Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I searched for the Black-tailed Gull at North Cove beginning at 9:15am,where we immediately found our from several birders that the bird was seen between 7am-8am until being flushed by a Bald Eagle and the entire flock scattering. We waited and scanned through the remaining flock of gulls at North Cove until deciding to go Tokeland during incoming tide for the Bar-tailed Godwit between 10-11:15am. We located the Bar-tailed Godwit in somewhat the same location as yesterday just north of the Bayshore RV Park foraging on the available mudflats amongst good numbers of Marbled Godwits and just a few Whimbrel. The Bar-tailed Godwit was at times a little tougher to locate,but after being detected was well observed with all the main field marks being observed by several observers. We left the Bar-tailed Godwit at Graveyard Spit,as the tide pushed inward. For birders searching for the Black-tailed Gull may you also look for the Bar-tailed Godwit at Tokeland,especially since it is going out of breeding plumage and overall is a striking bird. Quickly returning back to North Cove,as the clouds began to break up and winds increased slightly we joined a group of other birders,as we all stood scoping the vast sandy shoreline below from the parking area. After some thorough scanning of the gull flocks I(Patrick)decided to go and eat a sandwich in our vehicle leaving the rest of the group to talk and scan the gull flocks,then I returned about 10 minutes later and at 1pm nearly immediately located the Black-tailed Gull preening on a partial sandbar just inside from the main sandbar. After a minute or two most of the group scoped onto the bird and we all watched it as it actively preened and presented us at times good views of the black banded tail, which was the main field we wanted to see and to others just seeing the bird was important. We noticed that the black band was more broader than we originally,but briefly noted on the 8th of August in flight and we also obtained great views of the somewhat wedge-shaped tail,or perhaps it was just the way the bird was holding it's tail that it appeared that shape.After watching the bird from the parking area above the open beaches my mother and I slowly walked downwards towards the gull flock in attempts of more photos for our collection. As we cautiously approached the gull flock and the Black-tailed Gull conditions remained calm and there were no distractions,as others kept looking from above until deciding to move closer onto the open beaches below. We continued walking towards the water's edge and took several photos from different angles with the sun to our backs,as the other birders watched from a safe distance and the gulls never seemed bothered at all by our fairly close approach. The Black-tailed Gull all the while kept preening,especially under it's wings,under the tail,on the breast,on the mantle,in every way possible,as we paid closest attention to the banded tail,which at times was very visible. Overall the bird did not seem as dainty as our visit on the 8th of August,but perhaps the feathers were much more fluffed up and nonetheless we were treated to very good looks of the bird until the bird and the closest gull flock to us flew up and over to join another gull flock closer to the main shoreline. At this time we were all overjoyed watching the bird with most everyone being the first look at this rare Asian gull,but for us more photos were the primary goal and enjoying seeing the bird no matter how many times. After the gull flock settled back down onto the beach many of us walked back up to the parking area along S.R.105 to try and locate the Black-tailed Gull again,which we did almost immediately as it continued preening,then walked around amongst the other gulls and Caspian Terns,then after about 10 minutes the bird finally settled on top of a debris clump and settled it's head back in and remained resting until we left the bird at 2:15pm for those of us that remained seeing the bird. It was truly worth waiting for after possibly thinking that the bird wouldn't return after being seen in the early morning and everyday is different and as most know gulls are ELUSIVE! The Black-tailed Gull seems very comfortable and hopefully many more observers will get to see this exceptional bird not only because it is a first Washington State record,but just by how striking the bird is among other things. We left the gull resting amongst the other gull flocks on open sandy beaches at North Cove,although there were a few beachcombers that had recently arrived with two dogs that could have possibly scattered the gull flock up and away after we left. All together there were about 30 birders looking for the Black-tailed Gull during our visit today. Best of luck this week for those that are willing to try for the Black-tailed Gull and please have patience unless you are one of the lucky birders to see it right away!


A few additional species of note my mother and I encountered during the day included the following:

Pacific Loon
3 off North Cove

Western Grebe
1 off North Cove

Sooty Shearwater
small numbers observed flying off North Cove

Peregrine Falcon
1 at North Cove

Willet
15 at Tokeland

Black Turnstone
4 at Tokeland

Long-billed Dowitcher
2 at Tokeland



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net