Hello Tweets,

This afternoon we enjoyed a leisurely time birding from several Mason Co. destinations beginning at the public dock at Allyn and ending the day along the Hood Canal just south of the town of Union. It was an enjoyable afternoon with several highlights and the weather was superb compared to the past few days! Our main highlight was the ROCK SANDPIPER previously reported yesterday by Bill Shelmerdine at Potlatch State Park. We viewed the bird between 2pm-3pm resting amongst a flock of 30 Dunlin atop a floating dock immediately north of Potlatch S.P. The flock never flew off the floating structure,but the Rock Sandpiper was clearly visible in our spotting scopes,as being much darker overall than the Dunlin,as well as showing heavy streaking on the sides and flanks. The bird remained resting nearly the entire time we viewed it,but occasionally held it's head up showing us it's bicolored bill and at times we could also see the dull yellow legs. It was a great bird for this location and a big thanks to Bill for finding and reporting this bird for anyone that keeps a Mason Co. list,which highly appears to be a first record for that county. Our only other highlight noted from the Skokomish River Delta was 3 Harlequin Ducks observed just south of the salmon collection site just south of Potlatch S.P.,where the foraged amongst other waterfowl along the southern shoreline of Annas Bay.A single Northern Harrier was observed hunting over the vast estuary-type habitat as viewed from the eastern portion of the Skokomish River Delta along S.R.106. Away from the resting Dunlin flock we located no other Dunlins at the nearby Skokomish River Delta. We carefully scanned several portion of the Skokomish River Delta from both Hwy.101 and S.R.106,but like Bill were unable to relocate any Snowy Owls,but plenty of white gulls. We also saw a couple of people walking along the shoreline with a dog,so we wonder if this land is public or private property due to it maybe being Indian-owned land. It seems like it would be interesting to walk the shoreline,but perhaps a sea kayak like Bill mentioned earlier would be the better bet for viewing purposes.Our only other Dunlins of the day were noted along S.R.3/106 at Lynch Cove just south of Belfair with up to 40 birds noted foraging along limited shoreline.

Our other highlight of the afternoon was a beautiful adult male LONG-TAILED DUCK observed on our way home along S.R.106 just south of the town of Union. This although not a very rare species for this area made a nice way to end our day and somewhat of a surprise for us. The bird was amongst a very large gathering of White-winged and Surf Scoters,Common Goldeneyes and Buffleheads,as observed from a safe pull-off a short ways north of an Espresso stand along S.R.106. Other noteworthy species encountered from this location included the following waterbird species:

5 Red-throated Loons
2 Eared Grebes
300+ "Black"Brant
18 Canvasbacks

Overall good numbers of waterbirds are quite apparent along the southern portion of Hood Canal,as you drive between the town of Union and Belfair and a few pull-offs are noted,as well as additional checking made from Twanoh State Park. A quick check of this waterfront park this afternoon produced a single Eared Grebe,as well as 45 Western Grebes. Both goldeneye species are quite abundant,as are both White-winged and Surf Scoters and although Black Scoters are around too we did not encounter any today or during our last visit to this area.

Earlier in the day our excursion began at the town of Allyn,where we scoped North Bay from the base of the public fishing dock. As we arrived to this location a group of 4 TRUMPETER SWANS flew fairly low overhead before continuing to the south to unknown locations. All the birds appeared to be adults and called almost constantly until they were too far to hear. It was a nice way to begin our Mason Co. afternoon for the location although this species occurs quite uncommonly from a few other Mason Co. locations such as the Skokomish River Valley. A careful scoping of North Bay soon produced a few other notable sightings including 4 Red-throated Loons,2 PACIFIC LOONS,and 43 Eared Grebes that were all tallied amongst much more common waterbird species.

Other noteworthy species of the day to and from destinations included the following:

Merlin
2 near Purdy,Pierce Co.
1 along S.R.106 north of Union

Pileated Woodpecker
1 along S.R.302 near Victor



Good birding,

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