Hello Tweets,

This afternoon my mother and I birded a few hours between 12:15pm-4:15pm,beginning at Mud Bay in Thurston Co.continuing onto Kennedy Creek in Mason Co. during incoming tide,then driving to Luhr Beach and a final stop of the day at the Nisqually NWR. Our main highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly an adult Long-tailed Jaeger briefly,but well observed at Luhr Beach at 2:20pm. The bird initially came in overhead from the north to northwest passing a fairly large maple tree on the north side of the boast launch,then continuing overhead at approximately 30 feet above us showing us it's very long tassels and fairly sleek body and narrow wings. The dark cap and yellowish throat bordering the white underparts and belly were also well observed,but since the observation was less than 30 seconds(and we didn't have our camera in our immediate hands)we were unable to get any photographs of the bird. The bird continued over the treeline heading south,so it is unknown where the bird may be heading to and could show up almost anywhere. There were scattered numbers of Caspian Tern and gull flocks at the Nisqually Reach,which were all mainly resting at various points along the immediate shoreline due to high tide conditions at the time. It was truly an unexpected sighting and one we may never repeat in WA! Luhr Beach seems to have produced many noteworthy bird sightings over the past few years and we personally seem to always see something nice here and anything is possible! It is a good spot to always check for local birders,as well as people stopping to and from the Nisqually NWR,etc. It is very true that a good spotting scope(with a zoom lens)is much needed at this location due to often distant looks at some of the species,but also for extensive scanning of the Nisqually Reach when mudflats are exposed,etc.

This makes the second adult Long-tailed Jaeger sighting in less than a week in inland western WA(with the individual Matt Bartels observed at Stevenson on the 20th of August),so maybe more will be sighted. Away from the Long-tailed Jaeger birding was quite slow during our visit at Luhr Beach,but a few species were noteworthy including the following:

1 Horned Grebe(in alternate plumage)
2 Greater Scaups
7 Surf Scoters
148+ Common Mergansers
205+ Western Sandpipers
1 Red-necked Phalarope
43 Caspian Terns
5 Pigeon Guillemots
3 Rhinoceros Auklets


Earlier in the day we began the afternoon with a short stop at Mud Bay and along Madrona Beach Rd. with only a few species of note including the following:

1 Green Heron
7 Hooded Mergansers
8 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper
54 Western Sandpipers
9 Least Sandpipers
84 Bonaparte's Gulls

Next,at the Kennedy Creek Estuary in Mason Co.(accessed off of Hwy.101)we carefully scoped the mudflats during incoming tide for shorebirds,but bird numbers were very few and the main highlights being a single Baird's Sandpiper and a basic-plumaged Dunlin. Other species of note included the following:

8 Green-winged Teal
7 Northern Pintail
9 Hooded Mergansers
2 Ospreys
3 Red-tailed Hawks
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper
96 Western Sandpipers
16 Least Sandpipers
9 Short-billed Dowitchers
1 Long-billed Dowitcher

Our final stop of the day was made at the Nisqually NWR,despite a few scattered rain showers. We walked along the McAllister Creek trail then north along McAllister Creek to the photo blind then back to the main parking lot. Conditions despite the recent rainfall continue to be very dry and overgrown so shorebird habitat is extremely limited,which was our main objective. A few highlights of note included the following:

1 Am.Bittern
1 Green Heron
8 Wood Ducks
2 Blue-winged Teal
8 Cinnamon Teal
4 Northern Shovelers
1 Osprey
4 Northern Harriers
3 Red-tailed Hawks
1 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper
8 Least Sandpipers
1 Mourning Dove
6 Willow Flycatchers
4 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
2 Bank Swallows
1 Yellow Warbler

Other species of note during the afternoon included a single adult Peregrine Falcon along I-5 at Olympia.



Good birding,

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