Hello Tweets,

This weekend my mother and I spent both days in the field in Grays Harbor Co.primarily searching for dragonflies,as well as some birding made on both days. We managed to encounter several bird highlights today(June 20th)at Ocean Shores and vicinity along with afternoon searching for dragonflies in the Elma area with some additional highlights noted. We observed a total of 14 species of dragonflies in two days,of which will be mentioned below. Our birding highlights were primarily observed today during a morning visit made at the Ocean Shores Jetty,as well as the nearby Oyhut Wildlife area(accessed behind the Ocean Shores STP). Of most noteworthy was a single Fork-tailed Storm Petrel observed off the Ocean Shores Jetty flying alone at the mouth of Grays Harbor,as the bird continued west as well as a single Sooty Shearwater and 2 lingering Common Terns. Relatively good numbers of Common Murres,Pigeon Guillemots, and Rhinoceros Auklets were also observed along with up to 5 Tufted Puffins that allowed very close flyby observations. Additional highlights noted during a 2 hour visit to the Ocean Shores Jetty included the following:

3 Red-throated Loons
12 Pacific Loons
4 Common Loons
32 Brown Pelicans
28 Surf Scoters
17 White-winged Scoters
68 Heermann's Gulls
16 California Gulls
9 Marbled Murrelets

Next,at the Oyhut Wildlife Area we encountered a small group of shorebirds foraging on the exposed mudflats,which is always nice to see in mid June. We also observed a few additional species of note from the Ocean Shores STP in addition to a walk made on a portion of the Oyhut Wildlife Area. Highlights included the following:

5 Common Loons
18 Brown Pelicans
2 families of Northern Shovelers at the Ocean Shores STP(with 1 female with 1 young and another female with 5 young)
2 Harlequin Ducks
7 Surf Scoters
1 Peregrine Falcon
5 Semipalmated Plovers
5 Western Sandpipers
1 Dunlin
1 Ring-necked Pheasant

We checked a few other locations within Ocean Shores,but conditions remained quite slow along with 2 short visits made to the Hoquiam STP. Other highlights from these locations included the following:

Green Heron
1 at Cyber Lake(accessed along S.R.115 north of Ocean Shores)

Green-winged Teal
1 male at the Hoquiam STP

Northern Pintail
1 female at the Hoquiam STP

Blue-winged Teal
2 males at the Hoquiam STP
1 pair at Lake Minard(Ocean Shores)

Greater Scaup
1 pair at the Hoquiam STP


Bufflehead
1 female at the Hoquiam STP

Turkey Vulture
4 over Cyber Lake(with additional single birds observed along S.R.109 between Gray Gables and the Hoquiam STP)

Osprey
1 pair at the Hoquiam STP

Olive-sided Flycatcher
1 pair at Cyber Lake


Mammal highlights:

1 River Otter at the Ocean Shores Jetty

On our way home this afternoon we checked a few locations in eastern Grays Harbor Co. specifically in the Elma-Satsop area searching for dragonflies,but we managed to locate a few bird highlights,as well including the following species:

Common Merganser
2 females along the Satsop River near Satsop

Osprey
1 pair at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland(with 1 adult Bald Eagle)

Spotted Sandpiper
7 along the Satsop River near Satsop

Western Wood Pewee
2 along the Satsop River near Satsop

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 along the Satsop River near Satsop
1 at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Northern Rough-winged Swallow(nesting colony)
14 along the Satsop River near Satsop

Western Scrub Jay
1 along Hwy.12 near Satsop

Hutton's Vireo
1 near the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Black-headed Grosbeak
1 at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Lazuli Bunting
2 singing males along the Satsop River near Satsop


Yesterday(June 19th)our day was quite slow with the only bird highlights noted consisting of a Peregrine Falcon, Cooper's Hawk and a family of 5 Western Scrub Jays at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland followed by 2 Green Herons along Cloquallum Creek near Elma. We also encountered several Red-breasted Sapsuckers from several locations during the day,primarily flying over areas such as Hwy.8. Our main efforts were made searching for dragonflies due to favorable conditions in addition to today during the afternoon,of which our entire list included the following not including 1 specimen that will be determined to exact species at a later date:

Beaverpond Baskettail(Epitheca canis) locally common at the Schouweler Rd. wetland
Pacific Forktail(Iscnura cervula)
Boreal Bluet(Enallagma boreale)
Blue-eyed Darner(Aeshna multicolor)
Common Green Darner(Anax junius)
California Darner(Aeshna californica)
Western Pondhawk(Erythemis collocata) 1 at the Schoweiler Rd. wetland
Dot-tailed Whiteface(Leucorrhinia intacta) small local numbers only from the Schouweiler Rd. wetland
Eight-spotted Skimmer(Libellula pulchella)
Four-spotted Skimmer(Libellula quadrimaculata)
Common Whitetail(Libellua lydia)
Blue Dasher(Pachydiplax longipennis) 1 at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland
Variegated Meadowhawk(Sympetrum corruptum) 1 pair east of Elma near Cloquallum Creek
Cardinal Meadowhawk(Sympetrum illotum)



Good birding,

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










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