Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I observed a single juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper this afternoon at the mouth of Gorst Creek at Gorst,Kitsap Co.(accessed off of Hwy.16/S.R 3). The bird was observed alone with several Killdeer feeding nearby foraging on the exposed mudflats during slack tide along with a few other species of shorebirds that were also noted during our visit. This location is fairly good for migrating and wintering shorebirds depending on tide conditions,specifically for a Kitsap Co. location. Other species noted at this location during our brief visit included the following:

5 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper
6 Western Sandpipers
4 Least Sandpipers
1 Short-billed Dowitcher
8 Caspian Terns

Before checking the mudflats at Gorst we stopped and checked for shorebirds at Belfair State Park in Mason Co.(accessed off of S.R.300 near the town of Belfair). Conditions were good during our afternoon visit,although shoreline habitats were mixed with mudflats and rocky areas,as well as vast oyster beds. We managed to encountered 4 species of shorebirds,as we walked out onto the base of exposed areas,which also produced a small gull flock at the mouth of Mission Creek. This location shows potential for future shorebird visits through the fall,as it seems to have in the past by other birders,although our visit hosted fairly good crowds of people due to the good weather and this park is part of the state park fee area. Noteworthy species at this location included the following:

6 Semipalmated Plovers
18 Killdeer
1 Western Sandpiper
8 Least Sandpipers
6 adult Bonaparte's Gulls
1 adult Heermann's Gull
17 California Gulls
5 Caspian Terns

The greater portion of the day we spent searching for dragonflies near Wood Lake in Mason Co.,as conditions remained very warm but prime for dragonflies with a total of 15 species,in addition to possibly a few specimens to be identified at a later date. A very few bird species noted included the following:

1 Hooded Merganser
1 Osprey
3 Turkey Vultures
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Band-tailed Pigeon
2 Belted Kingfisher
1 Willow Flycatcher
1 Purple Martin(heard only at Wood Lake,then presumably the same bird heard calling over another nearby lake)


Dragonfly species encountered include the following:

Emerald Spreadwing
Tule Bluet
Northern Bluet
Boreal Bluet
Pacific Forktail
California Darner
Canada Darner
Variable Darner
Common Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Dot-tailed Whiteface
Chalk-fronted Corporal
Eight-spotted Skimmer
Four-spotted Skimmer
Blue Dasher
Cherry-faced Meadowhawk(first Mason Co. record)

In addition we also encountered 3 Western Fence Lizards at different locations in the hottest,gravelly areas near Wood Lake.



Other species encountered to and from destinations include the following:

2 Osprey and 1 Cooper's Hawk along Hwy.16 near Purdy



Good birding,

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