Hello Tweets,

This afternoon we checked for shorebirds along the McAllister Creek trail at the Nisqually NWR between 3pm-5:30pm. Although conditions were quite hot a gentle breeze helped keep us somewhat cooler,as we waited for shorebirds to come in during the incoming high tide. Shorebird habitat along the McAllister Creek trail continues to be great with ample amounts of muddy areas for feeding limited to the southeast inside portion of the "loop" trail. The afternoon and evening offer the best lighting,as well as an incoming high tide that continues to help drive shorebirds in from other areas such as the Nisqually Delta. A good spotting scope and patience is necessary in watching the shorebirds here since they move around and during our visit the shorebirds were limited to just one area. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon before the nice weekly summer lecture at the refuge!

Our main 2 shorebird highlights this afternoon were a single adult PECTORAL SANDPIPER followed by a juvenile BAIRD'S SANDPIPER,which were both observed separately along the McAllister Creek trail north of the McAllister Creek Overlook. Both of these birds were our personal firsts of the season with the Pectoral Sandpiper being the most interesting since this was our personal first record for early August in Washington. Typically, we normally encounter juvenile birds by late August when numbers increase through September through mid October. We were able to get a few distant photos of the Pectoral Sandpiper,which are of very poor quality. It was great birds to see!
The Baird's Sandpiper was far more expected for the season and is a species we have been looking for at typical coastal locations. Additionally, we were able to locate 4 separate SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS including 3 juvenile birds and one adult bird. Near the end of our visit was when we encountered the desist numbers of "peeps",but overall numbers were far lower than in previous visits with an increase of juvenile birds.

A list of our shorebird numbers followed by a few other species of note include the following:

1 female Cinnamon Teal
12 juvenile Wood Ducks
3 Hooded Mergansers
1 Turkey Vulture
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Am.Kestrel
9 Greater Yellowlegs
75+ Western Sandpipers
15 Least Sandpipers
4 Long-billed Dowitchers
2 Wilson's Snipes
7 Northern Rough-winged Swallows
1 Western Wood Pewee
5 Willow Flycatchers
1 Black-headed Grosbeak
3 Purple Finches



Good birding,

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