Hello Tweets,

Today we birded the general Ocean Shores area with great conditions and a fair amount of highlights,although shorebird numbers were very low compared to our last visit on the 16th of October. Our day at Ocean Shores began at 10:30am at the Ocean Shores Sewage Treatment Plant parking lot,where a Gyrfalcon was observed harassing an immature Glaucous-winged Gull over the Oyhut Wildlife Area. The Gyrfalcon's plumage was described as dingy,but uniform gray-brown overall with heavy,bold streaking on the upperparts and the bird's overall size was comparative to the gull,but obviously more stocky and powerful in structure. We figured that the Gyrfalcon was a younger bird due to the large amount of heavy streaking,but could not age the bird indefinitely. As the Gyrfalcon chased the gull around the long,broad tail was well observed along with it's broad wings and we strongly felt this was not the same Gyrfalcon that we observed at Westport previously on the 4th of October due to the overall color. We watched the Gyrfalcon for up to 5 minutes,as it pursued the gull until both birds went their separate ways,as the Gyrfalcon descended downward onto the vast Oyhut Wildlife Area. Upon a later walk of the area(accessed behind the Ocean Shores STP,then north of the tall fluorescent navigation tower)we were unable to relocate the Gyrfalcon with very slow birding conditions. It is very possible the bird could have flown eastward towards Damon Point or the tip of Catala Spit.

Our next highlight came from the Ocean Shores Jetty,where a single Rock Sandpiper was easily observed amongst a flock of other "rockbirds" containing 73 Surfbirds and 20 Black Turnstones. With good conditions a nice walk was made to the tip of the jetty,where a thorough scoping produced additional species before heading back and continuing our day. During high tide between 3pm-4:30pm we birded a portion of Damon Point,where up to 9 Pacific Golden Plovers were encountered,as they rested along the south portion of the Damon Point"pond",then later relocated the birds upon a return walk at the western end of the pond. We strongly noticed the plumage differences of the birds with 6 of the birds clearly showing more brightly colored feathering,while 3 of the birds were clearly much duller and would most likely indicate non-breeding plumaged/winter plumaged birds. Anyhow, it was a nice sighting for us to see these birds,as the season gets later! Other good birds noted while walking at Damon Point included a single Clark's Grebe observed alone in North Bay and a single Short-eared Owl observed perched atop a small evergreen tree near the Damon Point"pond". As temperatures remained almost balmy today,as we were in the field we encountered a few lingering dragonflies and while at the Ocean Shores Jetty the remains of a large marine mammal was evident,which could have been an Elephant Seal.

In addition to our highlights we had a nice day for accipiters,which seemed somewhat unusual for Ocean Shores at this time of year. We encountered up to 8 Sharp-shinned Hawks and up to 3 Cooper's Hawks,which were all observed between the Ocean Shores Jetty and the Ocean Shores Marina. Away from Ocean Shores we birded the Hoquiam STP,as well as checking along the Brady Loop Rd. complex on our way home that both yielded different species for the day. We shall place some photos taken today onto our website within the next day. A list of additional highlights noted at selected locations follows below:

Greater White-fronted Goose
12 at the Ocean Shores Golf Course(with 22 Cackling Geese)
5 in freshly plowed fields(with Canada and Cackling Geese)along the eastern portion of the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Eurasian Wigeon
1 at the Cabana Pond(Ocean Shores)

Canvasback
5 at the Hoquiam STP

Harlequin Duck
1 female near the Ocean Shores Marina

Black Scoter
1 pair at he Oyhut Wildlife Area

Bufflehead
1 at Damon Point

Ruddy Duck
1(with 2 Red-breasted Mergansers)at the Hoquiam STP

Red-throated Loon
25 off the Ocean Shores Jetty
2 at Damon Point(North Bay)

Pacific Loon
2 at Damon Point(North Bay)

Eared Grebe
1(with 2 Am.Coots)at the Cabana Pond

Western Grebe
28 off the Ocean Shores Jetty
8 off Bill's Spit(Ocean Shores)
18 at Damon Point(North Bay)

Brown Pelican
8 off the Ocean Shores Jetty

Northern Harrier
5 at the Oyhut WA
2 at Damon Point

Am.Kestrel
5 along the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Merlin
1 at Hoquiam
1 at the Ocean Shores Jetty

Peregrine Falcon
1 adult at Damon Point

Black-bellied Plover
62 at Damon Point

Greater Yellowlegs
1 at the Cabana Pond

Least Sandpiper
1 at the Ocean Shores STP
35 at the Oyhut WA
16 at Bill's Spit
8 at Damon Point

Dunlin
58+ at Bill's Spit
780+ at Damon Point

Long-billed Dowitcher
28 a the Ocean Shores STP
1 at the Oyhut WA
2 at Damon Point

Wilson's Snipe
1 at the Ocean Shores STP

Heermann's Gull
10 off the Ocean Shores Jetty

Herring Gull
13 at Damon Point
47+ at Bill's Spit(with 530+ California Gulls)

Thayer's Gull
7 at Bill's Spit

Black-legged Kittiwake
80+ off the Ocean Shores Jetty

Band-tailed Pigeon
2 near the Ocean Shores Interpretive Center

Western Scrub Jay
3 along Hwy.12 at Elma
2 along Hwy.12 at Satsop
2 along Hwy.12 at Brady
3 along Emerson Ave. just east of Emerson School at Hoquiam
1 along Brady Loop Rd.

Am.Pipit
4 at the Oyhut WA
2 at Damon Point

Yellow Warbler
1 near the Hoquiam STP

Savannah Sparrow
1 at the Hoquiam STP
12+ at Damon Point



Good birding,

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