Hi Tweeters,

I headed out this morning with my son, the inimitable Deyland, to Ocean Shores. We pulled over where Hwy 109 overlooks Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and scoped the mud flats (it was nearly low tide). We counted in excess of 200 Brown Pelicans (I usually only count to 200, after that, my brain starts to hurt), which was the most Brown Pelicans that we had ever seen in one location. It was just a prelude.

We continued on to Ocean Shores, passing the last uncut tree in Grays Harobr County along the way (just joking, there were at least 2 others). Our first stop at Ocean Shores was the Point Brown Jetty. We arrived pretty early in order to beat the teeming masses. The tide was out but the fog was in. We were hoping for a Wandering Tattler, but did not find any. The thick fog made birding very difficult, although the low tide exposed lots of neat invertebrates clinging to the rocks. There were several hundred gulls hanging about, the majority of which were Heermann's, with smaller numbers of Western and California. There were at least 10 dead Heermann's Gulls washed up on the beach as well as a couple of Common Murres.

The sewage treatment plant yielded more gulls and a handful of Mallards and Northern Shovelers. We then pressed on to the Game Range. At first, birding was slow there; we spotted less than a dozen Western and Least Sandpipers and 3 Semipalmated Plovers. As the fog began to lift, we looked out over the water toward the east. We spotted a small mixed flock of Surf and White-winged Scoters, 2 Red-throated Loons, and maybe 30 Caspian Terns. Then the fog lifted more and we could make out the small jetty and beach whose eastern end meets the entrance to Damon Point. We could see clouds of large birds swirling about and then we noticed that they we also covering the rocks. They were Brown Pelicans.

We headed back to the car and drove over to the parking area by the entrance to Damon Point to get a closer look. There were hundreds of Brown Pelicans, on the rocks, in the water, flying up above. They were interspersed with an even large number of Heermann's Gulls and a lesser number of other gull species. Several people had gathered nearby to watch the spectacle. On the rocks alone, I think that there were at least 500 pelicans, with several hundred more flying about, including clouds of them in the direction of Damon Point. I have never seen anything like it before. Very impressive.

Damon Point was very slow. The only peeps that we spotted were 2 Dunlin in breeding plumage. We also saw perhaps 50 Caspian Terns near the rocks by the marina.

We finished off back at the Point Brown Jetty. By this time, the fog had returned and the tide was in. We clambered up on the rocks and watched the water for about an hour. During that time, I counted 150+ Common Murres go by, mostly in very small groups, but one flock numbered more than 30 individuals. We also saw 1 Marbled Murrelet and 8 Surfburds as well as lots of gulls. There was also 8 Sanderlings running up and down on the beach side.

Mammals for the day included lots of Harbor Seals and 9 Black-tailed Deer. It was a fun day.

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net