Tweeters,

Yesterday evening, I had very close looks at a juvenile PACIFIC GOLDEN-
PLOVER on the south side of Semiahmoo Spit. (Semiahmoo Spit is a
Blaine city park, on the west side of the entrance to Drayton Harbor). The
bird was associating with a couple of Killdeer on the gravelly beach about
halfway out the spit. I observed it for more than 15 minutes at distances
as close as 10 meters. Although this species can be tough to tell from
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, the ID was not difficult at this range.
The bird had a lot of yellowish color around the head and the nape;
the legs appeared relatively long and most importantly, the wing-tips
barely projected beyond the end of the tail. (They usually project well
beyond in American Golden-Plovers).

This was a "first" for me in Whatcom County, although I'm sure they are a
regular fall migrant here.

Also of interest at Semiahmoo Spit were:

Mew Gull 25 on the beach
Bonaparte's Gull 150 on the water
Caspian Tern 10
Common Tern 2


The "golf course slough" at the end of Decatur Drive (N end of Lummi Bay)
was a complete "bust". Total count of shorebird in 2 visits: 9 LEAST
SANDPIPERS and 1 WESTERN SANDPIPER. This may have something
to do with the MERLIN that came screaming by during my first visit. I have
seen this MERLIN at the slough every day that I've been there. Maybe the
shorebirds have just decided to go somewhere that's safer!

At the base of the Lummi aquaculture dyke (permit from tribe required),
I had a bit better luck, although numbers were still small:

Greater Yellowlegs 5
Lesser Yellowlegs 9
Least Sandpiper 25
Western Sandpiper 4
Baird's Sandpiper 5 juv.
Peep species 40 (flying in distance)
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Red-necked Phalarope 1

There were also a few returning ducks (total of about 30): GREEN-WINGED
TEAL, NORTHERN PINTAIL, and NORTHERN SHOVELER.


Good luck and good birding,

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net