Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I led a TAS(Tahoma Audubon Society)field trip to the Tokeland area,covering several areas in addition such as Wenzel Slough Rd.,Ocosta Third Street,Westport,Midway Beach Rd.,and the Hoquiam area(including the Hoquiam STP). We encountered a total of 85 species(including 14 species of shorebirds)during the entire day including several highlights of note that mostly occurred during our visit to Tokeland and Midway Beach Rd. Overall birding conditions were quite slow,but many of the participants enjoyed great views of many of our highlights,including the immature Gyrfalcon that was observed as several of us walked along the beach to the south of the dead end of Midway Beach Rd. at 12pm. The bird was spotted perched atop a driftwood snag on the horizon,but we managed to get closer to it and get better observations,then the bird was finally flushed by a group of beachcombers,as it flew east to an unknown location towards dense conifer stands. We also obtained excellent looks at a group of 20 Snowy Plovers resting calmly along the upper tide line,as we watched the Gyrfalcon and our third highlight at this location was 10 Semipalmated Plovers foraging along the shoreline amongst a small flock of Sanderlings. At Tokeland the "large" shorebird flock was easily noted at the Tokeland Marina during slowly outgoing tide at 11am,where 800+ Marbled Godwits were noted with up to 13 Willets,2 Whimbrels,48 Long-billed Dowitchers and 45 Dunlins amongst that entire flock.

Continuing north from Midway Beach Rd. we stopped by Westport,which was very slow probably due to drizzly,foggy conditions. We continued on our way back to Hoquiam,where 4 Barn Swallows were noted flying along S.R.105 just west of Ocosta Third Street. We made a fairly short stop made at Ocosta Third Street,where we heard up to 3 Virginia Rails. We arrived at the end of "K" Street in Hoquiam at 3:30pm,but as other have recently noted we were unable to locate the Pink-footed Goose with just a small flock Canada Geese present during our visit. Next, we stopped by the Hoquiam STP,where we located a single Rough-legged Hawk along Paulson Rd. that allowed great close views. 2 Barn Swallows were noted flying fairly high over the main pond,but otherwise this location was very slow and hosted very few waterfowl, including only 1 Canvasback and up to 3 Ruddy Ducks. On our way home we made a return stop along Wenzel Slough Rd.,where the a Red-breasted Sapsucker was noted and our last species of the day at 5pm,being the adult White-tailed Kite, which was noted only in flight just south of the Elma Airport. Additional notable species during the day included the following at selected locations:


Red-throated Loon
1 at Tokeland

Red-necked Grebe
7 at Tokeland
1 at Westport

Trumpeter Swan
74 along Wenzel Slough Rd. near Vance Creek Co.Park(near Elma)
4 at Tokeland

"Black"Brant
450+ at Tokeland(in Willapa Bay)

Am.Kestrel
1 along Hwy.12 at Keys. Rd. near Satsop

Merlin
2 at Tokeland

Peregrine Falcon
1 along S.R.105 west of the Elk River bridge
1 along S.R.105 at North Cove

Black-bellied Plover
48 at Tokeland

Greater Yellowlegs
6 at Ocosta(Ocosta Third Street,S.R.105 at Bottle Beach)
1 at Tokeland

Black Turnstone
2 at Westport

Sanderling
22 at Tokeland
15 at Midway Beach Rd.
1 at Westport

Least Sandpiper
18 at Midway Beach Rd.

Dunlin
20 flying along Wenzel Slough Rd.
20 along S.R.105 west of Aberdeen
200+ at Tokeland

Wilson's Snipe
5 at Midway Beach Rd.

"Streaked"Horned Lark
5 at Midway Beach Rd.

Western Scrub Jay
1 along Wenzel Slough Rd.
2 along 3rd Street at Elma

Western Meadowlark
1 at Midway Beach Rd.



Mammal of note during the day included:

2 River Otters along Wenzel Slough Rd. near Vance Creek Co. Park
2 Coyotes along Wenzel Slough Rd.
3 Black-tailed Deer at Midway Beach Rd.




Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net