Hello Tweets,

Today we enjoyed another nice day of shorebirding along the outer coast between Tokeland and the Johns River WRA. The weather remained nice for most of the day,then near the end of the day turned fairly wet with increasing rain. We began the day at 10:30am with a walk along the outer beaches between Warrenton-Cannery Rd. to Grayland Beach State Park,where conditions were the best along with several highlights. Our main highlight in this area were 5 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS located and photographed in different areas including 2 birds well south of the end of Midway Beach Rd. and 3 birds north of Midway Beach Rd. It was definitely a species we had anticipated seeing this fall and it was equally exciting to watch them forage in the sand,as well as in flight too. All the Buff-breasted Sandpipers were fairly approachable to some degree. The 2 birds observed south of Midway Beach Rd. eventually flew off to the south as they gained elevation,while the 3 birds north of Midway Beach Rd. only flew short distances.

In addition to the Buff-breasted Sandpipers we encountered a few other highlights during our 4 mile hike along the outer beaches including an ARCTIC TERN observed flying south close to shore into the head winds. 4 PARASITIC JAEGERS were observed onshore chasing several Caspian Terns before flying further offshore south of Midway Beach Rd. Small,but steady streams of Sooty Shearwaters were observed flying south offshore,as well as 2 Pacific Loons. A good assortment of shorebirds were noted in the flooded areas primarily north of Midway Beach Rd. including the following species:

2 Snowy Plovers
45 Semipalmated Plovers
4 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS
75+ Western Sandpipers
40 Least Sandpipers
15 BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS
33 Red-necked Phalaropes

A list of other species of note during our beach walk included the following species:

58 Green-winged Teal(observed migrating south along the shoreline)
4 Turkey Vultures
1 Northern Harrier
1 "Streaked"Horned Lark


At 2pm we visited the Tokeland Marina,where water levels were high as the large flock of Marbled Godwits were already assembled along the inner portion of the jetty. The conditions here were quite windy,but we managed to easily locate 2 BAR-TAILED GODWITS resting amongst the large flock along with 13 Willets and 20 Whimbrel. Both Bar-tailed Godwits were quite visible,despite having their heads tucked in most of the time and were also observed in flight on two occasions showing their white barred rumps and pale underwings. Upon further scoping of the large shorebird flock on the jetty we located 1 Ruddy Turnstone, 3 Black Turnstones, and 15 Short-billed Dowitchers. Due to heavy fishing and crabbing on going from the Tokeland Marina conditions are busy with people,so finding a good spot to scope the large shorebird flock on the jetty is quite limited. The pair of Purple Martins flew around the marina area,as they took turns feeding the young at the old tire site. Other notable species encountered at Tokeland included 3 Turkey Vultures and a single adult Peregrine Falcon.

After leaving Tokeland at 3:30pm as the rain began to increase we headed north and made one last stop of the day at the Johns River WRA. A walk along the paved trail to the drying wetland area in the back produced a good assortment of species to add to our day list. Among the gathering of shorebirds the main highlight here was a juvenile STILT SANDPIPER observed amongst a flock of Greater Yellowlegs along a canal that remains full of water. Secondly, an alternate plumaged AM.GOLDEN PLOVER was observed in a more dryer open area along the edges of the wetland,where it remained quite elusive in vegetation. In the fields north of the wetland area good numbers of Barn Swallows and a single Cliff Swallow flew low along with a single BANK SWALLOW that was photographed before flying off to an unknown area. On the way back to the parking area the last notable species observed was a lone BLACK SWIFT flying east over the Johns River. A list of other species from this location included the following:

10 Green-winged Teal
15 Northern Shovelers
8 Gadwall
2 Hooded Mergansers
2 Turkey Vultures
1 Peregrine Falcon
14 Semipalmated Plovers
34 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
120+ Western Sandpipers
90+ Least Sandpipers
1 Baird's Sandpiper
3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS
2 Wilson's Snipe
1 Willow Flycatcher


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

3 Turkey Vultures perched in trees along S.R.105 just east of Stafford Creek
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk at Grayland
1 Am.Kestrel observed along Hwy.12 west of Elma
1 Peregrine Falcon along S.R.105 at North Cove



Good birding,

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