Subject: [Tweeters] coastal weekend birding
Date: Jul 8 21:31:45 2007
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Tweets,

This weekend we enjoyed a nice weekend to the coast with a variety of birding with a nice pelagic trip off Westport on Saturday and other bird done on Friday and Sunday. The weather remained cool and cloudy,which was a relief from hot temperatures further inland. The full pelagic trip on Saturday itself produced most of all the target species we had anticipated along with obtaining photos on some of the highlights too. The conditions during the pelagic trip were quite rough at times due to the rather strong northwesterly winds,but overall it was great trip for most everyone. It was also great to see many birders that we knew and hadn't seen in the field for some time now,as well as meeting new faces too. The main highlights during the pelagic trip included 5 SOUTH POLAR SKUAS including one bird that allowed extremely close views,as it flew by the boat during several passes. In addition excellent views of both LEACH'S and FORK-TAILED STORM PETRELS were offered to everyone on the boat with fairly good numbers of both species. Good numbers of other more common pelagic species included Black-footed Albatross and Sooty Shearwaters,as well as small numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters too. We managed to venture 41 miles offshore,which was further than we had expected and long stretches of slow periods were evident too. Other notable species during the pelagic trip included 3 Cassin's Auklets, 2 dark-morph jaeger species,(which although were too far to safely identify to species a few of us considered them Pomarine Jaegers), several Red-necked Phalaropes, and a migrating Western Sandpiper. On our return way back our only Marbled Murrelet of the trip was noted just west of the Westport Jetty,as well as several Black-legged Kittiwakes and many Brown Pelicans and Heermann's Gulls.

We have placed many photos taken during the pelagic trip,as well as other species encountered during our weekend trip onto our website. These photos can all be accessed at the following link: http://www.pbase.com/godwit/recent_photos/

After arriving back on land Saturday afternoon the Woodruff's and Gina Sheridan from Spokane joined us,as we birded a few locations between Tokeland and Bottle Beach. We began at Grayland,where the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was easily located. Here, the bird sang and mimicked from atop a large evergreen tree along Jado Place,as we observed it from the Beachcomber Market and Deli along S.R.105. The bird then dropped down behind a series of houses and became quiet. The bird was also observed on the 6th of July and well as today(July 8th)perched atop the same tall evergreen tree.

Next, at Midway Beach Rd. we located a single male SNOWY PLOVER ,as well as 8+ Semipalmated Plovers in the wet,sandy areas. In the remaining flooded areas south of the end of the road good numbers of Western Sandpipers foraged along with 2 Greater Yellowlegs. Before leaving Midway Beach Rd. we were treated to great views of several Purple Finches,including adult and hatch-year birds. Further south at Tokeland a nice gather of large shorebirds were located roosting on the inside portion of jetty at the Tokeland Marina. Here, shorebird species consisted of 36+ Whimbrel, 2 WILLETS, 1 Marbled Godwit, 40+ Short-billed Dowitchers and a lone Western Sandpiper. As we watched these shorebirds a pair of PURPLE MARTINS began to call loudly,as we focused on the old tire attached to a pole on the northern most dock inside the marina. These birds bird flew out from the tire and soon landed on a snag just west of the marina. Within a short time the birds were joined by an immature male Purple Martin,as they all rested together for our enjoyment. After a short time the birds all flew off beginning with the adult male and female Purple Martin followed by the immature male. The birds all flew towards the old trip,but then shifted directions and all flew north towards Graveyard Spit. We presumed the adult male and female Purple Martin may again be breeding at the Tokeland Marina inside the old tire and perhaps the immature male bird was from last year's nesting here. Whatever the case it was great to see these birds here at the Tokeland Marina and hope they do continue to nest here,but under better circumstances.

After birding Tokeland we all ventured north to see if Bottle Beach would have any shorebirds,despite the high level of the tide. We arrived to locating no shorebirds on the limited shoreline,which we had initially predicted,but wanted to check anyways. The only shorebirds we did encounter were 6-8 Least Sandpipers in the canal along the trail before arriving to the mudflats areas. Nearby,a quick check at the wetland areas along Ocosta Third Street produced the lingering female Cinnamon Teal,as well as a Nutria.

Today we birded alone after spending a second night at Twin Harbors State Park near Westport. An early morning walk at this park produced a good assortment of species before many people woke up. The most significant highlights here included the following:

10 Wood Ducks
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
2 Pacific-slope Flycatchers
5 Hutton's Vireos
2 Black-throated Gray Warblers
1 MacGillivray's Warbler
2 Western Tanagers
12 Purple Finches

After packing up we headed south and briefly checked areas east of S.R.105 near North Cove. Here, our main highlights included 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallows and an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Next, along S.R.105 at the Raymond STP we located 2 female Gadwalls with broods,as well as a single Greater Yellowlegs. A short drive along Willapa-Monohan Landing Rd. produced a single RED-EYED VIREO along the south shore of the Willapa River,which is a very notable species for Pacific Co.!

Further north along Hwy. 101 we made a few stops in Pacific Co. beginning above Butte Creek Rd.,where we located a pair of Evening Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills. Next, we drove along an open forest road(accessed along Hwy.101 north of Smith Creek Rd.). We ventured 2 miles to an active logging area,then worked our way back towards Hwy.101. We located a calling SOOTY GROUSE followed by 2 singing HERMIT WARBLERS noted 1.5 miles along this forest road from Hwy.101. 5 Turkey Vultures soared overheard over the active logging area,as well as a calling Band-tailed Pigeon heard at this location. Several Pacific-slope Flycatchers and Black-throated Gray Warblers were noted along the entire 1.5 mile stretch of forest road from Hwy.101 too. Our last species of note for our trip was a Red-breasted Sapsucker observed at the public fishing area along the Chehalis River north of Montesano along Hwy.107.


Good birding,


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