Hello Tweets,

We have just updated our recent galleries on our website with several new photos taken yesterday at Ocean Shores. These photos include a "beached" Northern Fulmar,Long-billed Curlews at Bill's Spit,Dunlin,a Black-bellied Plover and a Hutton's Vireo at the Oyhut Wildlife Area,and Harlequin Ducks from 2 different locations. The Long-billed Curlews are always a highlight for us since they are often very bright,but also a fun shorebird to watch too. During our evening visit to Bill's Spit we watched as the entire flock of Long-billed Curlews flew in from unknown locations in North Bay along with 2 Marbled Godwits that joined a group of 3 Marbled Godwits already at Bill's Spit. The entire flock settled close to shore,as the tide moved in and large numbers of gulls began to gather too. The Long-billed Curlews and Marbled Godwits remained very flighty and seemed to favor landing only when the gulls were grounded otherwise they would fly around offshore until they finally resettled at the tip of Bill's Spit. It was quite a show and by the time we left Bill's Spit the entire area was covered with gulls in the range of 10-15,000+ birds that came in from all directions.

The outer beaches at Ocean Shores were not as productive as we would have liked with very few shorebirds,but the Northern Fulmar was an unexpected sighting,although it did appear sick. The Hutton's Vireo was neat to photograph,as we don't always get an opportunity to have them sit still for very long,as well as at eye level. Our photos cane be viewed from one of two galleries at the following links:

http://www.pbase.com/godwit/reent_photos/

http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_shorebirds/


We hope you enjoy our latest photos,as well as other photos we have taken!


Sincerely,

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