Hello Tweets,

Today we enjoyed a glorious day birding along a familiar coastal route between the Johns River WRA to Tokeland. Birding conditions remained superb,except for rather stiff southerly winds at times and most locations were quite productive. Our main highlight of several for the day was up to 40 Snowy Plovers observed along the outer beaches at Midway Beach Rd. These birds were all counted during an evening visit between 4pm-5:30pm during outgoing tide and most of the birds were observed resting along the crest of the beach,but moved to the water line for foraging amongst scattered numbers of Sanderlings. Although this was not a high count for Snowy Plovers it was a exciting observation for us personally since we have checked this location up to 5 times through the fall and unable to locate any Snowy Plovers. We were happy to see them back with the added sighting from Bill Shelmerdine on the 22nd of October. We understand from a wildlife biologist who surveys this location for Snowy Plovers that the nesting season was not especially productive due to human and animal disturbances. We noticed that a few of the birds this evening seemed especially nervous and wary of approach so we kept our distance to a bare minimum. The birds should remain through the winter,as they flock up into groups where they seem to favor the crest of the upper beach best for roosting. Anyhow, perhaps others will enjoy looking for the Snowy Plovers at Midway Beach Rd. and keep in mind that a large canal of water(flooded area)has formed back at the end of the road,so rubber boots are recommended if visiting this location.

Our other key highlight of the day was up to 2 juvenile Bar-tailed Godwits that continue at the Tokeland Marina,which were observed together this afternoon between 2:45pm-3:30pm on the southernmost wooden dock within the sheltered marina area amongst 1 of 3 flocks of Marbled Godwits. Both Bar-tailed Godwits were readily and easily noted by their much paler plumages,etc and we believe these are the same 2 birds that have lingered at this location since the beginning portion of October. We conservatively estimated up to 950+ Marbled Godwits within the 3 flocks at the Tokeland Marina,which were split up as a result of outgoing tide. Up to 18 Willets,2 Whimbrel and 3 Long-billed Dowitchers rounded out the other good shorebirds species at the Tokeland Marina. Another good bird at the Tokeland Marina was a single Clark's Grebe observed approximately 70 yards offshore in Willapa Bay with several Western Grebes noted nearby for great comparisons in good lighting conditions. This was our 3rd personal record of Clark's Grebe for this location.

We began our day with a morning visit at the Vance Creek Co. Park near Elma that produced a single Green Heron,up to 3 Western Grebes and a single Red-breasted Merganser all noted from the large pond/lake immediately west of the restroom/playground area. We soon continued onto the Brady loop Rd. complex,where conditions were primarily slow so we made our visit quite brief. Our next stop was made at the Johns River WRA with a walk made to the photo blind and back via the paved walking trail. Conditions here were quite productive,as water levels continue to raise in the wetland area,but the presence of duck hunters is known. A single Pectoral Sandpiper was the best species for this location,which added to the other 6 shorebirds species observed at this location. We soon continued onto Westport with a short visit made near the Westport Marina area then we drove south to Tokeland. After birding Tokeland we had a nice,brisk visit to Midway Beach Rd. then our last stop of the day being along Ocosta Third Street.


A list of our most noteworthy species follows below at selected times and locations:


I-5 at Tillicum,Pierce Co. 8:30am

1 Peregrine Falcon
2 Western Scrub Jays


Capitol Lake at Tumwater,Thurston Co. 9am

1 Trumpeter Swan


Vance Creek Co. Park near Elma,Grays Harbor Co. 10:15am-10:25am

1 Red-breasted Merganser
3 Western Grebes
1 Green Heron
1 Herring Gull
2-3 Western Scrub Jays


Hwy.12 at Elma,GH 10:30am

2 Western Scrub Jays


Hwy.12 at Satsop,GH 10:35am

2 Western Scrub Jays


Hwy.12 at Brady,GH 10:38am

3 Western Scrub Jays


Brady Loop Rd. complex,GH 10:40am-11am

28 Cackling Geese
1 Northern Harrier
5 Am.Kestrels
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 Western Meadowlark


S.R.105 at Aberdeen,GH 11:15am

2 Cooper's Hawks
1 Red-breasted Sapsucker


Johns River WRA,GH 11:30am-12:15pm

24 Cackling Geese
1 Greater Scaup
16 Semipalmated Plovers
15 Greater Yellowlegs
108+ Least Sandpipers
1 Pectoral Sandpiper
20 Long-billed Dowitchers
2 Wilson's Snipe
48 Am.Pipits
25 Western Meadowlarks
1 Savannah Sparrow


Westport Marina and vicinity,GH 12:30pm-2pm

15 Cackling Geese
5 "Black"Brant
2 Red-throated Loons
40 Western Grebes
40+ Brown Pelicans
4 Northern Harriers
87 Black-bellied Plovers
32 Semipalmated Plovers
44 Marbled Godwits
15 Sanderlings
125 Least Sandpipers
8,500-9,000 Dunlin(impressive "waves" observed from an offshore island in Grays Harbor near Westport,as well as a moderate sized flock noted at Westport)
1 Wilson's Snipe
2 Heermann's Gulls
10 Savannah Sparrows
3 Western Meadowlarks


Tokeland,Pacific Co. 2:45pm-3:45pm

20 Bufflehead
145+ Red-breasted Mergansers(attracted to a large feeding flock of gulls and other waterbird species within Willapa Bay)
1 Red-necked Grebe
27 Western Grebes
1 Clark's Grebe
34 Black-bellied Plovers
18 Willets
2 Whimbrel
2 Bar-tailed Godwits
950+ Marbled Godwits
45+ Sanderlings
120+ Least Sandpipers
30 Dunlin
3 Long-billed Dowitchers
1 Wilson's Snipe
4 Bonaparte's Gulls
5 Heermann's Gulls


Midway Beach Rd.,PA 4pm-5:30pm

4 Brown Pelicans
1 Northern Harrier
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
40 Snowy Plovers
300+ Sanderlings
3 "Streaked"Horned Larks
5 Yellow-rumped Warblers


S.R.105 west of Bottle Beach,GH 5:55pm

1 adult Peregrine Falcon(perched atop a dead snag)


Ocosta Third Street,GH 6pm

1 immature Wood Duck(last species of the day)



Good birding,

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