On Sunday, August 14th, Heather and I kayaked from Luhr Beach across the
estuary of the Nisqually River to the Pierce county side. We went out
about 2 hours before high tide, which helped compress the shorebirds into a
much smaller area of mudflats.

We saw about 600 peeps, we guessed at about 60% Western Sandpipers and 40%
Least Sandpipers. The Westerns appeared to be mostly juveniles, while the
there was a mix of adult and juvenile Least.

Highlights - on the last little bay on the Pierce county side, we found two
juvenile Baird's Sandpipers and one Semipalmated Sandpiper. By this time
the tide was pushing everything up on the tips of land and we could float
right up next to them. It is truly magical to be looking at these wondrous
creatures at eye level from 10' away. It never ceases to amaze me.

Question? There was a huge flock of a least 300 Mergansers in the middle
of the bay - way too far away for binoculars in a moving kayak to pin down
species. I didn't see any males in the flock, just females and juveniles.
Has anyone been able to see this incredible group at closer range?

Good Birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma, WA
marcus.d.roening at gsk.com