Today I had one of those unusual days off during the week, so it was off to the coast. Hwy 105 from Raymond to Tokeland was birdy in the morning. There were 13 Snow Geese in the farm fields north of Raymond, also present in the area were 1 Lincoln's Sparrow, 1 Marsh Wren, and 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Lots of Marbled Godwits were feeding in the mud flats of the bay. At the cove south of Tokeland there were 7 Trumpeter Swans, 3 Lesser Scaup, and 3 Greater Yellowlegs.
At Tokeland, I stopped at Graveyard Spit and at the marina. There were lots of Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, and Black-bellied Plovers at both locations. At the marina there were 4 Willets, 2 Western Grebes, and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers. At Graveyard Spit, there were Golden-crowned Sparrows, 3 Semipalmated Plovers, and a Varied Thrush.
I made a stop at North Cove and walk out to the end of the little jetty lookling for rock shorebirds. I saw one shorebird at the end of the jetty and waited for it to pop out. Well it jumped up onto a rock in front of me, but it wasn't what I had expected. A Least Sandpiper. However, there was a large raft of Surf Scoters and 5 Harlequin Ducks.
I did my walk along the beach accessed from Warren-Cannery Rd. The area has changed alot since last November. Tons of erosion. A 10ft high cliff of sand and dirt. I got down to the beach and walked north towards Midway. There were 3 Bald Eagles, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 5 Semipalmated Plovers, smatterings of Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, Dunlin, 3 Horned Larks, and 1 American Pipit.
I ended the day at Westport by walking out on the jetty and checking the marina. The jetty offered me 1 Rock Sandpiper, so I gladly accepted the sighting. The marina had some nice birds as well. There were 13 Western Grebes, 6 Common Loons, all 3 cormorants, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 American Coot on salt water, 17 Greater Scaup, and a 1st winter Glaucous Gull. The gull was seen on the exposed mud just after you cross the high wooden bridge in the main marina area.


Dave Hayden
dtvhm AT nwrain.com
Centralia, WA