Hello Tweets and other birders,

Today after a great morning in our yard my mother and I ventured back to the Tokeland area,as well as checking several locations en route. The juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit was again noted and well observed and photographed during our visit to the Tokeland Marina between 1:45pm-2:35pm amongst a large flock of Marbled Godwits. We arrived at the Tokeland Marina and immediately located the Bar-tailed Godwit,as it rested fairly calmly on the old wooden dock at the south end of the sheltered marina area closest to the road and the bird at times shifted around on the dock amongst the buffy-colored Marbled Godwits. At times the bird fought with the Marbled Godwits for a resting place by "snapping" it's large bill at them,but this behavior didn't last too long and the bird eventually calmed down and rested,as well as preened too. We also noted that the bird's bill was seemingly longer than several nearby Marbled Godwits,which we did not notice in fine detail yesterday.The bird was also observed by Charlie Wright and Scott Downes,as well as another birder that showed up just before we left the location. Nonetheless,it was nice to see the bird again and hopefully many others will get a chance to see this bird,as it lingers. Another tight flock of Marbled Godwits was also noted with up to 14 Willets south of paved road restring along the remnants of a ramp attached to the large white building south of the Tokeland Marina.

Upon two separate searches today at North Cove we were unable to relocate the Black-tailed Gull,although gull numbers varied during both times and the bird may remain very elusive. Away from the Bar-tailed Godwit our other highlight of the day was actually while we were driving to North Cove after checking the Brady Loop Rd. complex. As we were driving along Hwy.12 approaching Aberdeen at the western edge of the Central Park a White-breasted Nuthatch flew north at very close range over our vehicle into a fairly dense ravine with houses nearby bordering Schrader Ln. The bird was well seen,as we continued west on Hwy.12 with the noticeable undulating flight pattern noted as it descended into the ravine showing obvious white underparts that were visible from underneath. The black cap was also observed,but we were unable to see any hint of rufous on the undertail coverts. The bird may be visiting a feeder in the immediate area since the surrounding region seemed very residential with mixed forest vegetation,or the bird could be a one day migrant. It was truly an extraordinary and unusual sighting given the location,being that there are less than 5 records known from Grays Harbor Co.! It is a species we have been looking for specifically in the Oakville area of eastern Grays Harbor Co. due to the relative local abundance of oak trees,which past records may have come from this region.

Our was actually very nice with sunny skies after leaving South Aberdeen,although at times conditions were quite windy,especially during our visit to Midway Beach Rd. between 3pm-4pm. Our last stop of the day was made at the Johns River WRA between 4:45pm-5:30pm with a walk made along the paved trail to the photo blind,then west along a grassy dike bordering the large,freshwater wetland to the south. Conditions at this location were quite poor due to bad lighting conditions and overall lack of shorebirds,but a few species of note were encountered. A list of additional highlights noted during the day included the following:


Common Loon
15 at Tokeland

Western Grebe
7 at Tokeland

Great Egret
2 along S.R.105 west of Bay City
3 along S.R.105 along the Elk River bridge at Bay City(South Bay)
1 at the Johns River WRA

Blue-winged Teal
1 at the Johns River WRA

Cinnamon Teal
2 at the Johns River WRA

Turkey Vulture
5 along Brady Loop Rd.
7 at Tokeland
1 along S.R.105 at Bay City
2 along S.R.105 west of the Johns River

Northern Harrier
2 at Midway Beach Rd.
1 at the Johns River WRA

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 along S.R.105 west of South Aberdeen

Am.Kestrel
6 along the Brady Loop Rd. complex(including 1 along Shafer Boom Rd.)

Merlin
1 at the Johns River WRA

Peregrine Falcon
1 adult at the Johns River WRA

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 female(hen)along Brady Loop Rd.

Black-bellied Plover
2 at Graveyard Spit(Tokeland)
3 at Midway Beach Rd.

Pacific Golden Plover
2 juvenile birds at Midway Beach Rd.

Snowy Plover
2 at Midway Beach Rd.

Semipalmated Plover
25 at Midway Beach Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
17 at the Johns River WRA

Whimbrel
4 at Graveyard Spit

Pectoral sandpiper
8 at Midway Beach Rd.

Long-billed Dowitcher
4+ at the Johns River WRA

Mew Gull
1 at Tokeland

Caspian Tern
27 at Graveyard Spit

"Streaked"Horned Lark
4 at Midway Beach Rd.

Western Scrub Jay
3 along Hwy.12 at Elma
2 along Hwy.12 at Satsop
1 along hwy.12 at Brady
1 along Hwy.12 west of Montesano

Am.Pipit
5 at Midway Beach Rd.
20 at the Johns River WRA



Good birding,

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