Hello Tweeters,

I birded my way out to the coast on Saturday, stopping at various sites along the way. It was a great day, with migrants apparent in most of the habitats I visited. There were significant numbers of songbirds, shorebirds, and seabirds all moving through. I knew it would be a good day when I walked out the front door and found Yellow Warbler, numerous Wilson's Warblers, Swainson's Thrush, Warbling Vireo, and Western Wood-Pewee all in my Seattle neighborhood. I rarely see any of these species around my house, as the area has little good habitat.

I stopped by the Boeing ponds, ran into Matt Bartels, and saw one of the Great Egrets previously reported there. The only shorebirds were a few Spotted Sandpipers and a single Greater Yellowlegs. I made a quick stop by the Riverview Marsh off Frager Road, where there was a Bittern calling, and many Yellow, Wilson's, and Orange-crowned Warblers. The 216th St ponds had a few more Spotted Sandpipers, but little else.

I spent mid-morning birding the woods at Nisqually NWR, along the Nisqually River. The woods were full of migrants. Nothing unusual, but good numbers of most of the regular passerines, including 15+ Pacific-Slope Flycatchers, numberous Wilson's Warblers, Western Wood-Pewee, a single Black-throated Gray Warbler, and 10+ Swainson's Thrushes.

My next stop was at Bowerman Basin, where I waited as the incoming tide pushed the shorebirds closer to shore. Numbers were quite impressive, with thousands (5000+) Western Sandpipers, 500 Dunlin, and 400 Semipalmated Plovers. Also there were 7 Red Knots, 15 Black-bellied Plovers, and 10 Short-billed Dowitchers. The Hoquiam STP had a good mix of ducks including one Ring-necked Duck, and hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls.

Bottle Beach was really nice, though the tide was falling and the birds had moved well out on the mudflats. The numbers weren't as great as at Bowerman Basin, but the species diversity was much higher. The light wasn't great, but I was able to pick out a few Red Knots, 12 Ruddy Turnstones, 30 Whimbrel, 100 Short-billed Dowitchers, a few Least Sandpipers, Marbled Godwits, and 1 Greater Yellowlegs. I'm amazed by this site every time I visit it - definitely one of the best shorebird-viewing spots in the state.

I went to Midway Beach, hoping to find Snowy Plovers and possibly a few seabirds. The wind was blowing hard from the west all day, and I'd considered going to Ocean Shores and doing a seawatch. I skipped it, hoping that I'll see more pelagics on this Saturday's Westport Seabirds trip. At Midway Beach, the pond had quite a few shorebirds, mostly Western and Least Sandpipers, Dunlin, and Short-billed Dowitchers. Out on the beach were a few hundred Sanderlings, scattered all over, most of them not chasing the surf. With a few minutes' effort, I found three Snowy Plovers in the dry sand where the slope of the beach meets the low dunes. I suspect there were more, but I didn't want to venture into their habitat for fear of disturbing the nesting birds. The chop on the water made it all but impossible to see birds on the ocean, but I did see a few Pacific Loons. Far out to sea, I could see distant shearwaters, gulls, and terns. All too far out to identify, but many many
birds.

At some point a large flock of Common Terns moved in and began feeding off the beach. There must have been quite a few bait fish in the water, as there were also numbers of Harbor Seals feeding in the surf. The tern flock was being constantly harried by Parasitic Jaegers. I counted 5 at one time, but I believe there were at least 10. One poor Common Tern was being chased by three jaegers at once! Every one I saw well enough to ID was a Parasitic. I've never seen this many jaegers from shore before, and it was really impressive seeing them pursue and steal from the terns. I watched them for about 20 minutes, before the wind and the glare from the setting sun drove me back to the car. I wish the light had been behind me - the tern flock was huge, and I wonder if there weren't a few Arctics mixed in.

My last stop of the day was at Toke Point. A nice flock of shorebirds was feeding on the mudflats along the jetty. Ruddy Turnstones, 50 Marbled Godwits, and also 300+ Whimbrel roosting on the jetty.

It was a great day to be out. Yesterday I swung by the site in Everett where the Lewis' Woodpecker had been seen, but didn't find it.

Migration is at its peak. Get out there if you can!

Matt Dufort
Seattle