Hello Tweets,

Today we birded in Grays Harbor Co. between the Brady Loop Rd. area to Ocean Shores with great weather and good birding! We started out along the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. by scoping the partially flooded corn stubble fields. It is here we located almost instantly an AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER amongst several Black-bellied Plovers. The Am.Golden Plover was far more active and obviously smaller than several of the nearby Black-bellied Plovers and showed all the classis field marks of the species too including a long wing projection and a relatively slender-built appearance. There were also good numbers of Dunlins mixed in and the entire flocks shuffled around and at times the Am.Golden Plover was hidden at times,but always reappeared and when the sun came out the bird more or less appeared brownish with an obvious white supercillium. While watching the Am.Golden Plover and other shorebirds we enjoyed distant views of 30 Roosevelt Elk resting in a field beyond where the shorebirds were feeding. This was our personal firsts sighting of Elk along the Brady Loop Rd. complex,so they could have crossed either Hwy.12 or swam across the Chehalis River. We thoroughly scoped most of the flooded corn fields,as we drove south and then west again to the intersection of Foster Rd. We located a few other flocks of Dunlin,but overall most of the shorebirds were concentrated near the northeastern portion of Brady Loop Rd. We located almost no waterfowl except for a few small scattered flocks of Canada Geese including 5 "Dusky"Canada Geese. We also heard gunshots from a Ducks Unlimited wetland area for designated waterfowl hunting so this could have been the result of the lack of waterfowl in this immediate area. We drove the length of Foster Rd. then back onto Monte-Brady Rd. proceeding west towards Hwy.12. In a partially flooded field on private property,but easily visible from the road was a single RED-NECKED PHALAROPE actively swimming around in the shallow water. We soon obtained several photographs due to the notable late date for this species then the bird suddenly lifted and flew a short distance to another concealed areas behind some buildings. It was another good bird that began our day! A few other notable species encountered along the Brady Loop Rd. complex included the following:

3 Northern Harriers
1 Am.Kestrel
1 Merlin
125+ Black-bellied Plovers
1 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
34+ Least Sandpipers
500+ Dunlin
9 Long-billed Dowitchers
5 Western Scrub Jays
8 Savannah Sparrows
20 Western Meadowlarks
25 Pine Siskins


After birding 1.5 hours along Brady Loop Rd. we drove straight to the Hoquiam STP on our way to Ocean Shores. Here,the winds began to pick up but the weather remained good. Our main highlights from the main pond and a portion of the Bowerman Basin Airport include the following:

5 EARED GREBES
34 Ruddy Ducks
1 adult Peregrine Falcon
40 Least Sandpipers
1 Bonaparte's Gull


We arrived at Ocean Shores at 12pm and spent the next 4 hours checking most of the main locations under rather windy conditions. Our first stop was made at the Ocean Shores Jetty,where we located 7 ROCK SANDPIPERS amongst a small flock of other "rockbirds" including 5 Surfbirds and 13 Black Turnstones. 4 Western Grebes rested calmly on the upper beach and were most likely "beached" by the recent heavy wind storm. 10 Brown Pelicans and 5 "Black"Brant flew southward just past the tip of the jetty,but very few other species were noted offshore. Next,we checked the Ocean Shores STP,where a cooperative PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER dazzled us along the road along the northern pond. It was a delight to have both species of golden plovers on a single day in November in Washington! The bird finally lifted and called at least one time giving it's distinctive "chu-weee" call and we watched the bird fly off towards the direction of the Oyhut Wildlife Area. We checked the southern pond within the Ocean Shores STP that held good numbers of Northern Shovelers and small numbers of Dunlin,as well as 5 Long-billed Dowitchers.

We walked behind the Ocean Shores STP out onto the vast Oyhut WA,where we encountered scattered numbers of shorebirds including the Pacific Golden Plover again. The bird loosely associated itself with Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlin,as they all foraged over vast areas of mudflats due to the outgoing tide north of the tall fluorescent navigation tower. We also located dead,but fully intact California Sea Lion laying on the upper beach between several large pieces of driftwood. We were able to get a good tally on all the shorebirds that were here,but overall the very large Dunlin flocks noted here in past weeks were absent today. We counted 55 Black-bellied Plovers and only 90 Dunlin(with 8 Least Sandpipers,2 Black Turnstones and 10 Sanderlings mixed in for color). An adult Peregrine Falcon soon made it's appearance on a nearby distant driftwood snag,but it didn't seem to hinder the shorebirds. We scoped the inner bay at the Oyhut WA,which held good numbers of waterfowl including 25 Black Scoters,2 Harlequin Ducks and 3 Am.Coots riding in the heavy waves as the main highlights. It seemed very odd to see the Am.Coots way out in the rough water away from more calmer conditions that we normally associate them with!

After birding the Oyhut WA we made a short,but productive stop at the Cabana Pond,which is accessed just north of Marine View Drive. Here on this small freshwater lake,we located a single PACIFIC LOON and a nearby Common Loon for comparisons. A few other species of note at this location included an 2 EARED GREBES,1 RED-NECKED GREBE, an AM.BITTERN, and 20 Hooded Mergansers. We then spent a short time at Damon Point,where we walked to the "pond" and then back to he parking lot. Here,we encountered very few birds away from a few shorebirds foraging along the north side of Damon Point and good numbers of waterbirds in North Bay. Our last stop of the day ended with a visit to the Ocean Shores Golf Course,which we initially checked earlier in the day. Unlike our prior visit we located 10 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and a single immature SNOW GOOSE. It was a nice way to end our great day!


A list of other noteworthy species encountered during our day included the following:

Northern Harrier
3 birds along Brady Loop Rd.
2 birds at the Oyhut WA
2 birds at Damon Point

Cooper's Hawk
2 birds at the Oyhut WA(including 1 adult bird and 1 immature bird)

Merlin
1 bird along Brady Loop Rd.
1 bird at the Ocean Shores Marina

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
1 bird along Brady Loop Rd.
3 birds at the Oyhut WA

Herring Gull
5 birds at the Oyhut WA

Savannah Sparrow
8 birds along Brady Loop Rd.
1 bird at Damon Point



Good birding,

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