Tweeters,



Did some birding out on the Pacific Shore yesterday.



Midway Beach: At 1 PM it was sunny and breezy. Seven RED NECKED PHALAROPES
were spinning and dipping in the north pond of the two at the end of Midway
Beach Rd. Walking N along the line of signs demarking the Snowy Plover
nesting area, I scared up three white birds with tan backs which settled
down not far away. They did not have plover markings or plover beaks, which
were more long and tapering. These appeared to be SANDERLINGS, although
they were at least 100 yards from the surf, and one of them had almost a
pure white top on its head. I could not turn them into Baird's because they
had no "necklace" or spot between beak and eyes. Next I spotted a loner
gull with a sharply demarked black bill tip that looks like a 2nd winter
SLATY-BACKED GULL. With raised wings the photo shows white rump-so I don't
think it was a Thayer's.



Bottle Beach: Arrived at 3:30 PM, a half hour before high tide on my chart.
The creek is passable-various pieces of wood are strategically laid out, and
the longitudinal laminated beams for the bridge are in place. There were
CROWS on the beach, but no other birds. The pilings out there had an
immature gull and a two fat shorebirds that could have been winter Red
Knots. I did not have my scope and they flew before I left the beach.



Tokeland: Around 4:30 PM, at the Foster Ave rock wall. The sand spit had
about a dozen LONG BILLED CURLEWS, 24-30 CASPIAN TERNS, six BROWN
PELICANS, and hundreds of HEERMANN'S GULLS, plus the usual GLAUCOUS WINGED
GULLS. The Emerson Ave Toke Spit area had 30-35 BROWN PELICANS, 15 MARBLED
GODWITS, 3 WILLETS, one DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANT and hundreds of HEERMANN'S
GULLS. On the rock slope to the south of the public fishing dock were
about 200 MARBLED GODWITS and one WHIMBREL, which I tried unsuccessfully to
turn into a Bristle Thighed Curlew. Close inspection did not turn up any
other species of Godwit.



I will post some photos on flickr later of the "sanderlings" and "slaty
backed" gull. I would appreciate any advice from those who have experience
with Snowy Plovers on location, time of year, time of day, etc.





Marvin S. Hoekstra

Sammamish, WA

marvin dot hoekstra at verizon dot net