midway Beach Rd.

Dunlin
65 at Bottle Beach
42 at Westport
60 at Midway Beach Rd.

Long-billed Dowitcher
1 at Bottle Beach
1 at Midway Beach Rd.
5 at Tokeland

Wilson's Snipe
1 flying along S.R.105 west of Aberdeen
1 flying over Bottle Beach
1 at the Raymond Airport

Heermann's Gull
145+ at Westport
22 at Tokeland

Caspian Tern
9 at Tokeland

Band-tailed Pigeon
14 along S.R.105 west of Aberdeen
1 at the Raymond Airport

Orange-crowned Warbler
1 at Bottle Beach

Lincoln's Sparrow
2 at Bottle Beach


Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net