Today, I birded Ocean Shores and then on the way home I stop by the Brady Loop and Wenzel Slough Road areas. The weather was dry, but a stiff east wind made things pretty cold in Ocean Shores.

I started the day off at Damon Point just before sunrise. I found that the access road to the parking area with the toilet was closed. I walked in and found utter destruction. The road is torn to pieces all around the toilet area with sand and debris everywhere. It looks like the waves were coming in hard from the southwest during the fury of the storm last week. Big remnants of trees meet you as you pass the former parking area. Once you get further out near the pond, it appears the pond is now cut-off from the bay so it will only get water from big waves from the southwest or from the sky. The stream that ran through where the Catala used to sit is now all filled in with sand which makes the walk around the north side of the point a lot easier. And now to the birds...

Damon Point: (walked the whole point)

Northern Shrike - one perched on top of tree about half way out on the north side
Western Meadowlark - two flighty birds just after the shrike
Canvasback - 2 pairs seen out in the bay to the north
Black Brant - first 3 seen out the eastern end then 6 together on the north side near the marina
Snow Goose - 5 seen with 1 adult and 4 immature out on the eastern end
American Pipit - 2 on the high tide line out on the eastern end
Horned Lark - 3 seen on the way back near the east side of the pond
Bald Eagle - 1 immature seen way out at the end of Catala spit
Black Turnstone - 1 bird on the rocks to the south of the parking area

Tonquin Road access to Game Range:

American Wigeon - 300+
Bald Eagle - one adult
Peregrine Falcon - dive bombing the Bald Eagle

Ocean Shores STP:

Lesser Scaup - 40
Green-winged Teal 15
American Wigeon 40
Northern Shoveler 10
Cackling Goose 2
Killdeer 1

Point Brown Jetty:

Black Turnstone - 10
(other rockbirds were too far out to ID positively)

Driftwood Rd. beach access:

Semipalmated Plover 6
Western Sandpiper 10
Dunlin 15
Sanderling 50

One note about Brady Loop Road and Wenzel Slough Road is that they are both totally open now with lots of water in the fields.

Brady Loop Rd. (west side):

Trumpeter Swan - 180
Tundra Swan - 20 (one bird has a lot of yellow on the bill, but it does not cross over the top so it looks like Sibley's picture of the max yellow for Tundra)
Northern Shrike - one that posed for pictures
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Bald Eagle - 1 adult
Ring-necked Pheasant - 3 males (presumably from the release area)

Foster Road (south end):

Black-bellied Plover - 15
Dunlin 100

Wenzel Slough Road (west end):

Western Grebe - 2 birds in the flooded fields viewed from just before the bridge

All in all it was a good day!

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo dot com



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