Hello Tweets,

My mother and I birded the Leadbetter Point State Park Natural Area vicinity of Pacific Co. on September 6th and 7th with extensive hiking done both days and several highlights to mention,despite the large amounts of scattered rain showers and rather stiff southerly winds we encountered that were fairly heavy at times,but overall the weather didn't seem to hinder our birding too much. On the 6th we spent 6 hours hiking from the Leadbetter Point parking lot to the "yellow trail",then continuing on that trail to the ocean beaches and continuing north to the actual "tip" of Leadbetter Point and around to the Willapa Bay side(just east of the Snowy Plover nesting area)and hiking back on the inner bay side back to the main parking via walking along the "greenbelt" of vegetation/Salicornia fields west of Grassy Isle. On the 7th efforts were made hiking to the isolated forested area near Grassy Isle at the extreme northeast tip of Leadbetter Point with a morning walk through the open mudflats during incoming tide at 8am to the forested area,then hiking back through the large,vast fields of Salicornia and other grassy vegetation to the main parking lot by 12:15pm. We are unsure the exact mileage of hiking that was involved during both days,which most of what was done on the 6th and with some effort involved.The entire area is very vast and large and doing the entire area well in one day seems probably not enough,especially in migration. Overall shorebird numbers were quite low during both days at this location and a check made along the ocean beaches west of Oysterville,which lies immediately south of the Leadbetter Point S.P.N.A.,although large numbers of "peep" were noted along with good numbers of Sanderlings,which overall seem typical for this area. We encountered the highest densities of shorebirds along the shores of Willapa Bay bordering Leadbetter Point S.P.N.A. during incoming and outgoing tide changes,where the most diversity was noted on both days. Wearing rubber boots below the knees are well recommended at Leadbetter Point,if not for any water you may have to walk through or over such as canals,etc,BUT for any wet vegetation and sand that is encountered such as along trails and the vast area that you can hike out past the yellow trail towards Grassy Isle,where NO main trail is available,except for ant trail you make. We still believe due to the amount of hiking involved and with normally few reports from this area that this area is probably one of the most underbirded areas of coastal WA that offers probably the most potential for possible rarities,especially in migration. Good numbers of waterbirds were noted at Leadbetter Point and other coastal areas,but most noteworthy seemed increasing numbers of returning waterfowl,being primarily Northern Pintail that were noted at the latter location and along S.R.105 at MP 9.5 in Pacific Co. amongst large numbers of Am.Wigeon on the 7th,of which contained 1 Eurasian Wigeon.

We encountered a total of 21 species of shorebirds during both days,of which 20 species were noted at Leadbetter Point including both species of golden plovers observed on the 7th, 3 Snowy Plovers(1 adult male and 3 young), 6 Pectoral Sandpipers on the 7th, and up to 12 Baird's Sandpipers observed at the northern tip of Leadbetter Point on the 6th. We observed only one juvenile Pacific Golden Plovers foraging amongst a large flock of Black-bellied Plovers along the inner bay north of the main parking lot,then on the 7th a flock of 27 golden plovers were noted in the extensive Salicornia grassy fields near Grassy Isle that contained 22 Pacific Golden Plovers and 5 Am.Golden Plovers of mixed juvenile and adult birds on our morning hike,then two separate small flocks were noted on the hike back to the main parking lot of calling birds that were flying to the ocean beaches. Away from shorebirds we encountered a few landbird highlights including a single adult Northern Goshawk observed flying across the road immediately south of main parking lot upon our morning arrival on the 7th,which was very noteworthy for the location. Our best highlight of the trip was undoubtedly a female plumaged Bobolink loosely observed amongst a flock of 15 Am.Pipits between Grassy Isle and the isolated forest at the northeast tip of Leadbetter Point on the 7th,upon walking back to the main parking lot. The bird was observed foraging mainly by itself on the ground amongst straw and other debris and vegetation bordering a vast Salicornia field with several Savannah Sparrows nearby,which it was immediately separated by overall size,structure and relatively bright buffy color along with noticeable facial marking such as striped crown(with smaller dark stripe behind eye),fairly heavy bill,which contrasted to the clear,buffy upperparts on the breast with minor streaking along the sides and flanks. The bird was observed for 5 minutes,as it wandered around with the Am.Pipits foraging along the ground and remained unvocal during the entire observation. This is an exceptional species for anywhere in western WA,especially the outer coastal areas and perhaps the bird may continue as long as the winds remain from the south. On our way home on the 7th we checked areas such as Bay Center along Hwy.101, Tokeland, and our final stop of the trip made at Bottle Beach during outgoing tide,of which all areas hosted shorebirds. A list of additional highlights of our trip included the following:

Pacific Loon
8 off the ocean beaches at Leadbetter Point S.P.N.A on the 6th

Sooty Shearwater
50+ off the ocean beaches at Leadbetter Point S.P.N.A. on the 6th

Am.Bittern
1 near Oysterville,PA on the 6th

Great Egret
2 observed along S.R.105 at Bay City(Elk River)in Grays Harbor Co. on the 7th

Ring-necked Duck
3 near Oysterville on the 6th

Common Merganser
220+ at Leadbetter Point S.P.N.A. on the 6th
5 at Tokeland on the 7th

Northern Harrier
5 at Leadbetter Point S.P.N.A. on the 6th(with 3 there on the 7th)
2 at Tokeland on the 7th

Cooper's Hawk
1 along S.R.105 at Aberdeen on the 7th

Peregrine Falcon
2 adults at Leadbetter Point on the 6th
2 near Satsop,GH on the 7th

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th

Black-bellied Plover
268 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 60+ there on the 7th)
50 along the ocean beaches near Oysterville on the 7th
44 at Bottle Beach,Grays Harbor Co. on the 7th

Semipalmated Plover
48 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 18 there on the 7th)

Greater Yellowlegs
1 near Oysterville on the 6th
2 at Leadbetter Point on the 7th
8 at Bay Center,Pacific Co. on the 7th
1 at Tokeland on the 7th

Lesser Yellowlegs
1 near Oysterville on the 6th
1 at Bay Center,PA on the 7th

Willet
12 at Tokeland on the 7th

Whimbrel
1 at Leadbetter Point on the 7th
3 at Tokeland on the 7th

Long-billed Curlew
3 juvenile birds at Tokeland on the 7th

Marbled Godwit
1 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th and 7th
500+ at Tokeland on the 7th

Ruddy Turnstone
2 at Leadbetter Point on the 7th

Sanderling
1200+ at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 550+ there on the 7th)
450+ along the ocean beaches near Oysterville on the 7th

Western Sandpiper
850+ at Leadbetter Point on the 6th
27 at Bay Center on the 7th

Least Sandpiper
78+ at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 40+ there on the 7th)
14 at Bay Center on the 7th

Dunlin
6 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th

Short-billed Dowitcher
34 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 18 there on the 7th)
21 at Bottle Beach,GH on the 7th

Wilson's Snipe
2 at Leadbetter Point on the 7th

Pomarine Jaeger
1 light-phase adult off the ocean beaches at Leadbetter Point on the 6th

Parasitic Jaeger
1 light-phase adult observed within Willapa Bay at Leadbetter Point on the 6th

Mew Gull
1 at Tokeland on the 7th

Hairy Woodpecker(last species of the trip)
1 observed along S.R.8 west of Mud Bay near the Hwy.101 interchange in Thurston Co. on the 7th

Pileated Woodpecker(first species of the trip)
1 observed along Hwy.101 north of Raymond,PA on the 6th

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 at Leadbetter Point on the 7th

Hutton's Vireo
5 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 2 there on the 7th)

Yellow-rumped"Myrtle" Warbler
1 at Leadbetter Point on the 6th(with 1 Orange-crowned Warbler)and 1 there on the 7th

Common Yellowthroat
32 at Leadbetter Point on the 7th(with 22 there on the 7th)


A few mammal highlights of the trip at Leadbetter Point included 2 River otters and s ingle Coyote both noted on the 6th.



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net