This afternoon my family took a misty drive up to Bay Center on the Willapa. TREMENDOUS shorebird action on the flats at ebb tide. In fact #'s were too high to comfortably estimate -- suffice it to say the mudflats were moving in the binocs.

Thousands of DUNLIN, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, many LEAST SANDS and GREATER YELLOWLEGS, and hundreds of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS and DOWITCHERS were wheeling and turning in the sky, and feeding on the flats and in the fields.

COMMON LOONS, WESTERN GREBES and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS were very frequent in the tidal channels. In fact one extra large basic plumage loon REALLY looked Yellow-billed-ish, but I ended up talking myself out of it.

I found one RED-NECKED GREBE in the boat basin behind the Dock on the Bay Restaurant. A Peale's-type PEREGRINE FALCON was on the alders scoping out the action. SAVANNAH SPARROWS were on the move through the cow pastures.

And as we were leaving at about 1900 hours at least 400 BRANT landed in front of the Bay Center Dike road near town.

a good afternoon after all -- haven't seen shorebird #s like that in some time, and the Brant were a bonus.


Lee Cain
Astoria