Hello Tweets,

Today we endured a very wet,windy and overall stormy day birding from the Elma area to Ocean Shores. Heavy rains persisted most of the day at all locations with heavy to severe winds encountered especially at the Ocean Shores Jetty and at Bowerman Basin. Due to the poor weather visibility was greatly reduced at the Ocean Shores Jetty and much of the day was spent on foot in heavy rain gear. Since the late morning high tide was extremely high the wind and high water only added to high water levels with some flooding noted at several areas including the inner portion of the Oyhut Wildlife Area and at Damon Point. Overall we had a good day despite the stormy weather,but we were prepared for the worst.

Our day began with mainly rain in the Elma area,where we made a short stop at a overgrown field with plentiful amounts of brambles along 3rd Street just south of Elma. Here,we located a single SWAMP SPARROW in a very weedy portion of a large field. There were also many Song Sparrows and a few Lincoln's Sparrows that all hopped into short views before dropping back down into denser grass. We then drove along the entire portion of Wenzel Slough Rd.,then checked a portion of the Brady Loop Rd. complex before working our way to the Hoquiam STP. Additional birding in the Elma-Brady area was slow,but it was good to see most of the corn fields cut for returning waterfowl to feed on.

We arrived at the Hoquiam STP during a very windy period with stiff gusts coming straight off Grays Harbor from the west,but equipped in our rain gear we made the best of it. Many areas at Bowerman Basin were very flooded,which held very good numbers of waterfowl specifically Am.Wigeon and Northern Pintail along with Mallards,Green-winged Teal and Northern Shovelers. 3 male EURASIAN WIGEON were observed amongst these vast flocks of waterfowl and it is possible there could have been far more with more scanning of the Am.Wigeon flocks. The main pond at the Hoquiam STP produced 50 CANVASBACK and 4 lingering EARED GREBES,as the main highlights with a scattering of other waterbird species. We made a short hike out along the edge of the Bowerman Basin Airport,where we easily located 2 adult SNOW GEESE amongst a large flock of Canada Geese that rested along the edge of the runway north of Lana's Cafe. A return check of the Hoquiam STP yielded a first winter plumaged GLAUCOUS GULL that lifted from a gull flock just north of the main pond,where it flew slightly west along the main runway at the Bowerman Basin Airport.

After birding Bowerman Basin and the Hoquiam STP we drove straight to Ocean Shores,where we started by checking the west portion of the Ocean Shores Golf Course. Here,we encountered good numbers of birds that gathered along flooded portion of the golf course with our main highlights consisted of 9 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and 17 Cackling Geese(including 10 birds of the distinctive and dark "Dusky" subspecies). We also observed shorebirds at this location consisting of 350+ Dunlin,6 Black-bellied Plovers and a single Western Sandpiper.

Next,we drove to Damon Point,where we only hiked out a short ways along the paved road due to the high winds and heavy rain. We located large gatherings of gulls along the north side of the road along with some shorebirds too. Highlights here included a single Surfbird amongst a large gathering of 800+ Dunlins(with 34 Western Sandpipers and 1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER). Gull species consisted primarily of California Gulls with small numbers of Herring,Ring-billed and Mew Gulls mixed,as well as a few lingering HEERMANN'S GULLS.

Our next visit was made at the Ocean Shores Jetty,where conditions were probably the most dismal with our only two species encountered being 3 flyby BROWN PELICANS and a single ROCK SANDPIPER observed foraging along the ground in amongst large rocks far away from the main shoreline. We visited the Ocean Shores STP by looking into the southwest pond from outside the fenceline,where large concentrations of Dunlin gathering along the upper edges of the pond. More definitive searching through a flock of 500+ Dunlin produced 25 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS,125+ Western Sandpipers and 30 Least Sandpipers. 12 Long-billed Dowitchers were also noted from this same pond foraging along the immediate shoreline. Our last main stop of the day contributed with a walk behind the Ocean Shores STP at the Oyhut WA. During this time there were some areas of mudflats due to the outgoing tide,but due to the wind,etc. many areas remained high with water. Most noteworthy sightings included very large numbers of Dunlin that restlessly gathered over the main flooded areas of the Oyhut WA extending north towards the Tonquin Ave access. We estimated 8-9,000 Dunlin with much smaller numbers of Western and Least Sandpipers mixed in,as well as 25 Black-bellied Plovers and 14 Black Turnstones.

We ended the day with a return visit to Brady Loop Rd.,where encountered 3 TUNDRA SWANS flying east over Foster Rd. towards the Satsop area. In addition we located fairly large groups of Black-bellied Plovers gathered in plowed corn stubble fields along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.


A list of additional species of note encountered during our very stormy day included the following:

Red-throated Loon
1 bird at Damon Point
2 birds at the Oyhut WA

Red-necked Grebe
1 bird at the Oyhut WA

Harlequin Duck
2 birds at the Oyhut WA

Black Scoter
32 birds at the Oyhut WA(with Surf and White-winged Scoters)

Common Goldeneye
1 bird along Wenzel Slough Rd. near Vance Creek Co. Park
1 bird at the Hoquiam STP

Ruddy Duck
13 birds at the Hoquiam STP

Northern Harrier
2 birds along Brady Loop Rd.
1 bird at the Hoquiam STP
2 birds at the Oyhut WA

Am.Kestrel
1 bird along Foster Rd.(Brady Loop Rd. complex)

Peregrine Falcon
1 adult bird at Bowerman Basin

Black-bellied Plover
15 birds(with 125+ Dunlin and 15 Least Sandpipers)at the Bowerman Basin Airport
6 birds at the Ocean Shores Golf Course
25 birds at the Oyhut WA
210+ birds along Brady Loop Rd.

Greater Yellowlegs
3 birds at the Ocean Shores Golf Course

Wilson's Snipe
1 bird at Damon Point
1 bird at the Ocean Shores STP

HEERMANN'S GULL
12 birds at the Hoquiam STP
15 birds at Damon Point
12 birds at the Oyhut WA

Thayer's Gull
1 bird at the Oyhut WA

Mourning Dove
55 birds along Brady Loop Rd.

Western Scrub Jay
3 birds along 3rd Street(south of Hwy.12)near Elma
1 bird along Brady Loop Rd.

Am.Pipit
7 birds at the base of Damon Point

Purple Finch
7 birds along 3rd Street near Elma(observed amongst a good concentration of wintering sparrows)



Good stormy birding,

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