Hello Tweets,

Today we began the day intending to bird Ocean Shores all day,but extended the day by birding to Tokeland during the evening high tide. The day began very foggy between McCleary to Ocean Shores,then partially clearing up around 12pm at Ocean Shores. We ran into Harold and Karen Cottet of Spokane,who joined us birding at a few spots during the entire day. Ocean Shores itself was very slow,especially due to the persistent morning fog. Our main highlight at Ocean Shores was a gathering of 40+ LONG-BILLED CURLEWS and 40 Marbled Godwits that assembled at Bill's Spit,but the viewing of all these birds was not the best due to the lighting and distance. Large numbers of gulls were also noted during our visit to Bill's Spit,as well as good numbers of Common Loons in offshore waters of North Bay. We checked a few locations at Ocean Shores then decided to head south for the incoming tide at Bottle Beach then ending the day at Tokeland along with the enjoyable company of the Cottet's. We arrived at Bottle Beach at 2pm,where our main highlight of the day was 6 RED KNOTS amongst a flock of 157 Black-bellied Plovers. The Red Knots consisted of 1 adult bird in alternate plumage and 5 juvenile birds and while watching the birds we also encountered , Semipalmated Plover,2 Western Sandpipers and 1 Dunlin to round out our shorebird list for this location. As the high tide progressed many of the Black-bellied Plovers dispersed to other locations leaving only a few birds left that rested on a few of the pilings out in the water. During our visit to Bottle Beach we also ran into 2 other birders,as well as a field crew attempting to mistnet shorebirds.

After birding Bottle Beach we drove west and south to Tokeland arriving at the Tokeland Marina at 4pm,where a very large flock of 900+ Marbled Godwits rested tightly along the entire abandoned dock,as well as along the shoreline. It was a nice gathering of birds,a they at times fought for space on the old dock and also became restless at times. On the shoreline south of the marina complex we located a flock of 14 Willets,as they rested sporadically along a wooden structure attached to the old coast guard station. While watching the Willets we located a single injured Marbled Godwit that foraged alone away from the other Marbled Godwits and it was apparent the bird had an injured wing that was draping down onto the ground. The bird continued feeding actively despite the injury,as 2 other healthy Marbled Godwits soon joined it.

Our last stop of the day was made along Foster Rd. at 5:30pm(located and accessed in the center portion of the Brady Loop Rd. complex),where we easily located the 2 WHITE-TAILED KITES that actively hunted over various fields on both sides of Foster Rd. bordering Brady Loop Rd. Both birds foraged primarily alone,but during our visit we observed interaction between the birds,as they would chase eachother around before going separate ways. It was nice watching each of the birds display there distinctive feeding behavior,where they would hovered over a certain spot in the field then fold their wings back then descend downward into the field. It seems that both of these birds favor this location and the feeding may be very good for them,especially since there doesn't seem to be any conflict with other raptor species.

Other species of note during the day included the following species:

EARED GREBE
1 bird continuing at the Cabana Pond(Ocean Shores)

Western Grebe
2 birds at Tokeland

Great Egret
1 bird resting on an "island" in South Bay north of S.R.105 just west of Bay City

Turkey Vulture
7 birds soaring over Tokeland
1 bird along Brady Loop Rd.

Northern Harrier
1 bird at Damon Point
1 bird at Tokeland

Cooper's Hawk
1 birds at Bottle Beach

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

Merlin
1 bird along S.R.105 at Bay City

Ring-necked Pheasant
2 birds along the Brady Loop Rd. complex

Greater Yellowlegs
20 birds at Mud Bay,Thurston Co.
6 birds at Bottle Beach

Sanderling
100+ birds near Bill's Spit

Least Sandpiper
1 bird at the Ocean Shores STP

Long-billed Dowitcher
1 bird at the Ocean Shores STP
1 bird at the Tokeland Marina

Caspian Tern
1 bird at the Tokeland Marina

Mourning Dove(noteworthy location for this species)
1 bird at the Tokeland Marina

Western Scrub Jay
1 bird along Hwy.12 at Brady
1 bird along Emerson Street at Hoquiam

Am.Pipit
small numbers noted at Ocean Shores from several locations including the Ocean Shores STP and Damon Point
1 bird at the Tokeland Marina

Lincoln's Sparrow
1 bird(with several "Sooty"Fox Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows)at Bottle Beach



Good birding,

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