Tweets,
In spite of unfavorable tides, David and I took a quick trip to Jetty Island this a.m.--the free ferry only runs Wed-Sun from 7/4-Labor Day, so opportunities from now on were limited. There were a couple of hundred Western Sandpipers (no Leasts!), 8 Semi-palmated Plovers, and 1 Pectoral Sandpiper in the quickly emptying lagoon east of north end of the island; 1 Willet and 1 Greater Yellowlegs on the far side of the NE end. Plus the usual gulls, Ospreys, DC Cormorants, and Caspian Terns. Just after I finished commenting to David that there are hardly ever any shorebirds on the "big water" to the west of the island, I spotted a couple of Black-bellied Plovers at the shoreline. Raising my bins to check out their fading breeding plumage, I was thrilled to see a Red Knot hanging out with them. It had a considerable amount of pink below and remnants of pink on its neck and face. We had good scope views for several minutes, then the trio flew to the far north inlet, where there were mostly RB Gulls--still viewable with scopes. Does anyone know if this is a regular Jetty Island migrant? I only go once/season but this is my first sighting of a Red Knot there.
Penny Koyama, Bothell
plkoyama at verizon.net