I stopped by Belfair State Park this morning and, despite the fog, was
pleased to see so many birds around. There were three mature bald eagles
bathing in the saltwater just off the stream channel as well as many crows
and gulls feasting on the salmon carcasses laying about.

The surprise tho was seeing a non-breeding Black-Bellied Plover feeding
along the shore to the right of the gazebo just off the main parking lot.
It appears to be the same one as seen by me there about three weeks ago. I
spent about 15 minutes watching it feed at close range during the incoming
tide. It was feeding on small crustaceans, worms and tiny crabs along the
muddy and stoney shore. It appears to favor one leg, standing mostly on
only one and walking with a bit of a limp as it moved about. It flew a few
feet to avoid an incoming crow who was not practicing good manners. It did
not seem to have any problem flying but I only saw it fly about 5 ft to make
room for the crow.

Moving along the shore were three other shorebirds/peeps, one of which
looked to be possibly a stilt sandpiper (down-turned medium size bill made
it stand out from the other two birds it was with). As the fog lifted great
rafts of surf and white-winged scoters could be viewed along with a goodly
flock of commom mergansers. A bit further west along North Shore Rd. is a
nice group of about 12 loons that have been together near the Allyn Dock for
about a week now. Other paired loons and horned grebes can be found along
the Canal at various places on the way out toward Tahuya.

It's nice to see the over-wintering flocks back. Right now they are a bit
harder to pick out from all the debris masses in that end of Hood Canal
though.

Happy Birding

Mary Hrudkaj
hrudkajm at hotmail.com
Belfair/Tahuya/N. Mason Co.

_________________________________________________________________
Want to check if your PC is virus-infected? Get a FREE computer virus scan
online from McAfee.
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963