Hello Tweets,

Today we birded from Tokeland to Ocean Shores with an overall good variety species. The weather remained fairly good all day,although we had light rain/drizzle at times,which didn't hamper our birding at all. Our first good bird of the day was while driving along I-5 at the Hwy.101 interchange at Tumwater,where a Peregrine Falcon flew overhead as it continued over Capitol Lake. We began the day with a short,unproductive visit to Bottle Beach during the incoming tide that hosted very few shorebirds. The only species of note here was a single Pacific-slope Flycatcher observed in a thick willow grove north of the parking area. Further west as we drove along S.R.105 at the Bay City bridge a single GREAT EGRET was observed amongst a large flock of Great Blue Herons foraging in South Bay. We then continued onto Midway Beach Rd.,where highlights included a single SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER amongst a flock of both Western and Least Sandpipers followed by 7 SNOWY PLOVERS(including 2 adult males and 5 juvenile birds). Other shorebird species of note at this location included 9 Semipalmated Plovers and 9 Red-necked Phalaropes.

Next, at the Tokeland Marina we located a large roosting flock of shorebirds along the inside portion of the jetty. The flock consisted of 400+ Marbled Godwits(including one very pale adult bird), 17 Whimbrel and 5 Long-billed Dowitchers. Also within the marina area up to 11 Willets were located followed by 2 adult male and 1 adult female Purple Martins. Other species of note encountered at Tokeland included a 1 Greater Scaup, 1 Surf Scoter, a Greater Yellowlegs, an Olive-sided Flycatcher and a single Yellow Warbler.

>From Tokeland we continued north to Ocean Shores with a short stop made at the Hoquiam STP. While driving in Hoquiam we located our second Peregrine Falcon of the day flying along a hillside above the Hoquiam River. The Hoquiam STP produced a small mixed flock of both scaup species followed by a lingering Bufflehead,a single Pied-billed Grebe and 3 Red-necked Phalaropes.

As we approached Ocean Shores the light rain increased,then stopped again by the time we reached Bill's Spit before starting up again. Species of note at Bill's Spit included 8 Black-bellied Plovers and 20 Whimbrel followed by a pair of Osprey flying overhead calling loudly. Here, we also met Marie Stewart of Texas,who is here visiting our area for birding and family travels. For the rest of our visit at Ocean Shores she joined us as we showed her a few of our favorite haunts beginning at the Ocean Shores STP. Her, we unfortunately were unable to locate any shorebirds at all,but 2 families of Northern Shovelers and a family of Gadwall rested on one of the ponds. We then took a nice hike behind the Ocean Shores STP to check for shorebirds at the Oyhut Wildlife Area. A scan of the inner bay area produced 17 Red-throated Loons and a single Horned Grebe as the main highlights. The Horned Grebe was our first of the season for Grays Harbor Co. although they have been reported at other western Washington locations. The back estuary area produced our best highlights of the day with an active assortment of shorebirds. Here, highlights began with a nice juvenile WILSON'S PHALAROPE amongst a flock of 13 Lesser Yellowlegs followed by 3 alternate-plumaged PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERS. We first located one Pacific Golden Plover then after awhile the bird called,then 2 birds flew in from an unknown area and all offered great views! Like the Horned Grebe this was our personal first of the season Pacific Golden Plovers for Grays Harbor Co. with more expected to follow in weeks to come,especially juvenile birds. It was a great bird for Marie since she had tried for the species in Oregon without any luck!
Other notable species at the Oyhut WA included the following:

4 Semipalmated Plovers
7 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Black Turnstone(observed flying over)
4 Short-billed Dowitchers
17 Long-billed Dowitchers
1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow


Our final stop at Ocean Shores was made at Damon Point,where we hiked to the base of Catala Spit then back. Conditions were quite slow,but a few notable species were located including the following:

9 Red-throated Loons
2 Pacific Loons
1 Western Grebe
3 Red-breasted Mergansers
good numbers of both Surf and White-winged Scoters
1 Northern Harrier
3 Whimbrel
13 Marbled Godwits
8 Red-necked Phalaropes
1 juvenile Marbled Murrelet
5 "Streaked"Horned Larks



Good birding,

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