Hello Tweets,Obolers and other birders,

The Black-tailed Gull was again well observed today at North Cove and seen by many observers,as well as photographed at very close range beginning at 7:30am continuing to about 10:30am,and then again between 1pm-2pm and then between 3pm-4pm. Of course these are the observations we are aware of for today and we personally observed the bird best between 3pm-4pm,as the bird was well observed within 20 feet nearly alone next to very large flock of Heermann's and California Gulls. The bird was very cooperative and didn't seem wary although at times the bird was flushed up by a Bald Eagle and horseback riders among other disturbances. The weather today was mostly cloudy turning quite foggy at times with thundershowers too after 1pm,which made some observations very tough,but for the most part everyone during the day while we were there observed the bird. Good numbers of Brown Pelicans were noted during the entire day,especially in the immediate North Cove area.Gull flocks were actually more concentrated today than yesterday at North Cove with the greatest concentrations occurring after 12:30pm and continuing through the afternoon. My mother and I arrived to the North Cove location shortly after 7:15am and we quickly joined the gathering of birders scoping the gull flocks,then a small group of birders heading towards the tip of the jetty. Kraig Kemper soon spotted the Black-tailed Gull flying offshore as we quickly located the bird,as it flew low of the water heading towards us and eventually flew and joined the small flock of Heermann's Gulls,where everyone was treated to good looks at the bird. The bird was well observed and photographed until 8:30am when dense fog began to roll in off the ocean. We and many other birders left North Cove for other locations,but several birders remained searching for the Black-tailed Gull,despite the foggy conditions. We returned to North Cove at 10:45am after returning from Tokeland(with excellent views of the Bar-tailed Godwit at the Tokeland Marina) and upon our arrival had learned that the Black-tailed Gull and gull flocks had been flushed by horseback riders. We returned back to North Cove at 12:45pm after checking a few other locations north of North Cove,as gull flocks increased greatly,but visibility was very limited due to foggy conditions. The Black-tailed Gull was located upon careful scoping at 1pm and remained until at least 2pm,as views during this time were not very good. We drove back to Tokeland,then returned back to North Cove at 2:50pm and at 3pm the Black-tailed Gull was again observed and remained until 4pm with our best views of the day. During this time the bird was not as active as other observations,as it mainly stood by itself allowing the best and closest of views by a few lucky birders. The bird preened only occasionally and rested more,then finally flew off along with a few other gulls southwest towards the large sand"island" offshore of North Cove. We returned back to the parking area and talked with other birders about our day's viewing of the bird and went back to Tokeland to look one last time for the Bar-tailed Godwit. Upon arriving to a location in Tokeland south of Graveyard Spit the Bar-tailed Godwit was located and observed amongst a large flock of Marbled Godwits and small numbers of Whimbrel and 17 Short-billed Dowitchers. We left the Bar-tailed Godwit for 2 birders to enjoy and headed on our way home and ended the day with a flyover female Purple Martin over the Chehalis River at South Aberdeen. It was another successful day searching for the Black-tailed Gull along with the Bar-tailed Godwit at Tokeland!


Other notable species for the day included the following:

Pacific Loon
2 off North Cove

Common Loon
1 off North Cove

Sooty Shearwater
very small numbers observed offshore between North Cove and Midway Beach Rd.

Great Egret
1 at Tokeland

Surf Scoter
34 off North Cove
25 offshore between Warrenton-Cannery Rd. and Midway Beach Rd.

White-winged Scoter
12 off North Cove
8 offshore between Warrenton-Cannery Rd. and Midway Beach Rd.

Turkey Vulture
5 at Tokeland

Peregrine Falcon
1 adult along the open beaches north of Warrenton-Cannery Rd.
1 immature along S.R.105 with prey(consuming an Am.Crow)

Black-bellied Plover
1 at North Cove

Semipalmated Plover
23 at North Cove

Greater Yellowlegs
2 at North Cove
6 at Tokeland(with 1 Lesser Yellowlegs)

Willet
14 at Tokeland

Long-billed Curlew
1 at Tokeland

Black Turnstone
11 at North Cove
6 at Tokeland

Surfbird
8 at North Cove

Sanderling(with small numbers of Western Sandpipers)
450+ between North Cove and Midway Beach Rd.

Least Sandpiper
12 at North Cove
7 at Tokeland

Wilson's Warbler
1 at North Cove



Good birding,

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