Summer-like weather prevailed all over the Makah Reservation
yesterday. The seas were calm, the sun was darn near hot, and there
was no fog on the outer coast. No loons of any type on Neah Bay and
no sign of Buffleheads yet. Both Surf and White-winged Scoters were
in abundance on the bay but no Black Scoters seen. Harlequins are
around, seen along the Strait and outside the Neah Bay breakwater. A
male Varied Thrush appeared on the walk out to the breakwater and a
Semi-palmated Plover was on the beach just where the breakwater
begins. Of note were 800-1000 Brown Pelicans off Hobuck Beach and at
the mouth of the Waatch River. Gulls included Western, Herring,
California, Ring-billed, and Heermann's. The only peeps were two
Sanderlings and a Semi-palmated Sandpiper tagging along with them.
Seven Black Turnstones were seen on an off-shore rock between Sekiu
and Neah Bay.

Stopped at Helen's Pond and 3 Crabs, near Dungeness Spit, this
morning. Nothing of note at Helen's Pond. Wigeons were in great
abundance off 3 Crabs but not one Eurasian among them. One sandpiper
was of interest and warranted watching for almost an hour while I
puzzled between Pectoral and Sharp-tailed. It did have a bold
supercilium and rufous cap. The feathers were quite bright but the
eye-ring was not very distinct. After consulting Dennis Paulson's
"Shorebirds of North America," I concluded that it must have been a
bright-plumage juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper because of the breast
pattern, with the lower edge of the streaks ending in points.

Carol Riddell
Edmonds