Hi Tweeters,

I birded from Bottle Beach to Tokeland again, this time with my son Deyland. What a difference 3 days can make! It was down right chilly and, in some locales, there was quite a different assortment of birds. Below are some of the highlights in the order in which we arrived:

Midway Beach to the left of the entrance path walking along the vegetation line: 40+ Semipalmated Plovers, 10 Snowy Plovers (no chicks this time), a few Western Sandpipers. At the water line: Hundreds of gulls, several hundred Western Sandpipers with 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers mixed in (I am pretty sure), 10 or so Sanderlings, 3 Turkey Vultures eating a Common Murre carcass, a few Sooty Shearwaters flying over the water.

The little turnout off of Fisher Rd in Tokeland: 100s of Caspian Terns, 1 Olive-sided Flycatcher in the trees nearby.

Along the water break before reaching the dock in Tokeland: 70+ Whimbrels (an awesome sight), 5 Marbled Godwits, 100s more Caspian Terns.

At the Tokeland dock area: 7 Willets, not a single Brown Pelican today.

At Bottle Beach as the tide was coming in: 130 or so Marbled Godwits, 60 Whimbrels, 100s of Dowitchers (I have a hard time distinguishing between the 2 species, but I believe that most were Short-billed with a few possible Long-billed mixed in), more than 150 Black-bellied Plovers, some in breeding plumage and some not, 100+ Least Sandpipers, 30 or so Semipalmated Sandpipers, and 7 Brown Pelicans.

It is definitely a great time to bird this region of the state. Just make sure that you time the tide right for Bottle Beach.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
Olympia, WA
wheelermombi at comcast.net