OCEAN SHORES TO TOKELAND
28-30 SEPTEMBER 2007

The Westport Pelagic trip was cancelled Thursday night due to an approaching
storm but we decided, regardless of the weather, to bird the outer coast. We
arrived Friday afternoon in Ocean Shores and went straight to Tonquin Road
to target shorebirds on the Oyhut Game Range.

Winter storms continue to change the landscape here. It was only a couple
years ago the game range was an extensive Salicornia marsh, fully exposed to
tidal flow. It now appears to be affected by only by tides that reach extreme
heights. Its value as a vibrant ecosystem might be at risk. We noted
only a handful of shorebirds: a couple Pectoral and Baird's Sandpipers and a
few peeps. Overhead, a flock of 30 Lapland Longspurs "tewed" and rattled.
American Pipits dotted the mudflats. Nearby, hundreds of Brown Pelicans and Heermann's
Gulls swarmed about the waters at the beginning of Damon Point. Scattered
about the waters offshore the game range, we noted Red-throated, Pacific,
and Common Loons, Western Grebes, scoters, and Harlequin Ducks.

We chatted with fellow birders Doug and Pipper Watkins who recommended
Galways Irish Pub and Eatery. They were going to meet Bob and Jo Norton
there for dinner. We took Doug's advice and had a hearty dinner and a couple
of brews there.

We hiked out onto Damon Point early on Saturday morning. Winter storms
continue to eat away at this habitat, too. The once extensive dune grass
area west of the pond has shrunk hugely. It takes only a little imagination
to imagine this long peninsula soon becoming an island. We scanned the pond
closely and saw no shorebirds. Zero. The nearby dune grass habitat had a few
Northern Harriers and Savannah Sparrows. The wrack line out at the far end
of the point, on the north side had the most interesting birds: here were 10
or so "Streaked" Horned Larks and as many Lapland Longspurs plus numbers of
Savannah Sparrows. We particularly enjoyed viewing the larks; they really
are different from other races. Sibley depicts them nicely as "Northwest"
birds. Ellen hollered as a lone Whimbrel flushed from the dune grass, our
only shorebird out here on a four-hour trek! We were hoping for golden
plovers but alas it was not our day for these beautiful birds.

We hit the Hoquiam Sewage Treatment Plant late in the morning. Here we added
six species of waterfowl to our trip list that we would see only here:
Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Duck. We
were entertained by a Golden-crowned Sparrow "on helium," singing its head
off as if it were May!

High tide was scheduled for 3:15 pm at Aberdeen so we wanted to get to
Bottle Beach in plenty of time to catch the shorebird activity. We missed it
entirely! We suppose a storm surge messed up the accuracy of the tide table.

Next we hit the Westport Marina. It was now high tide so there were plenty
of Black Turnstones and Surfbirds roosting on the pilings at the far end of
the fishing dock, beyond the arched footbridge. Here we bumped into Bill
Boynton who reported Carol Schulz and her Rainier Audubon group had found a
Tropical Kingbird at Bottle Beach just after we left, so we bolted back to
Bottle Beach in hopes of finding this waif from the south. No sighting but I
did hear the bird twitter from inside a dense Sitka Spruce a 100 yards north
of the main Bottle Beach trail on the new trail hacked from the dense
brambles. We had no luck in finding the bird perhaps because it was raining
and blowing, not the best weather for a flycatcher.

Late Saturday afternoon we braved rain and fierce winds at Midway Beach.
Birds were few in the beach grass inshore area typically good for
shorebirds. We did count six Buff-breasted Sandpipers in the dry muddy area
they've been for six weeks, perhaps the same birds Patrick Sullivan found
and reported. We thank, as so many birders have, Patrick's countless reports
of rare birds during his years of birding in Washington and are deeply
saddened by his recent passing.

We spent Saturday night at the historic Tokeland Hotel. The restaurant has
nice rustic atmosphere but the lack of en suite rooms is a bit disconcerting
to mature adults like ourselves who might need a nighttime bathroom break.
It rained all night and was blowing and pouring Sunday morning.

Though high tide was at 4 am, the water level was still high enough at 7:30
am that the famous wader flock was still about the Tokeland Marina. We took
shelter under the overhang at the marina shop and enjoyed good views of
hundreds of Marbled Godwits, the usual dozen or so Willets, and a handful of
Short-billed Dowitchers.

We returned to the hotel for breakfast that begins at 8 am. Civilized huh?
Watching the rain pour down, we enjoyed a nice breakfast plus close views of
four Black-tailed Deer outside the restaurant window.

With a hearty breakfast and plenty of hot coffee we once again donned our
waterproofs for another visit to Bottle Beach. We arrived at 10 am with a
high tide posted for about 4 pm. We almost missed the shorebird frenzy again
as the waters marched up to just 25 feet from the brush while we took as
short break to walk the new trail! Go figure. We can only guess a powerful
storm indeed does create a sustained and substantial surge or an
exceptionally high tide means the birder ought to be at a site extra early
to catch the wader action. A Marbled Godwit flock of 30 birds held one
Bar-tailed Godwit that showed nicely. This was our best find here. As the
tide finally lapped up to dry sand, the godwits took off towards Westport or
so it looked.

We slowly made our way around Willapa Bay, trying several new spots. First
we took a logging road, east from SR-105 Milepost 11 steeply up into dense
industrial forest of hemlock and spruce. It was still pouring so we didn't
see much except a few juncos and Winter Wrens. Golden-crowned Kinglets
lisped from high in the trees. After two miles the road crested a ridge and
before us lay miles of fresh and barren clear cuts. I wondered if DNR and
Weyerhaueser, apparent landowners here, keep this scene out of the public's
view as much as possible. The view of endless clear cuts reminded me of
Robert Michael Pyle's passages describing these Willapa Hills in his fine
book Wintergreen: Rambles in a ravaged land. Reteurning to the highway, on a
lark we stopped at a marsh along SR-105 at Milepost 17. With a little
prompting Virginia Rails erupted into a full scold while Marsh Wrens added
to the cacophony.

We made one final stop at Bottle Beach in hopes of blundering into the
Tropical Kingbird but alas it was still blowing and frequent rain squalls
pelted.

Homeward we detoured south at Rochester to search for White-tailed Kites.
Our first stop came west and south from Rochester as the road leaves valley
open fields of the valley bottom and enters denser growth. Gray Jays called
from the tall firs. On Lincoln Creek Road a half-mile west of Echo Lane
Ellen hollered "stop!" A kite posed handsomely in a snag in the middle of a
rough grass field. Through the scope we could see it shaking from time to
time raindrops from its beautiful plumage. A great end to a fine trip!

Andy and Ellen Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net