After a fairly unremarkable day's birding in the north end of Ocean Shores with our WOS field trip today, some nice birds but no surprises, four of us decided to call at the Game Range in hope of finding the ruff or the buff-breasted sandpipers. We dipped on those (they'd been seen by the group who were leaving just as we arrived, so they're still around), but got nice side-by-side comparisons of American and Pacific golden-plovers.

We'd entered the range from the Tonquin end, and as we walked back towards the car, a bird flushed up out of the long grass at the edge of the range - a bobolink in non-breeding plumage. We got great binocular looks as it posed for us twice before flying off east. Quite a surprise to end a day that had been poor for passerines.

Louise