Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I birded a familiar coastal route(Grays Harbor and Pacific Cos.)beginning at the Johns River WRA,then continuing to Westport then south to Tokeland and ending the day by walking the open beaches at Midway Beach Rd. The weather remained fairly good throughout the day until near the end of the day when drizzle/ heavy mist moved in along the coast at Midway Beach Rd. Our main highlight that we encountered during the day was an adult Red-shouldered Hawk at the Johns River WRA(accessed from S.R.105 at Markham). The bird was immediately observed upon our arrival at 9:45am at the main parking lot at the Johns River WRA,as the bird perched atop a Red Alder tree along the north side of the Johns River opposite the main parking lot,where we both stood. The bird remained perched atop the tree for nearly 5 minutes before dropping downward and a check of the exact location soon afterward proved unsuccessful in relocating the bird. Nevertheless,it was an exciting bird to see and we expect this is most likely the same individual than we observed last fall on the 5th of September,2004,where it remained for at least a week off and on at this same location. This bird was also noted on the Grays Harbor CBC on the 26th of December,as an adult bird.

>From the Johns River WRA we continued westward onto Westport,as we checked the Westport Marina area,as well as Westhaven State Park. After Westport we continued south to North Cove,then onto Tokeland during incoming tide. We ended our coastal excursion by covering the open beaches and dunes of Midway Beach Rd. fairly extensively with large concentrations of Dunlin consisting of 8,000+ birds with smaller numbers of Least and Western Sandpipers. Our main highlight while walking the open beaches was tallying up to 54 Snowy Plovers,which was a personal high count for us at this location. The main group of Snowy Plovers occurred foraging along the surf with Sanderlings,as well as along the tide line and upper beach areas. Our last stop of the day was made along Brady Loop Rd. at 4pm that hosted a few additional species to our day list,as the drizzle seemed to eventually follow us from the coast.

A list of our main highlights encountered at selected locations and times follows below:


Madrona Beach Rd./Mud Bay Rd.(Mud Bay)Thurston Co. 8:20am-8:40am

1 Barrow's Goldeneye
13 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Spotted Sandpiper

Johns River WRA,Grays Harbor Co. 9:45am-10:10am


1 adult Red-shouldered Hawk
10 Greater Yellowlegs
2 Spotted Sandpipers
4 Western Sandpipers
9 Least Sandpipers
35 Dunlin
3 Barn Swallows
1 Western Meadowlark
2 Purple Finches


S.R.105 at Bay City(Elk River Bridge) 10:20am-10:25am

25 Black-bellied Plovers
1,200+ Dunlin


Westport(including the Westport Marina and Westhaven State Park) 11am-12:20pm

5 Red-throated Loons
1 Western/Clark's Grebe intergrade
This individual was observed and photographed in the immediate enclosed marina area and showed distinguishing field marks of both species,including the noticeable orange-yellow bill of a Clark's Grebe,but the bird showed one side that was clearly pale gray and the other side clearly dark gray that was very evident. The red eye appeared within the dusky gray area above the white face and below the blackish cap.

5 Western Grebes
3 Red-necked Grebes
3 Black Scoters
1 first-year male Barrow's Goldeneye
13 Marbled Godwits
30 Black Turnstones
15 Surfbirds
18 Rock Sandpipers
45 Sanderlings
260+ Least Sandpipers
45+ Black-legged Kittiwakes
10 Yellow-rumped"Myrtle" Warblers


Tokeland,Pacific Co. 1pm-1:30pm

3 Red-throated Loons
15 Red-necked Grebes
6 Western Grebes
55+ "Black"Brant(in Willapa Bay)
3 Northern Harriers
1 adult Cooper's Hawk
48+ Black-bellied Plovers
18 Willets
2 Whimbrel
850+ Marbled Godwits
38+ Least Sandpipers
220+ Dunlin
4 Long-billed Dowitchers


Midway Beach Rd. 1:50pm-3pm

1 Common Goldeneye
2 Northern Harriers
1 Peregrine Falcon
54 Snowy Plovers
16 Semipalmated Plovers
62 Sanderlings
108+ Western Sandpipers
540+ Least Sandpipers
8,000+ Dunlin
8 "Streaked"Horned Larks


Hwy.12 west of Montesano 3:50pm

1 adult dark-morph "Harlan's"Red-tailed Hawk(observed perched atop a Red Alder Tree along the Wynoochee River)


Brady Loop Rd.,Grays Harbor Co. 4pm-4:20pm

2 Tundra Swans
5 Trumpeter Swans
40 Cackling Geese
3 Northern Harriers
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Rough-legged Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel


Hwy.12 at MP 16.8(near Satsop) 4:30pm

3 Tundra Swans
28 Trumpeter Swans
1 Am.Kestrel


Good birding,

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