Hello Tweets and other birders,

Today my mother and I birded a usual coastal route between Bottle Beach to Tokeland along with a few additional areas including a productive morning visit along the Brady Loop Rd. complex. Our main highlight was an active,roaming pure flock of 30 Mountain Chickadees near the Tokeland Marina at Tokeland at 1:30pm. The bird were observed in the same vicinity than we observed 2 Mountain Chickadees on the 2nd of October,as this afternoon they roamed in a rather tight flock through stands of pine trees scattered along the main road. The birds were also heard and didn't seem agitated by efforts of "pishing" or imitations of Northern Pygmy Owl and it was truly a sight to see for this coast location. The weather were excellent with calm conditions and seemingly balmy temperatures! We managed to watch the of Mountain Chickadees,as they proceeded along the road heading away from the marina until they began to separate on both sides of the road if different directions surrounded by homes. We left Tokeland,then returned 30 minutes later and were unable to relocate the main flock of Mountain Chickadees,but walking a side road near the marina were able to locate a single seemingly exhausted Mountain Chickadee that presumably flew in from nearby Willapa Bay to the east. The bird landed and rested for several minutes at close range before continuing on towards larger stands of trees and other vegetation. During both visits the Mountain Chickadees were viewed by other observed even prior to our visit earlier in the day,so perhaps they may linger or decide to migrate to another coastal location. Nonetheless,it was exciting to watch the birds and upon locating the birds at Tokeland checked other locations further north in Grays Harbor Co.,which proved unsuccessful until we made a last minute decision to check an area near the Johns River WRA on our way home. We pulled off of S.R.105 east of the Johns River,where access is obtainable by permit only near a gun club and immediate heard a calling Mountain Chickadee! The bird was never seen,as we tried very hard to get the bird to come closer by "pishing" etc.,but the bird just kept calling for a few more minutes fairly high in a stand of Red Alder and a few stands of conifer trees. It was a totally unexpected observation given the more deciduous habitat than at Tokeland and nonetheless exciting having Mountain Chickadee in both Pacific and Grays Harbor Cos.

Throughout the day we ran into many birders from most locations,including at Bottle Beach,North Cove and at Tokeland and to our knowledge the Black-tailed Gull was NOT seen today with much effort made by a several birders at North Cove beginning at or around 8:30am. We checked the North Cove location during two occasion to and from Tokeland and also were unable to see the bird and lighting conditions seemed very poor with hazy conditions,etc. making viewing at times very difficult,especially later into the afternoon. Hopefully the Black-tailed Gull sightings will continue whether good or bad from North Cove,as birders continue to look for it.

The juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit was again located and well observed this afternoon at close range at the Tokeland Marina during slowly outgoing tide. We arrived at the Tokeland Marina at 1:15pm and immediately located the bird,as it rested calmly within the marina along the muddy shoreline near a parking area allowing great views of the bird and additional photographs to be obtained amongst Marbled Godwits. We returned to the Tokeland Marina shortly after 2pm and again located the Bar-tailed Godwit from the same location and we are aware that other birders observed the bird during the day too.Up to 3 Palm Warblers were encountered immediately west of the Tokeland Marina with 2 birds observed together in a rather extensive Scot's Broom thicket bordering Emerson Rd.,then a single Palm Warbler observed near the end of a gravel road south of Emerson Rd. At least 2 of the birds were observed by other birders with the 3 bird proving tougher to view staying in thicker cover.

A visit to Bottle Beach at 11:30am proved good with a nice variety of shorebirds observed at close range,including a single juvenile Pacific Golden Plover and up to 4 Red Knots. A morning visit along the Brady Loop Rd. complex produced the 2 Sandhill Cranes previous reported by Carol Boyer and Tim O'Brien yesterday,which easily visible foraging in a recently harvested corn field along the western portion of Brady Loop Rd. Other highlights noted during the day include the following from selected locations:

Red-throated Loon
1 off North Cove

Common Loon
5 off North Cove
18 at Tokeland

Horned Grebe
15 at Tokeland

Eared Grebe
1 at Tokeland

Western Grebe
7 off North Cove

Brown Pelican
4 off Midway Beach Rd.
15 off North Cove
6 at Tokeland
65 at Westport

Am.Bittern
1 along Foster Rd.(Brady Loop Rd. complex)

Great Egret
10 along S.R.105 at the Elk River bridge(Bay City)

Greater White-fronted Goose
65+ flying south over the western portion of Brady Loop Rd.

"Cackling"Canada Goose
28 flying south over the Johns River WRA

Red-breasted Merganser
1 at Tokeland

Turkey Vulture
1 at Bottle Beach

Northern Harrier
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Am.Kestrel
5 along the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Merlin
1 along Hwy.12 at Satsop

Peregrine Falcon
1 at Midway Beach Rd.

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Black-bellied Plover
210 at Bottle Beach

Whimbrel
3 at the Tokeland Marina

Long-billed Curlew
10 at Graveyard Spit(Tokeland)

Marbled Godwit
2 at Bottle Beach
650+ at Tokeland

Black Turnstone
7 at Bottle Beach

Sanderling
130+ at Bottle Beach

Western Sandpiper
380+ at Bottle Beach

Least Sandpiper
8 at Midway Beach Rd.

Dunlin
120+ at Bottle Beach

Long-billed Dowitcher
24 at Bottle Beach

Wilson's Snipe
1 at Midway Beach Rd.

Mourning Dove
25 along Hwy.12 east of Satsop

Red-breasted Sapsucker
5 at Tokeland

"Streaked"Horned Lark
2 at Midway Beach Rd.

Western Scrub Jay
1 along Hwy.12 at Elma
4 along Brady Loop Rd.
1 along S.R.105 at Grayland,Grays Harbor Co.

Am.Pipit
8 along Foster Rd.

Savannah Sparrow
7 along the Brady loop Rd. complex
5 at Midway Beach Rd.

Western Meadowlark
2 along Foster Rd.

Purple Finch
8+ at Bottle Beach



Good birding,

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