Hello Tweets and other birders,

Today my mother and I birded several areas between the Johns River WRA to Tokeland with several highlights, of which our main highlight of the day was the Black-tailed Gull that was observed between 1:15pm-1:50pm at North Cove(accessed along S.R.105 directly across from the Pioneer-North Cove Cemetery). The bird was observed well and photographed amongst a large group of resting and preening gulls of approximately 700+ birds,which primarily contained Heermann's and California Gulls. The Black-tailed Gull was initially located immediately upon our arrival to the location,as we scanned carefully through the gull flocks,as we scoped from the parking area above the main beach area below. We walked down onto the lower beach area,where the Black-tailed Gull allowed further and closer views at safe distances. The flock eventually lifted and scattered by an unknown source with some of the gulls flying west out into the Pacific Ocean. The Black-tailed Gull was refound after 10 minutes of searching along the immediate shoreline amongst other gulls,as we watched the bird preen,forage,and rest along the beach until 1:45pm when the bird flew off by itself into the ocean. We watched the bird fly and circle around several times before landing in the water approximately 40 yards offshore,where we left the bird at 1:50pm. Overall the bird was far more crisp in plumage than our last personal observation of the bird on the 3rd of September,as we noted a cleaner,more distinct hood followed by a seemingly darker mantle along with an obvious broad black band on the tail bordered by a very thin white along the extreme edging of the tail. It was truly exciting to see this bird again after over 3 weeks and the bird seems just as comfortable than in past visits,so hopefully it will continue at this location for a lengthy stay. It is definitely one bird we cannot get enough to see,which make our 6th observation to date with 3 misses.

Away from the Black-tailed Gull our other highlight of the day was a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit at the Tokeland Marina amongst a very large flock of 700+ Marbled Godwits from 4:30pm-4:45pm during outgoing tide. This individual was actually observed earlier in the day by Carol Schulz and a group of other birders around 1pm and we were given the information by Carol during a visit at Midway Beach Rd.,in which she informed us of the sighting. We checked the Tokeland Marina earlier in the day between 2pm-2:30pm,but noted only 350+ Marbled Godwits and of course NO Bar-tailed Godwit,so after talking with her at Midway Beach Rd. we quickly drove back to Tokeland and immediately relocated the Bar-tailed Godwit at the Tokeland Marina,as it actively foraged,preened and bathed amongst the very large flock of Marbled Godwits at very close range,allowing many photographs to be obtained of the bird for documentation. We continued watching the Bar-tailed Godwit,until it flew off with a small flock of Marbled Godwits to another sheltered area within the marina to feed showing us the dark brown back and upperwings,as well as the distinctive barred white rump. A very striking and obvious bird! A very BIG thank you again to Carol for informing us of this sighting,as it was definitely a bird we had anticipated for the day!

Our day actually began and remained very slow until we saw the Black-tailed Gull at North Cove after 1pm,as earlier in the day we checked areas further north including the Johns River WRA,Bottle Beach and a short,brief visit to the Westport Marina all during incoming tide. Our most productive visit of the day was made at Midway Beach Rd. with a generous and thorough walk made only north of the end of the road,which hosted several highlights including 5 juvenile Pacific Golden Plovers, 17 Snowy Plovers,and up to 3 Lapland Longspurs among a few additional species. After Tokeland we stopped along Brady Loop Rd. on our way home at 5:45pm and observed 4 Sandhill Cranes foraging in a freshly harvested corn field,which made a good end to the day.

A list of additional highlights encountered during the day include the following from selected locations:

Horned Grebe
22 at Tokeland

Great Egret
1 at the Johns River WRA
1 at Tokeland
7 along S.R.105 at the Elk River bridge(South Bay)

Eurasian/Am.Wigeon hybrid
1 amongst a large flock of Am.Wigeon and Northern Pintails at Bottle Beach

Surf Scoter
102 off Bottle Beach
95+ at Tokeland

Turkey Vulture
5 at Tokeland
1 at Midway Beach Rd.
2 along S.R.105 at Bottle Beach
2 along Brady Loop Rd.

Osprey
1 at North Cove

Northern Harrier
2 at Midway Beach Rd.

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 at Bottle Beach
1 at Tokeland

Cooper's Hawk
1 at the Johns River WRA
2 at Westport
1 along S.R.105 at Grayland

Am.Kestrel
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Merlin
1 at the Johns River WRA
1 at Midway Beach Rd.
1 at Tokeland

Peregrine Falcon
2 at the Johns River WRA

Black-bellied Plover
154 at Bottle Beach
7 at Midway Beach Rd.

Semipalmated Plover
1 at the Johns River WRA
27 at Midway Beach Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
1 at Bottle Beach
14 at the Johns River WRA(with 2 Lesser Yellowlegs)

Willet
20 at the Tokeland Marina

Spotted Sandpiper
1 at the Johns River WRA

Whimbrel
2 at Midway Beach Rd.
12 at Tokeland

Long-billed Curlew
5 at Tokeland

Marbled Godwit
350+ at the Tokeland Marina at 2pm,with 700+ there at 4:30pm
4 at Midway Beach Rd.

Black Turnstone
7 at Bottle Beach

Sanderling
12 at Bottle Beach

Western Sandpiper
240+ at Bottle Beach
1 at Midway Beach Rd.

Least Sandpiper
40+ at Bottle Beach
13 at the Johns River WRA

Pectoral Sandpiper
7 at the Johns River WA
5 at Midway Beach Rd.

Dunlin
10 at Bottle Beach

Long-billed Dowitcher
37 at the Johns River WRA
1 at Bottle Beach

Wilson's Snipe
4 at the Johns River WRA

Mew Gull
3 at Tokeland

Caspian Tern
3 at Tokeland

Rufous Hummingbird
1 at Bottle Beach

Red-breasted Sapsucker
2 at Bottle Beach

Hairy Woodpecker
1 at North Cove

Pileated Woodpecker
1 at Tokeland

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
1 at Bottle Beach

"Streaked"Horned Lark
7 at Midway Beach Rd.

Violet-green Swallow
65+ along Hwy.8(at the Grays Harbor-Thurston Co. line)

Am.Pipit
75+ at Midway Beach Rd.

Hutton's Vireo
2 at Tokeland

Orange-crowned Warbler
1 at North Cove
1 at Tokeland

Yellow Warbler
6 at Bottle Beach
1 at North Cove
3 at Tokeland

Common Yellowthroat
7 at Bottle Beach
2 at the Johns River WRA

Wilson's Warbler
1 at Tokeland

White-thoated Sparrow
1 white-striped adult bird at Bottle Beach(with Golden-crowned Sparrows)



Good birding,

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