Hello Tweeters, I went out early this morning and visited Bottle Beach and the John's River Wildlife area. The weather wasn't so great when I was at Bottle Beach between 6am-8am. Moderate winds with everything from mist to heavy rain made the experience difficult to say the least. Shorebirds at Bottle Beach included the following that I was able to identify: Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Short-billed Dowitcher. I also tried for the Northern Parula by "pishing" along the edge of the trees on the upper part of the beach. I didn't find a parula, but I did manage to "pish" up two Black-throated Gray Warblers and one Common Yellowthroat. I did have a memorable experience though while I was walking along the beach when I bumped into a small flock of Semipalmated Plover and Least Sandpiper. It was almost still too dark to see well so I flushed the small shorebirds without seeing them first. After they had taken flight, a!
dark
gray form of a small falcon came streaking down the beach just about a foot off the sand. The falcon flew so close to me that I had to flinch when it passed by me. It had to be only a few feet from me. I'm thinking it was a Merlin, but I can't be for sure.

At John's River, I was there from about 8am to 10am. The weather was much nicer with just a few intermittent showers. There was a herd of 17 elk out in the field when I first started walking out the paved path to the photo blind. The tide was high so the mudflats along the river were non-existent. At the pond just beyond the photo blind, there were good numbers of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. A few Long-billed Dowitchers were also present. Killdeer were also moving around the area. No Stilt to be seen though. Along the path, there was lots of bird activity mainly being Savannah and Song Sparrows playing in the blackberry brambles. Also, American Goldfinch and a couple big flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds were around. On a side note, two big John Deere tractors were out mowing the fields. It was a good wet half day!

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo.com



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