Subject: [Tweeters] Stilt Sandpiper near North Cove 7-30-07
Date: Jul 30 20:00:47 2007
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Tweets,

This afternoon at 2pm we discovered an adult STILT SANDPIPER at the end of Midway Beach Rd.,which is north of North Cove in Pacific Co. The bird was very cooperative and extremely approachable in the flooded area north of the end of Midway Beach Rd.,where many photos were obtained. The bird was almost tame,as it foraged and pranced around the flooded area with many "peeps" nearby. It was by far our best look at a Stilt Sandpiper to date and we suspect this bird could be the same bird that we found at the Oyhut Wildlife Area(Ocean Shores)on the 28th of July. Whatever the case it was a great bird to see! The conditions this afternoon at Midway Beach Rd. were very windy,but it didn't stop the shorebirds from feeding including our first juvenile birds of the season. This record represented one of very few records of Stilt Sandpiper for Pacific Co.!

A list of other shorebirds at Midway Beach Rd. included the following:

45 Semipalmated Plovers
4 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS(2 adult birds,2 juvenile birds)
300+ Western Sandpipers
7 Least Sandpipers
12 Red-necked Phalaropes(6 adult birds, 6 juvenile birds)

In addition we visited the Tokeland Marina,which was our primary goal of the day to check up on the Purple Martins. This afternoon we located a pair of immature Purple Martins coming and leaving one of our nest boxes,as well as a pair of adult birds at the old tire. The pair of immature birds could easily be breeding there since they seemed so attentive to the nestbox. The birds would take turns sitting inside the house,as one would leave fly around then land on the house as the other bird watched.

Nearby, a gathering of large shorebirds gathered on the jetty on the inside portion of the marina. These shorebirds included the following species: 9 Willets, 78 Marbled Godwits, 45 Whimbrel and a lone Short-billed Dowitcher. A single female Red-breasted Merganser,as well as a pair of Surf Scoters and a Greater Scaup were also present at the Tokeland Marina.



Good birding,

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