I had a Whimbrel today at the Kennedy Creek estuary during the rising
tide. It was foraging on the large mudflat area to the north until the
tide pushed it closer to the marsh. Rather than forage on the mudflats
near the DNR interpretive area, however, it moved to one of the small
marsh islands off the northwest tip of the contiguous marsh and walked
around to the north side (and out of view). Today's high tide is at
about 2:15, and mud should be exposed on the falling tide starting at
about 4:15 or 4:30. If the bird is still roosting on the north side of
the island it won't be visible for awhile (except possibly from the
parking area up at the road), so wait until the mudflats north of the
three islands are exposed and if it is still around it will likely
forage on the open flats.



I saw 7 shorebird species during my visit, and saw adult Purple Martins
attending to a fledgling (a few tufts of down still visible), the first
evidence of breeding by this species at the site in several years.



Joe Buchanan

Olympia



Joseph.Buchanan at dfw.wa.gov