Subject: [Tweeters] Grays Harbor & Pacific Counties; 22 October 2006
Date: Oct 22 23:15:56 2006
From: Charlie Wright - c.wright7 at comcast.net


Greetings
Today Fred Boesche and I birded out on the coast. Had a total of 116 species
with plenty of highlights. Our first stop of the morning was Brady Loop,
which was fogged in and pretty dead bird-wise. At the Hoquiam STP there were
3 EARED GREBES.

Bottle Beach was the most productive spot. We got there just at perfect tide
and large numbers of Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers were flying around and
foraging. Soon I picked out an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER sitting on the
dilapidated pilings offshore. Unfortunately the views were a bit distant,
but the lighting was good. The wing formula and overall plumage (lacking
warm yellowish tones on the breast, face, and back) were the best field
marks for an American. Just after all the plovers flew out across the
harbor, I heard a PALM WARBLER calling in the Scot's broom. A few minutes
later, it flew over my head and gave a nice 10-second view before going out
of sight again.

At Westport, the basic-plumaged male BAR-TAILED GODWIT was still roosting
with the Marbleds behind the coast guard station. At Midway Beach we walked
out from the road and then went north a short ways, which produced 8 Snowy
Plovers. North Cove had a large flock of gulls, including a surprising
number of Heermann's for this late. Also present were 15 Herring and 3
Thayer's Gulls. Tokeland Marina had 800 Marbled Godwits, 6 Willets, and 11
Long-billed Dowitchers. At Graveyard Spit were 12 Caspian Terns and 40
Long-billed Curlews. A dark morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK on the road out ended
our day.

Cheers
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington