Tweets,
David and I left early for the Hoquium Tx Plant and Ocean Shores this a.m. after reading Charlie's post yesterday. There was a good assortment of warblers on Paulson Rd, along w. a Lincoln's Sparrow and several Vaux's Swifts. We accessed the Game Range from Tonquin--kind of rugged, we had never gone in that way before. There are hunters now--dogs, decoys, the works, as there is a 2 wk goose season in early Sept. We tramped out to the first canal and saw 5 Buff-breasted Sandpipers at about 100 yds on the other side. There were a couple of RN Phalaropes in the canal. We went over to the Tx Plant entrance in hopes of finding them from the other direction. That canal was even bigger, and we never did relocate them, though we thought we saw them flying before we got to the water. (Charlie, how do you cross these canals? Is there a way to get around them?) The best spot was the ponds in the marshy area after you go over the logs on the Tx Plant side. There was a gorgeous juvenile Ruff, 2 American Golden Plovers, 3 G. Yellowlegs, a few Least Sandpipers in and out, 2 Baird's Sandpipers, and several Killdeer. The variety had increased as the high tide "arrived" around 1. Then a Peregrine straffed the pond and they all flew off around 1:30. That pond alone was worth the drive (which I have come to hate more than any other!) from Bothell!
By the way, a house is being build right up to the edge of the Ocean Shores Tx Plant fence. I asked a City worker today if there would no longer be access to the Game Range from that spot (it is the trail that goes down past the tower, much shorter than the one on the jetty side of the plant) and he said there is talk of moving the fence, but that I would have to check w. "City Hall." Since it was a Sun., there was no house construction (just the emergency road work, or whatever) but I don't imagine that trail will be available once the house goes up.
Penny Koyama, Bothell
plkoyama at verizon.net