Hello Tweets,Oregon birders,etc.

Today Sam Agnew and my mother and I enjoyed a rather fantastic day checking several coastal locations between Midway Beach Rd. to Bay Center in Pacific Co.(Washington State)with a total of 100 species. We checked the North Cove location in search of the Black-tailed Gull on 4 separate occasions during the day,but were unable to locate the bird and overall Heermann's Gull numbers diminished greatly compared to our last visit(s)to the location. We managed to locate many highlights during the day despite not seeing the Black-tailed Gull,of which to be listed below. The weather remained very unstable throughout the day with moderate to heavy rain showers and clear,sunny skies at times,but nearly constant northerly winds. Unlike past visits we did not run into any birders during the day,but had a great day nonetheless and many species including raptors were in especially good numbers.

We began the windy day at 8am,where we arrived at North Cove and gull numbers were less than 30 birds until 15 to 20 minutes of waiting when gull numbers increased to 70+ birds. While waiting for gulls to possibly increase more we located a flock of mixed passerines across the highway at the Pioneer-North Cove Cemetery,which upon further searching produced a single Black-throated Gray Warbler and up to 6 Hutton's Vireos. This was actually one of our only songbird flocks we encountered during the day due to the windy weather,so it was worthwhile to check it thoroughly. After checking North Cove,we drove to Tokeland,where conditions windy but had little trouble locating the juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit,as it foraged at a distance with Marbled Godwits,30 Long-billed Curlews and other shorebirds along a muddy shoreline just north of the Tokeland Marina. We drove back to North Cove,where gull numbers remained few with a short visit made until we decided to drive to Midway Beach Rd. and checked the open,sandy beaches and sand dunes north of the dead end. We were able to locate up to 6 Snowy Plovers(with little effort),before we worked our way back to the vehicle then located a flock of 6 Snow Buntings as they flew in from the north,as they continued closer into view with exceptional lighting conditions. We continued watching the 6 Snow Buntings,as they flew closer to us at times,as well as foraged loosely amongst a scattered flock of shorebirds in a flooded portion bordering the sand dunes. We managed to obtain several photographs of at least 2 of the birds during the closest observations within 15 yards,but for the most part they remained very nervous and flighty. It was truly great to see this species again at Midway Beach Rd. after several years of not seeing them here and our first main highlight of the day! Upon arriving back to the vehicle we spotted a Red Phalarope fly in from an unknown location,as it flew into the flooded area at the end of the road obtaining great views of the bird for all of us along with several photographs too. We expected that this bird was brought in by the recent heavy coastal winds and perhaps other will be encountered from other coastal locations. We left the bird,as it actively foraged in typical phalarope fashion. We also watched an adult Peregrine Falcon pursue shorebird flocks along with a Merlin,which the latter species was seemingly intimidated by the Peregrine Falcon so it flew off to an unknown location. The Peregrine Falcon continued on several flocks of shorebirds,as it flew high into the air,then swooped down onto the flock in typical behavior,but the bird never caught a bird despite nearly 10 minutes of interaction.

At Tokeland the Bar-tailed Godwit was again easily located this time within the sheltered Tokeland Marina at very close range below the parking area along with up 1000+ Marbled Godwits,19 Willets and 1 Whimbrel that all covered the abandoned wooden dock and partial shoreline. From Tokeland we continued south towards Bay Center,where a quick check was made along Hwy.101 at Carruther's Slough(east of Bruceport)produced up to 10 Great Egrets foraging from several canal areas and 15 Greater White-fronted Geese amongst a larger flock of Canada Geese. Previously we located our first 2 Rough-legged Hawks of the day with a single bird observed along S.R.105 near the Raymond Airport and an additional bird noted along Hwy.101 west of South Bend with both birds observed actively hunting over large,open fields.

We drove to Bay Center just before a very heavy rain storm and located a few noteworthy species,beginning with a single Pacific Golden Plover observed amongst a small flock of 44 Black-bellied Plovers and 7 Dunlin along Bay Center Dike Rd.. The flock of birds were first located in a portion of the short-grassy pasture area south of the road until they lifted and flew out over the Palix River,where they later landed in floating vegetation bordering the river allowing limited scoping views of the birds. We located a much larger and separate flock of Black-bellied Plovers in the same pasture that contained 168 birds with 34 Dunlin. We also located an Am.Bittern that was noted flying in from the north over the Palix River to presumably land in one of several canals south of the road just before we began our drive north back to North Cove.

We arrived back at North Cove at 3:45pm,but upon our arrival NO gulls were encountered so we continued our way home. We made a short,brief stop along Ocosta Third Street near Bottle Beach,where we located a single Swamp Sparrow that was first heard,then well seen by us near the end of the road before it descends uphill bordering vast wetland areas. The bird called 3 times and we managed to get good,close looks at the bird before it descended back into thick Reed Canary Grass so a definite unexpected highlight for us all and our second personal record for the location! Continuing on our way home we made a our last stop of the day along Brady Loop Rd. then along Foster Rd.,where we added to our raptor numbers along with our 3rd Rough-legged Hawk for the day along Foster Rd. A list of other main highlights for the day(including raptor numbers)at selected locations include the following:

Red-necked Grebe
1 at the Tokeland Marina

Brown Pelican
8 off North Cove

"Dusky"Canada Goose
55+ along S.R.105 at Tokeland
45 along Hwy.101 east of Bruceport

"Cackling"Canada Goose
240+ birds in 3 separate flocks over North Cove

Common Goldeneye
1 at Bay Center

Ruddy Duck
3 at the South Bend STP(observed along Hwy.101 from the town of South Bend)

Bald Eagle
3 at North Cove
5 at Tokeland
4 at South Bend-Raymond
2 at Bay Center

Northern Harrier
2 at Bay Center
2 along Brady Loop Rd.

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 at Tokeland
1 at South Bend
1 along S.R.105 west of the Raymond Airport

Cooper's Hawk
1 along Midway Beach Rd.
1 at Tokeland
1 perched adult along Brady Loop Rd.

Red-tailed Hawk
3 at North Cove
2 at North Cove
2 at Tokeland
4 along S.R.105 near the Raymond Airport
2 along Brady Loop Rd.

Rough-legged Hawk
1 along S.R.105 near the Raymond Airport
1 along Hwy.101 west of South Bend
1 along Foster Rd.(Brady Loop Rd. complex)

Am.Kestrel
1 along S.R.105 near the Raymond Airport
1 along Hwy.101 at Mud Bay,Thurston Co.

Merlin
1 at North Cove
1 at Midway Beach Rd.
1 at Tokeland
1 at Raymond

Peregrine Falcon
5 at North Cove(including 1 adult of the tundra subspecies)
1 adult at Midway Beach Rd.
1 at Tokeland
1 along S.R.105 west of the North River
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Black-bellied Plover
23 at Tokeland
212 at Bay Center
15 along Brady Loop Rd.

Semipalmated Plover
2 at Midway Beach Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
2 along Hwy.101 west of South Bend

Sanderling
80 at North Cove
200+ at Midway Beach Rd.

Western Sandpiper
21 at Midway Beach Rd.

Least Sandpiper
240+ at Midway Beach Rd.

Dunlin
120+ at Tokeland
800+ at Midway Beach Rd.
41 at Bay Center

Long-billed Dowitcher
6 at the Tokeland Marina

Heermann's Gull
25 at North Cove

Herring Gull
4 at North Cove
1 at Midway Beach Rd.

Thayer's Gull
1 at North Cove

Caspian Tern
3 at North Cove
4 at Tokeland

Hairy Woodpecker
1 at North Cove

Pileated Woodpecker(last species of the day)
1 along Hwy.8 east of Elma

"Streaked"Horned Lark
30 at Midway Beach Rd.

Am.Pipit
48+ at Midway Beach Rd.


A great day at the coast,despite not seeing the Black-tailed Gull!




Good birding,


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