Arriving at noon, I observed in the freshwater pond near the two track to
the beach:



Long-billed Dowitcher (20), identified by vocalization as well as plumage

Lesser Yellowlegs (1)

Least Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Snowy Plover (1), gray band on left leg

Unidentified dark-winged raptor flying low over dune grass



Near the water were:



Brown Pelican (maybe a hundred)

California Gull (hundreds)

Heerman's Gull (hundreds)

Herring Gull (hundreds)

Caspian Tern (twenty)

Sanderling (one hundred, perhaps more, immobile well above waterline)



Out on the water were what looked to me to be:



Sooty Shearwaters (hundreds)



They were at the limit of scope range and disappearing and reappearing
behind waves, so the identification is not certain.



Also seen on the beach were several dead birds. The weather was mostly
sunny and comfortable. We were surrounded by birds. I counted only small
pockets of birds, which were multiplied many times over up and down the
beach. The addition of a life bird (Snowy Plover) which I had, two days
before, searched for unsuccessfully in several places at the Great Salt
Lake, made for a really enjoyable day.



Marvin S. Hoekstra

Sammamish, WA

marvin dot hoekstra at verizon dot net