Hello Tweets,

Yesterday(May 14th)we enjoyed a leisurely Mother's Day at the coast,specifically for migrating shorebirds at Bottle Beach and Tokeland. Our day went well with good numbers of shorebirds at both locations,but our best viewing was made at Bottle Beach with very good numbers of shorebirds noted during incoming tide. We arrived at Bottle Beach at 1:30pm as they tide began to slowly move inward and the shorebirds lined along the shoreline. We immediately located a few Red Knots amongst the vast numbers of Dunlin,Western Sandpipers,and scatterings of a few other shorebirds species. As they tide moved closer to shore we were able to get very close to many of the shorebirds and get some excellent photos of shorebirds,but primarily of our target species,the Red Knot! As the shorebirds shifted around along the shoreline we were able to get a better tally on the species and diversity,eventhough a portion of the flocks had departed for other locations.

Within 30 minutes a few more birders arrived and joined us by watching the shorebird spectacle,despite the stiff,cold winds. Near the end of our visit to Bottle Beach an adult Peregrine Falcon flew in unexpectedly from the north carrying presumably a recently caught shorebird in it's talons,but the presence of the bird flushed many more of the shorebird flocks. Despite this activity there were still good numbers of shorebirds remaining on the shoreline allowing the greatest of views. While watching and photographing many of the shorebirds we also were able to scope out into South Bay,where very large numbers of Common Terns and smaller numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls were foraging,as well as various waterbird species. It was great to see still lingering numbers of shorebirds at Bottle Beach during this spring migration,although it doesn't break our best day at Bottle Beach as far as Red Knots goes. This was precisely on the same date last year on the 14th of May when Matt Bartels joined us as we observed an astounding 475+ Red Knots also during an incoming tide. This was quite a spectacular day at Bottle Beach for us and one that we won't forget,when nearly the entire beach was filled with Red Knots!

We have placed many new photos on our website,specifically from the our day yesterday to the coast as well as several additional photos taken of a cooperative Grate Blue Heron on the 13th of May at the Nisqually NWR. Away from shorebirds a Bottle Beach yesterday we were able to get some great shots of several Pigeon Guillemots courting and performing various other breeding behavior at the Westport Marina.

Our latest photos can be viewed at the following link: http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_photos/


A list of shorebird numbers and other species encountered at Bottle Beach during our visit between 1:30pm-2:50pm included the following:

3 Common Loons
120+ Greater Scaups
25 White-winged Scoters
62 Black-bellied Plovers
12 Semipalmated Plovers
1 Greater Yellowlegs
22 Whimbrel
15 Ruddy Turnstones
33 Red Knots
750+ Western Sandpipers
2,400+ Dunlin
57+ Short-billed Dowitchers
3 Long-billed Dowitchers
140+ Bonaparte's Gulls
500+ Common Terns


Before "shorebirding" at Bottle Beach we checked a few locations at Westport,including Westhaven State park and the Westport Marina. Conditions were quite slow,but a few notable sightings consisted of the following:

1 Red-throated Loon
48+ Surf Scoters
8 Turkey Vultures
1 adult Spotted Sandpiper
1 Whimbrel
5 Marbled Godwits(on the beach with 70 Sanderlings at Westhaven State Park)
1 Black-bellied Plover
17 Dunlin
650+ Common Terns
1 Common Murre
45 Pigeon Guillemots
12 Rhinoceros Auklets
1 Mourning Dove(resting atop a brush pile at the entrance to Westhaven State Park)
15 Vaux's Swifts
1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow


Our visit to Tokeland was worthwhile during high tide with good numbers of large shorebirds resting along the inner portion of the jetty inside the Tokeland Marina. A thorough scoping of the jetty as well as Willapa Bay from the Tokeland Marina produced the following highlights:

3 Common Loons
1 Red-necked Grebe
1 Western Grebe
20 "Black"Brant
50+ Greater Scaup
17 Surf Scoters
6 Bufflehead
1 Red-breasted Merganser
10 Turkey Vultures
1 Semipalmated Plover
310 Whimbrel
34 Marbled Godwits
8 Ruddy Turnstones
5 Red Knots
10 Dunlin
3 Short-billed Dowitchers
120+ Bonaparte's Gulls
200+ Common Terns
5 Band-tailed Pigeons
3 Vaux's Swifts
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow


In addition to birding from several coastal locations we made a few stops at inland locations during the mid morning between the Elma area to Brady Loop Rd. Conditions were quite slow,but we were able to locate a few species of note including the following:

1 male Northern Harrier,Greater Yellowlegs and 1 Golden-crowned Sparrow near the end of Dunlap Rd.(accessed southeast of Elma)

258 Whimbrel and 8 Black-bellied Plovers in a dry,plowed field along the north side of Hwy.12 at Elma with 10 additional Whimbrel observed along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.

7 Turkey Vultures,1 pair of Osprey and 1 Am.Kestrel along Brady Loop Rd.



Good birding,

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