Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I checked a few locations between the Johns River WRA and Tokeland,although weather conditions remained somewhat cool and very cloudy with increasing fog at times along with some windy conditions at North Cove,with calmest conditions at Tokeland. We ran into a few birders at North Cove during the mid afternoon,but as of 4:45pm the Black-tailed Gull had not been seen with searching made before 6:30am and remaining after we left the location from a few persistent birders. Our main highlight of the day was a juvenile Stilt Sandpiper that was observed at the Johns River WRA at 12pm,which was previously reported by Steve Mlodinow on the 14th of August. The bird was foraging loosely with a single Greater Yellowlegs(with additional Greater Yellowlegs observed nearby)along with up to 4 Lesser Yellowlegs,10 Long-billed Dowitchers and a single Short-billed Dowitcher. The exact location the Stilt Sandpiper and other shorebirds were noted was accessed from the green photo blind at the end of the paved trail from the main parking lot and continuing further south along a grassy trail and scoping the freshwater wetland areas to the west. The shorebirds may move around with tide changes,etc and scanning every available shoreline area may yield different species. Good numbers of Least Sandpipers with small numbers of Western Sandpipers were noted along the Johns River,where large areas of mudflats were available. Other species of note from the Johns River WRA included the following:

3 Pied-billed Grebes
6 Wood Ducks
2 Northern Pintail
6 Blue-winged Teal
13 Cinnamon Teal
18 Northern Shovelers
1 Turkey Vulture
6 Vaux's Swifts
2 Belted Kingfishers
12 Evening Grosbeaks

Mammals:

4 Roosevelt Elk
2 Nutria


Next,during incoming tide we checked Bottle Beach where shorebird numbers were fairly good with the highest densities consisting of Western Sandpipers,being primarily juvenile birds. Highlights noted from this location included the following:

8 Green-winged Teal
1 Northern Pintail
1 Northern Harrier
97 Black-bellied Plovers
14 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Marbled Godwit
3 Ruddy Turnstones
1 Black Turnstone
4500+ Western Sandpipers
34+ Least Sandpipers(including several very bright juvenile birds)
1 Dunlin(in alternate-plumage)
72 Short-billed Dowitchers
2 Long-billed Dowitchers
37 Ring-billed Gulls
1 Black-throated Gray Warbler
7 Purple Finches
2 Red Crossbills

Butterflies:

1 Anise Swallowtail
5+ Woodland Skippers


Continuing west a single Peregrine Falcon and Turkey Vulture were observed along S.R. 105 at the Elk River bridge. Our next stop was made at North Cove,where we met other birders as we scanned the gull flocks. After some scanning through the flocks we decided to check Tokeland at 2:45pm a return visit afterwards. At Tokeland conditions were fairly slow and calm with the large shorebird flock noted at the Tokeland Marina with a few additional birds noted at Graveyard Spit. We were unsuccessful in relocating the Bar-tailed Godwit,but were aware of other birders that observed it either earlier in the day or yesterday. Noteworthy sightings from Tokeland included the following:

2 Turkey Vultures
16 Willets
8 Whimbrel
220 Marbled Godwits
1 Black Turnstone
180+ Western Sandpipers

On return visit to North Cove included scattered gull flocks,primarily of Heermann's Gulls with small numbers of California and Glaucous-winged/Western Gulls and Caspian Terns. At times dense fog was quite persistent,as well as winds but it didn't seem to affect gull numbers. A few of the highlights noted while searching for the Black-tailed Gull included the following:

1 Pacific Loon
1 Red-necked Grebe
2 Western Grebes
8+ Sooty Shearwaters
35 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Wandering Tattler(observed foraging along the open sandy shoreline before flying back to the rocky jetty)
4 Black Turnstones
55 Sanderlings
1 Osprey
large numbers of offshore Common Murres



Good birding,

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