Hello Tweets,

Today my mother and I observed an adult light-morph Swainson's Hawk along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.(north of Gillis Rd.)between 10:30am-11:30am,which adds to the remarkable list of highlights observed along Brady Loop Rd. this spring. The bird was initially noted in flight flying northward from the direction of the Satsop Nuclear Plant"cooling tanks" above the Chehalis River,as we drove southward along Brady Loop Rd. The bird continued northward showing the partial dihedral diagnostic of the species along with narrow,pointed wings with crisp white underparts and a solid chestnut-rufous area on the upper breast turning darker on the head. We turned around and followed the bird northward along Brady Loop Rd. until it descended and finally landed onto a fencepost within a large recently plowed field. We immediately obtained good scoping views of the bird,as it rested on the wooded fencepost at a distance,until the bird moved to another fencepost further west in the same plowed field. The bird at this time remained perched on the this fencepost for 15 minutes along the western border of the plowed field,which was furthest from the main road where we stood. The bird yielded crisp plumage characteristics including the dark rufous head bordered by the lighter rufous-colored upper breast contrasting to the white underparts,belly,face and throat. The yellow cere on the bill was also well visible in our spotting scope,as the bird on the ground and on fenceposts. At this time we obtained a few photographs of the bird until the bird moved to the plowed dirt on the ground and moved 4 separate times within the field and is assumed it caught a few tidbits,but it still remained at a distance as we stood in intermittent rain showers. Eventually the bird lifted and flew upward into the sky,as it continued north towards Hwy.12. We immediately followed the bird as it flew then finally began to soar several times along the northern portion of Brady Loop Rd. near it's intersection with Hwy.12. The bird continued northward as we watched it continue to soar over Hwy.12 with a nearby Osprey towards the town of Brady and presumably even further north along a wind drift with threatening clouds behind it. It was truly an unexpected sighting for this location and our 3rd personal record for western WA and no doubt one of very few records for Grays Harbor Co!

Away from the Swainson's Hawk our other main highlight during our extensive visit along Brady Loop Rd. was a single Vesper Sparrow also observed along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. along a fenceline just north of Gillis Rd.,which represented our personal first record for Grays Harbor Co. Other highlights noted along the Brady Loop Rd. complex included the following:


1 Pied-billed Grebe
6 Wood Ducks
1 pair of Blue-winged Teal
22 Turkey Vultures
2 Osprey
4 Northern Harriers
1 Cooper's Hawk
5 Am.Kestrels
2 Ring-necked Pheasants
1 Sora(heard only)
4 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Whimbrel
1 Mourning Dove
1 Western Wood Pewee
4 Pacific-slope Flycatchers
2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
5 Western Scrub Jays
3 Swainson's Thrushes
15 Cedar Waxwings
4 Warbling Vireos
5 Yellow Warblers
2 Wilson's Warblers
8 Red Crossbills

Mammal highlights:

1 Coyote


After birding Brady Loop Rd. we drove to Grayland along S.R.105,where we ran into Matt Bartels and after 15 minutes of waiting at the Beachcomber Market and DeliMart observed the Northern Mockingbird between 2:45pm-3:45pm,as it remained quiet elusive and less vocal that previous visits. We watched the bird mainly in several tree within the housing area just south of the DeliMart,where it moved from tree to tree and casually continued to mimic calls of other birds. Conditions were quite windy and we felt fortunate to see the bird again,which was one of Matt's target birds fore the day! 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk,2 Orange-crowned Warblers,1 Yellow Warbler, and 2 Black-throated Gray Warblers were also encountered while looking for the Northern Mockingbird at Grayland.

Next, Matt followed us to Bottle Beach during incoming tide at 4:15pm,where shorebird condition were superb! It is at this location we encountered our largest concentrated flock of Red Knots in Washington with 475+ birds tallied and we figured we had just hit conditions just right! This conservative count of Red Knots made up over 90% of the shorebird diversity and we felt very fortunate to view so many of these exciting shorebirds. As the tide slowly descended inward we watched the shorebirds actively forage along the immediate tidal edge,as well as on exposed mudflats along with some muddy areas covered with a light layer of green vegetation,which we figured was a sort of algae. A complete list of our main highlights at Bottle Beach includes the following:

5 Common Loons
12 Brown Pelicans
25+ Greater Scaup
2 Buffleheads
7 Red-breasted Mergansers
68 Black-bellied Plovers
25 Whimbrel
3 Marbled Godwits
3 Ruddy Turnstones
45+ Western Sandpipers
120+ Dunlin
35 Short-billed Dowitchers
3 Caspian Terns
3 Yellow Warblers
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow



Good birding,

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