Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I enjoyed a nice day "shorebirding" wise along a familiar coastal route between the Johns River WRA to Tokeland and ending the day at Westport. We encountered a total of 22 species of shorebird with our visit to Bottle Beach and Tokeland being the most productive. The weather remained very cloudy with coastal mist and drizzle at times along with some winds and the weather didn't clear up until we arrived further inland near Montesano,but nonetheless it was a very good day. We began the day with a 1 mile walk made at the Johns River WRA,which produced our first notable species of the day including a single Solitary Sandpiper and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs among several other shorebird and waterfowl species. These species were all observed in the freshwater wetland area just beyond the paved trail to the photo blind and should remain productive through the fall as water levels decline evenmore and upon arriving in the parking area this location is not visible until you approach the photo blind. A yellow WDFW vehicle permit is required to access this location for those that have never visited this location,which lies along the Johns River just south of S.R.105. Our next stop of the day was made at Bottle Beach during incoming tide,which was highly productive hosting 9 species of shorebird of which highlights among the masses were up to 13 Red Knots, 2 Ruddy Turnstones, and 3 Dunlin. Continuing west and south we drove to Tokeland,which produced highlights such as 1 Great Egret,12 Willets,43 Long-billed Curlews(Graveyard Spit),1 Surfbird and 1 pair of Purple Martins. At Midway Beach Rd. conditions were fairly slow,but we managed to locate a single adult male Snowy Plover and 28 Sanderlings adding to our shorebird list. Our last stop of the day was made at Westport covering areas beginning at the east portion of the Westport Marina bordering the coast guard station,which hosted a group of 225 Marbled Godwits roosting on a limited rocky area within the marina. Our final stop of the day was made at Westhaven State Park,where highlights consisted of 2 Wandering Tattlers and 3 Tufted Puffins. Our last species of the day was a single Cooper's Hawk observed along I-5 north of Nisqually River bridge in Pierce Co.

A list of out entire day's list of highlights at selected times and locations follows below:


John River WRA 9:30am-10:10am

2 juvenile Pied-billed Grebes
12 Wood Ducks
7 Blue-winged Teal
14 Cinnamon Teal(including 1 female with 7 immatures)
1 family of Northern Shovelers(1 female with 8 young)
3 Am.Wigeon
2 Turkey Vultures
1 Osprey
10 Semipalmated Plovers
13 Greater Yellowlegs
2 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Solitary Sandpiper
5 Western Sandpipers
64 Least Sandpipers
1 Long-billed Dowitcher
1 Vaux's Swift
2 Belted Kingfishers
4 Northern Rough-winged Swallows

Bottle Beach 10:20am-12pm

1 Turkey Vulture
143 Black-bellied Plovers
104 Semipalmated Plovers
34 Whimbrel
2 Ruddy Turnstones
13 Red Knots
1110+ Western Sandpipers
3 Dunlin
670+ Short-billed Dowitchers
12 Long-billed Dowitchers
34 Ring-billed Gulls
8 California Gulls
28+ Caspian Terns
1 male Anna's Hummingbird
1 Wilson's Warbler
4 Purple Finches
1 Red Crossbill

S.R.105 at North Cove beach overlook 12:40pm-12:45pm

1 Sooty Shearwater
25+ Brown Pelicans
37 Semipalmated Plovers
4 Western Sandpipers
60+ Heermann's Gulls
18 California Gulls
32 Caspian Terns
65+ Common Murres
1 Rhinoceros Auklet


Tokeland 1pm-2pm

1 Great Egret
10 Turkey Vultures
64 Semipalmated Plovers
3 Greater Yellowlegs
12 Willets
162 Whimbrel
43 Long-billed Curlews
87 Marbled Godwits
1 Surfbird
2 Least Sandpipers
255+ Heermann's Gulls
65+ California Gulls
48+ Caspian Terns
1 Pigeon Guillemot
1 Vaux's Swift
2 Belted Kingfishers
2 Purple Martins(observed flying around,as well as perched atop telephone wires within the Tokeland Marina area)


Midway Beach Rd. 2:20pm-3pm

80+ Sooty Shearwaters
15 Brown Pelicans
1 Snowy Plover
18 Semipalmated Plovers
28 Sanderlings
45+ Heermann's Gulls
65 California Gulls
32 Caspian Terns
70+ Common Murres
4 "Streaked"Horned Larks(3 adults and 1 juvenile)


Westport 3:20pm-4pm

3 Common Loons
5 Sooty Shearwaters
20 Brown Pelicans
2 Wandering Tattlers
225 Marbled Godwits
5 Ruddy Turnstones
14 Black Turnstones
12 Surfbirds
1 Short-billed Dowitcher
200+ Heermann's Gulls
33+ Caspian Terns
380+ Common Murres
34 Pigeon Guillemots
22 Rhinoceros Auklets
3 Tufted Puffins


Mammal highlights:

6 Nutria at the Johns River WRA
1 Harbor Porpoise off North Cove



Good birding,

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
























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