Hello Tweets,

Today we enjoyed a nice day birding from Bottle Beach to Mud Bay with a few highlights of note. We encountered a total of 16 species of shorebirds during the entire day with good evidence of shorebird migration in full swing from several locations. Many areas during the day were very slow and passerine migration seemed almost non existent. Despite slow conditions at times we still had a nice day!

Our day began along S.R.8 just east of Elma,where a quick and safe scan of a wetland area along the shoulder of the highway produced a single SOLITARY SANDPIPER. This bird foraged alone in a wetland area that is along the north side of the highway just east of the 1st Elma exit. Our first group of "peeps" of the day were also at this location,as they foraged along the muddy margins which consisted of 2 Western Sandpipers and 20 Least Sandpipers. Our first 3 Wood Ducks of the day were also noted at this location. Next,as we continued west along Hwy.12 at Montesano 2 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS flew along the south side of the highway,which was a nice highlight for the location.

We drove straight to Bottle Beach and arrived at 10am just before actual high tide and with a short walk to the mudflats we were able to easily locate resting shorebirds along the shoreline. Most of the shorebirds were very nervous,as the water slowly kept moving inward,but lighting conditions were superb for viewing. We were able to locate 10 RED KNOTS amongst the mass of Western Sandpipers,Dunlin,and Short-billed Dowitchers with smaller numbers of Black-bellied Plovers,Semipalmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers. Our first 2 WHIMBREL of the day flew in from the north as we left. We were able to get some great photos of 2 separate Red Knots,as the flocks shifted around and by the time we left the location at 11:30am the flocks separated into smaller groups.

We ran into our first birders of the day at Bottle Beach with several more at other locations including our next stop of the day made at the Johns River WRA. A 1/2 mile walk made to the wetland area produced a mix of waterfowl and some shorebirds,but water levels were quite high. The remains of the photo blind were evident at the end of the paved trail with the structure off it's foundation and topped over on the other side of the trail. 30 Roosevelt Elk were noted from the wetland area,as they moved inward towards the forest. Our main bird highlights from this location were 3 LESSER YELLOWLEGS(with 30 Greater Yellowlegs),a pair of Cinnamon Teal and an American Kestrel.

After birding the Johns River WRA we headed inland towards the Elma-Brady area. We made a short stop at Friend's Landing(south of Montesano)and located a singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER,which was a nice addition to our day list and the only noteworthy passerine at this location. Next,we made a quick drive though the entire Brady Loop Rd. complex,but birding conditions were very,very slow possibly due to the time of day and afternoon wind. A short drive east to the eastern portion of Wenzel Slough Rd. near Satsop produced a flock of 15 WHIMBREL flew over freshly cut grassy fields before continuing east towards Elma. We then located an additional flock of 75 Whimbrel,as they circled low over a large grassy field north of Hwy.12 at Elma. The flock was soon relocated,as they landed in he thick,dense grass and at times were very hard to see.

Our last good stop of the day was noted at Mud Bay in Thurston Co.,where we encountered good numbers of shorebirds from 2 locations during outgoing tide. Most noteworthy were 50 Black-bellied Plovers,125 Western Sandpipers,45 Dunlin and 8 Short-billed Dowitchers. A single Greater Yellowlegs and a Spotted Sandpiper rounded out our shorebird list for this location.

The other good part of our day was locating our personal first dragonflies of the season and having the warm temperatures today really helped. We located 2 species of dragonfly although both species were of no record spring dates,but may however be records for 2006. Our searches began at the Schouweiler Rd wetland near Elma,which yielded good numbers of SWIFT FORKTAILS in the most sunny areas then at an unincorporated area near Lacey in Thurston Co. we located 5 CALIFORNIA DARNERS,as they patrolled for insects.


Other good species for our day included the following(including shorebird numbers):

"Black"Brant
15 at Bottle Beach

Cackling Goose
1 at Bottle Beach
40 at the Johns River WRA

Wood Duck
3 along S.R.8 east of Elma
2 at the Johns River WRA
6 at Friend's Landing
1 along Dunlap Rd.

Cinnamon Teal
1 pair at the Johns River WRA
1 pair at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Turkey Vulture
2 at Bottle Bach
2 at the Johns River WRA
1 along S.R.105 west of Aberdeen
1 along Hwy.12 at Montesano
3 along Brady Loop Rd.
1 along Hwy.12 at Satsop
2 at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland
1 along Hwy.12 at Elma
2 along Dunlap Rd.

Osprey
1 at an old nestsite along Hwy.12 at Montesano
2 at a nestsite at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Cooper's Hawk
1 at the Johns River WRA
1 along I-5 at Lacey

Am.Kestrel
1 along Hwy.12 east of Montesano
1 at the Johns River WRA
1 along Hwy.12 at Elma

Merlin
1 along Hwy.12 at Brady

Virginia Rail
1 calling bird at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Black-bellied Plover
45 at Bottle Beach
30 along Hwy.12 near Satsop
50 at Mud Bay

Semipalmated Plovers
11 at Bottle Beach

Greater Yellowlegs
30 at the Johns River WRA
2 at Friend's Landing
2 along Hwy.12 near Satsop
1 at Mud Bay

Western Sandpiper
2 along S.R.8 near Elma
1,200+ at Bottle Beach
50 at the Johns River WRA
15 along Brady Loop Rd.
125 a Mud Bay

Least Sandpiper
20 along S.R.8 near Elma
10 at Bottle Beach
15 at the Johns River WRA
15 along Brady Loop Rd.

Dunlin
250+ at Bottle Beach
45 at Mud Bay

Short-billed Dowitcher
180+ at Bottle Beach
2 at the Johns River WRA
8 at Mud Bay

Long-billed Dowitcher
13 along Hwy.12 near Satsop

Wilson's Snipe
3 at the Johns River WRA

Band-tailed Pigeon
125+ along the eastern portion of Wenzel Slough Rd. near Satsop

Hairy Woodpecker
1 at Friend's Landing

Northern Rough-winged Swallow
6 at the Johns River WRA
4 at the Schouweiler Rd. wetland

Western Scrub Jay
2 along Hwy.12 at Central Park(east of Aberdeen)



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com