Hello tweeters,

Today three of us drove up from Portland to check out the Shorebird Festival and generally bird around Grays Harbor for the weekend. We spent most of today in the Ocean Shores area, and here are the highlights:

Hoquiam Sewage Ponds - we didn't find the female Tufted Duck reported earlier, but there was a Canvasback diving among the rest of the nice waterfowl assortment.

Damon Point - just before high tide (2pm) we were treated to a very close approach (10 ft.) by a large flock of feeding shorebirds including Marbled Godwits, Short-billed Dowitchers, Western Sandpipers, and Dunlin. No rarities, but the looks were so nice! We walked out to the end of the point and saw a Red-necked Grebe among the Common Loons, Greater Scaup, and White-winged Scoters. Skeins of Cackling Geese passed overhead frequently, and there was one group of Greater White-fronteds. A large flock of Dunlin seemed to circle the area as we walked and it was fun to watch them pass every few minutes. Sometimes they would whiz by so close you could hear the rush of air over a thousand little wings.

N. Jetty - many people fishing from the jetty, so we didn't spend a lot of time looking for rock birds, but there was a Pheasant crowing from somewhere behind one of the houses.

Ocean Shores STP - Aleutian Cacklers and an odd, maybe hybrid Green-winged Teal caught our eye at a quick check.

Bill's Spit - We took the path from Peninsula Ct. And found one Ruddy Turnstone among scores of Dowitchers, 20 or so Black-bellied Plovers, and Marbled Godwits.

Ocean City SP - was crowded and smoky from campfires, and nearly bird-free.

Humptulips River - Burrows Rd. was a nice detour loop off Hwy 109 between Hoquiam and Ocean Shores. The tide was well out, but there were large numbers of shorebirds on the mud flats just west of the Humptulips R. mouth. A large flock of GWF Geese and a single Snow Goose were on the east side of the river at the wildlife viewing area.

-John Notis
Portland, Or

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