Birders,

Four Kelowna, BC birders (myself, Trevor Forder, Ryan Tomlinson and Richard
Mooney) made a trip to the Ocean Shores / Westport area of Washington over
the Labor Day weekend. Our trip was fantastic. The weather cooperated,
although more clould would have been ideal for sea watching. We had no rain,
lots of sun and nice temperatures. We left Kelowna on Friday night after
work and drove all the way to Everett.

Saturday

We left Everett and drove through the sprawl of Seattle, noting few birds
until the coniferous woods E. of Aberdeen. As we drove along the highway we
saw WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS and BAND-TAILED PIGEONS. A stop along Summit Lake
Road off Hwy 8 produced a calling NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL, some BROWN CREEPERS
and RED CROSSBILLS amongst other birds.

Our first coastal stop was at Bowerman Basin, but the tide was way out so
birds were few and far between. On the flats we did get a few SEMIPALMATED
PLOVERS, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS and LEAST SANDPIPERS. The
trees along the boardwalk produced YELLOW WARBLERS, COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, a
WILLOW FLYCATCHER, 2 BEWICK'S WRENS and overhead 5 VAUX'S SWIFTS.

Point Brown in Ocean Shores was most productive despite hordes of beach
bumming people. The rock jetty was crawling with birds including 5 WANDERING
TATTLERS, 25 BLACK TURNSTONES and 20 SURFBIRDS. Offshore the waters were
alive with WESTERN GULLS, BROWN PELICANS, COMMON MURRE, RHINOCEROS AUKLET,
PELAGIC CORMORANT, SURF SCOTER, and CASPIAN TERNS.

We walked out past the pond on Damon Point in Ocean Shores and enjoyed some
excellent birds also. On the small pond was a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER as well
as thousands of WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS. At the end of the paved road
the beach had 7 juv. BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS, all of which approached to
within 20 feet of at least 8 birders, many armed with cameras. In amongst
them were 3 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS. Back near the parking lot the muddy beach
had 2 SANDERLINGS and 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, while the waters off the W.
side of the point had a breeding plumage RED-THROATED LOON.

At Bill's Spit we watched as thousands of WESTERN SANDPIPERS wheeled in the
air as an imm. PEREGRINE FALCON was in chase. Also there were 3 BLACK
TURNSTONES. We spent the night in Ocean Shores.

Sunday

Our first stop was at Ocean City State Park in Ocean Shores where we
searched for passerines. Our attempt turned up 8 EVENING GROSBEAKS, a DOWNY
WOODPECKER, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, SWAINSON'S THRUSH and 3 male WOOD
DUCKS. As we passed by Johns River we noted our first GREAT EGRET feeding in
the mud below the bridge.

While stopped at a gas station in Grayland we had the fortune to meet up
with Ruth and Patrick Sullivan who happily toured us around the area for the
rest of the day. Our group was grateful to them for letting us tag along on
an exciting day of birding.

Our first stop was at the Johns River Wildlife Recreation Area where the
Sullivan's led us to a juv. RUFF they found the previous day. We watched the
RUFF, a lifer for 2 of our group, as it fed in the shallow puddles. Other
shorebirds in that area included PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHERS, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS, WILSON'S SNIPE
and LEAST SANDPIPER.

At the Tokeland Marina the sight off up to 500 MARBLED GODWITS perched on
the dock was unforgettable. A juv. HUDSONIAN GODWIT amongst the crowd, most
easily picked out in flight by its white rump and white wing stripe, was
very cool. As it sat amongst the crowd it was more difficult to pick out by
its paler breast, pale supercilium and smaller size. Also at the marina were
2 WHIMBREL and 5 WILLETS. As we drove to North Cove we sighted a gorgeous
adult PEREGRINE FALCON perched on a snag alongside Hwy 105.

Bottle Beach at high tide had some shorebirds including nearly 200
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, a BLACK TURNSTONE, some WESTERN SANDPIPERS and LEAST
SANDPIPERS and a small number of SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS.

At North Cove we spent much of the day in search of the Black-tailed Gull,
but never found it. The Sullivan's had seen in the night before, however.
>From the beach at North Cove we scanned through hundreds of WESTERN,
CALIFORNIA and HEERMAN'S GULLS to no avail. Offshore were 20 or so SOOTY
SHEARWATERS, 50+ BROWN PELICANS, 4 PACIFIC LOONS and 15 COMMON MURRES.
We spent the night in Shelton.

Monday

We awoke to fog and cool temperatures. Our drive was a scenic one along Hwy
101 from Shelton to Port Townsend. Regular stops along the highway produced
SPOTTED TOWHEE, COMMON MERGANSER, PILEATED and HAIRY WOODPECKERS and other
birds.

We spent some time watching seabirds from Fort Worden State Park in Port
Townsend. Not far offshore was a large feeding flock of GLAUCOUS-WINGED,
CALIFORNIA and HEERMAN'S GULLS as well as a tight flock of BONAPARTE'S GULLS
and 5 COMMON TERNS. An adult light morph PARASITIC JAEGER screamed onto the
scene putting the birds up and thrilling the birders watching from the
shore. The pointy central retrices were easily seen when the bird banked.
Also seen were many RHINOCEROS AUKLETS close to shore. Some had the orange
bills and white whiskers of adults while others had dark bills and were
juveniles. Other birds seen from the park included PIGEON GUILLEMOT, SURF
SCOTER, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, COMMON MURRE, PACIFIC LOON, WHIMBREL, BRANDT'S
CORMORANT, PELAGIC CORMORANT and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.

Our ferry ride from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island was very uneventful
other than a few PIGEON GUILLEMOTS, some COMMON MURRES and RHINOCEROS
AUKLETS. Once on the island we checked Crockett Lake and found a few
shorebirds including a breeding plumage BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, thousands of
WESTERN SANDPIPERS, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER and some LEAST SANDPIPERS. An imm.
PEREGRINE FALCON was also terrorizing shorebirds here. Thirty CASPIAN TERNS
were perched in the middle of the lake and 3 HORNED LARKS landed on the
highway.

Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island also produced some interesting
passerines including a HUTTON'S VIREO, BEWICK'S WREN, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER,
WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER and 2 calling GREAT HORNED
OWLS.

Our final stop was at Cheam Wetlands near Chilliwack, BC. A few more
passerines were found here including 2 nice BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS and
2 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS.

It was a great trip and nice to meet some Washington birders as well.

Sincerely,

Chris Charlesworth
Avocet Tours
725 Richards Road
Kelowna, BC
V1X 2X5
(250) 718-0335
tours at avocettours.com
www.avocettours.com

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