Tired of looking at the inside of clouds up here on Bear Ridge I ventured
out to the store via the scenic (read: long) route through Tahuya. My goal
was to check over every dunlin at Menard's Landing park and the Rendsland
Creek estuary (Port of Tahuya park mentioned in my earlier post).

The tide was well in with a tiny but growing rocky island mid-creek as I
arrived. Again I was greeted by fox, song and gold-crowned sparrows and a
ruby-crowned kinglet from the bushes and trees as I meandered out to where
the dunlin were hanging about. As the water level lowered the dunlin
flitted from the west side of the creek to the emerging gravel bar, each
announcing its arrival. After checking the flock of around 300 dunlin four
times I could not make any of them into a rock sandpiper. Oh well. After
checking on the mergansers (common and red-necked), Golden-eye (Barrow's and
common) and wigeons I headed up to Belfair.

On the way I stopped briefly at Belfair State Park. The usual mobs of ducks
and waterfowl were in good supply off shore while wigeons and gulls grazed
the rocky creek outlet. What caught my eye though was a lone figure on the
edge of some submerged grass in the wading pond. At first my eyes thought
it to be just an outcast mew gull until I took more time and looked at the
details. After checking eye and bill size I realized it was a plover.....
After checking two bird guides and spending a good five minutes scrutinizing
this plump plover (temp was in the low 30's so I'd be plumped up too if I
was standing up to my ankles in water) I decided it was a black-bellied
plover. The eye-brow line was very indistinct and showed mostly slighty
above and behind the eye. After watching me for those minutes it flew off
toward the creek outlet letting out a typical plover call. Having my cd's
handy I was able to confirm the call as being for a black-bellied plover.
It did not appear to be injured, maimed or ill at all. Maybe it's been
hanging out with the snowy owls and just now got here. Guess someone has to
be last in migration.

>From the Allyn dock on North Shore Rd. you can see a mixed flock of surf and
white-winged scoters. scaups, mallards, mergansers and buffleheads. The
raft of birds stretches easily a quarter mile or more. Watching the
interactions and choreographed movements of this mass of birdlife can be
mesmerizing as the movement to and fro is constant. And the posturing
between species and sexes has all the imagery of a junior high school
dance......

Time to go call my birding friend in Wisconsin.....

Mary Hrudkaj
N. Mason County
hrudkajm at hotmail.com