In the evening of Sept, 20th while observing the TROPICAL
KINGBIRD at Oysterville at the north end of the Longbeach Peninsula Ken
Knittle, Marv Breece, and I observed a Knot among a small flock of
Black-bellied Plovers that puzzled us. The bird had a bill that appeared
longer than normal with a definite drop to the tip. The back of this bird
was evenly gray with some scale-like markings, the flanks and breast were
spotted with large light gray markings. Leg color was a greenish-yellow.
The supercillium was white and flared upwards behind the eye and there
was a dark grayish smudge of a malar mark that went from the base of the
bill to about the beginning of the eye.
The wing tips extended beyond the tail and the bird looked
somewhat elongated for a Red Knot, unfortunately this was the only Knot
present and we could not compare it to others for size and coloration. We
thought that we could see a white rump but the bird did not fly or preen
to expose this while we were there. We observed the bird through spotting
scopes from a distance of about 300 feet for about a half hour before it
flew North to the oyster packing plant where we followed it and observed
it for at least another half hour from a much closer distance. If Ken or
Marv have any corrections or additions to this description they would be
appreciated.
The next day a large group of people gathered to look for the
Kingbird and this knot unfortunately the Kingbird was not refound and the
flock of shorebirds at the oyster packing plant was back-lit by the sun.
We came back to the spot later in the day and there were no shorebirds
present when we arrived. Shortly after that a flock of plovers containing
one knot came back in and while we watched that flock was joined by more
knots until we had a total of twenty in front of us. We did not see any
that looked greatly different than the others among that group. Either
the bird had moved on or our initial observations were in need of a
direct comparison with other knots. The bird will have to remain as only
an "interesting knot".
While we were watching the flock of Knots along the beach,
Charlie Wright spotted a gull grab a Least Sandpiper that had been slowed
down by having it's foot stuck in a clam that had closed up on it. As the
gull gulped down the hapless sandpiper the clam released it's hold in
time to avoid being the second course.

Wilson Cady
N45 35.618' W122 13.738'
Washougal, Skamania County, WA
gorgebirds at juno.com