Today, I had the chance to try for the pair of Emperor Geese near South Bend in Pacific county. I drove from Elma to South Bend and then made my way north from Raymond to Tokeland and then back to Elma. Thank you to everyone that replied to my request for ID help. At 10:30am this morning, I located the pair of Emperor Geese in the field west of South Bend near Carruthers Road. I had good light and the view was distant, but good. Life bird for me. In the same field, I spotted a Peregrine Falcon that showed a lot of white on its head. The white extended from the top of the head to the back of the head. First time, I have seen a Peregrine like this and I believe it was a juvenile tundra form. Also, here a small flock of American Wigeon was flying out to the river with a single male Eurasian Wigeon at the front.

At the Raymond Airport, I had a good variety of raptors. Here I found: 2 White-tailed Kites, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, and 1 Northern Harrier.

At Tokeland in the marina, was the huge flock of Marbled Godwits with a few Willets mixed in. I spotted only one Long-billed Dowitcher with the bunch and a few Dunlin working the shoreline inside the marina. Out in the bay, a good size flock of Brant were present. I then drove 3rd St. in Tokeland which has a nice brushy area along the road. Here is where I pished out a Lincoln's Sparrow, several Fox Sparrows, and the bright yellow warbler. I'm going with Orange-crowned for now. I made the mistake of going for the camera when I should have been noting field marks. Also, along this road I found White-crowned and Golden-crowned sparrows feeding on the ground. Three Wilson's Snipe were seen in a yard here too.

At Midway Beach, I took a walk to the north of the access road through the very wet dune area. The only shorebirds present were 2 Least Sandpipers at the end of the access road.

Finally, a stop along Ocosta Myrtle Street yielded a nice mixed flock of Canada and Cackling Geese with an odd looking white goose. The size and shape of this bird reminded me of the domestic hybrid that hangs out at Nisqually NWR. I thought of Snow Goose just because it was white, but the legs were more orange than pink and it lacked the black on the bill. I'm sure its some kind of mixed up domestic goose.

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo dot com





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