Hello Tweets,

Today we birded with Frank Caruso of Cape Cod,Massachusetts and John Renn,who both joined us as we checked several areas between Brady Loop Rd. and Tokeland. It was a glorious,calm fall day and we were able to get most of our target birds for the day. Our main highlight of the day was locating a roosting flock of 32 SNOWY PLOVERS observed in tire grooves within the dryer upper beach between Midway Beach Rd. and Grayland Beach State Park. While watching the Snowy Plovers we noticed several banded birds and our day was complete to this point,especially since this was the main target species of the day! Just before our search for Snowy Plovers we saved a beached Common Murre that we located stranded along the upper beach near Grayland Beach S.P. As we approached the bird it did not move at all and just watched us,as it laid on the wet sand. With some small efforts we picked the bird up and walked quickly to the water's edge. The bird quickly swam off into the water into the waves paddling it's feet and we all felt relieved and happy to see the bird swimming off. Although it is nothing too exciting to maybe see a beached Common Murre it was the act of having it back in the water that seemed most enjoyable rather than stranded on the beach.


The better portion of our day before ending it at Grayland Beach S.P. was good and below is an itinerary of our day as it happened.

We began the day at 8am along Wenzel Slough Rd. near Vance Creek Co. Park,where a single adult WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was briefly observed with a Golden-crowned Sparrow along the south side of Wenzel Slough Rd. We drove straight to Brady Loop Rd. and made a drive along the eastern portion of the complex to Foster Rd. Before arriving to Foster Rd. we located a single SANDHILL CRANE flying south fairly low over the forested hillside above the Chehalis River. The bird seemed like it had come from the plowed corn fields surrounding Foster Rd. and figured it had decided to migrate south. Soon upon arriving to Foster Rd. we located a single WHITE-TAILED KITE perched atop a lone tree along the edge of a grassy field just east of the road. At this point it was a nice start to the morning! From here we drove straight to Bottle Beach arriving at 8:45am during the morning incoming tide. With a short walk to the mudflats we located good numbers of shorebirds gathered and feeding close to shore being primarily Black-bellied Plovers. We sifted through the birds and easily located 2 PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERS,our only Semipalmated Plover of the day,as well as several other shorebird species including a calling SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER and 14 Marbled Godwits.

We decided to make a quick check of the inner canal just south of the mudflats at Bottle Beach,where we located a large flock of Long-billed Dowitchers. Arriving back to the mudflats as the tide moved further in we noticed a large gathering of shorebirds,so we slowly walked closer to examine the flock. We quickly located a single RUDDY TURNSTONE,as it foraged in amongst good numbers of Black-bellied Plovers,Dunlin and other shorebird species. Upon getting even closer to the shorebird flock we located a drab RED KNOT,as it foraged tightly in amongst the Black-bellied Plover and at times it was harder to see for us all. We also watched one of the Pacific Golden Plovers,as it rested calmly near the shoreline. Near the end of our visit a flock of Western Sandpipers had flown in from the north and gathered to mix with the other shorebirds.

Next,we headed straight to the Westport Marina and immediately located the BAR-TAILED GODWIT from Float 21,as it rested with 120+ Marbled Godwits along the rocky jetty just north of the coast guard station. The bird mostly rested wit it's bill tucked in,but occasionally pulled it's bill out showing us it's face. We also located all 3 species of regular cormorants of Washington from the end of Float 21. A short drive around to the east side of the coast guard station produced 4 Marbled Murrelets in Grays Harbor,as well as good numbers of Western Grebes.

Our last stop in Westport was made at Westhaven State Park,where an adult light-morph "HARLAN'S"RED-TAILED HAWK was observed perched from 2 separate telephone poles. his bird was very unique and distinctive showing us it's relative darkish head with white areas behind the eye,as well as a heavily dark brown mottled area across it's white breast,bare yellow legs and yellow cere. In flight the bird revealed it's tail showing rufous areas along only the distal(outer)half of the tail with the basal(inner)half showing grayish areas. The underwings were quite pale with a distinct very dark brown or black patagial mark. An interesting bird! We enjoyed a short lunch break at Half Moon Bay,where 2 Red-necked Grebes were spotted near the base of the jetty.

>From Westport we drove south to Tokeland and began with a stop along 7th Avenue just north of the Bayshore RV Park. Here,during the outgoing tide we located 34 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS foraging in a tight flock along the shoreline with 2 Marbled Godwits. A gathering of 18 lingering CASPIAN TERNS were observed near the tip of Graveyard Spit,as hey rested calmly on the dry sand with good numbers of various gulls species. A short drive to the Tokeland Marina produced the regular flock of 850+ Marbled Godwits lined along the rocky shoreline just east of the coast guard station along with 16 Willets and 6 Long-billed Dowitchers.

Further north at Midway Beach Rd. despite not locating any Snowy Plovers we enjoyed an immature Northern Shrike perched from several bushes in the dunes. 5 "Streaked"Horned Larks were also noted upon arriving back to our vehicles.

My mother and I ended our day with a return drive along a portion of the Brady Loop Rd. complex,where an adult Northern Shrike was our only highlight noted as the sun began to set.



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

Great Egret
1 bird along Montesano Street at Westport
1 bird along S.R.105 at the mouth of the Elk River at Bay City

Northern Harrier
3 birds along the Brady Loop Rd. complex
3 birds at Midway Beach Rd.
1 bird at Grayland Beach S.P.

Am.Kestrel
2 birds along the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Merlin
1 female of the "Taiga" or "Boreal" subspecies at Bottle Beach
1 bird of undetermined subspecies along the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Peregrine Falcon
1 bird at Tokeland

Ring-necked Pheasant
1 bird along Foster Rd.(Brady Loop Rd. complex)

Black-bellied Plover
270+ birds at Bottle Beach

Greater Yellowlegs
3 birds at Bottle Beach

Sanderling
85+ birds at Bottle Beach
15 birds along the outer beaches at Grayland Beach S.P.

Western Sandpiper
225+ birds at Bottle Beach
3 birds along the outer beaches near Midway Beach Rd.

Least Sandpiper
85+ birds at Bottle Beach
15 birds at Westport

Dunlin
210+ birds at Bottle Beach

Long-billed Dowitcher
58 birds at Bottle Beach(including one bird still in partial breeding plumage)
6 birds at the Tokeland Marina

Wilson's Snipe
2 along Foster Rd.

Herring Gull
20 birds along the outer beaches at Grayland Beach S.P.

Western Scrub Jay
1 bird along Hwy.12 at Brady
1 bird along Hwy.12 at Satsop

Hutton's Vireo
1 bird along Midway Beach Rd.

Townsend's Warbler
1 bright male along Midway Beach Rd.

Savannah Sparrow
40+ birds along Brady Loop Rd.
10 birds at Westport
4 birds at Tokeland

Lincoln's Sparrow
2 birds along Brady Loop Rd.

Western Meadowlark
30+ birds along Brady Loop Rd.
5 birds at Midway Beach Rd.


On a side note just a few California Tortoiseshells were noted during our visit to Bottle Beach and 2 pairs of breeding Striped Meadowhawks noted at Midway Beach Rd.



Good birding,

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