Hi all....I spent much of the day out on the beach with my scope and binos
atop a dune watching the sun sparkle off the ocean, crabbing boats moving
back and forth, whales exhaling into the breeze, people enjoying some
sunshine on their day off, and thousands of Dunlin gathering into what I
call "rafts"...standing on one leg with heads tucked under wings, hopping
along when slightly disturbed, tightly packed against one another. They had
pretty much finished eating when I found them at the Ocean Lake Way beach
access, and were into their resting mode. Several cars had pulled over to
watch, and for the most part, they were left alone. The exceptions were two
people with leashed terriers who were totally clueless until they got too
close and one group of birds took off, flushing the rest into a 10-minute
scramble to find safe territory once again, with the incoming tide pushing
them higher and the cars driving on what remained of the packed sand. The
two people with the dogs turned and went the other way, leaving the flock to
settle behind them.

During those 10 minutes, their flashing wings attracted the attention of a
Peregrine Falcon, whose fourth stoop was the lucky one. The action is so
fast I generally watch with "bare eyes", so I knew the falcon had caught a
bird because I saw the flare of the shorebird's wings as the talons closed
around the body, and the falcon bent it's head and quickly killed the prey.
By this time they were nearly overhead, and I could see it was a Dunlin in
breeding plumage. The falcon continued east toward the trees, and
disappeared somewhere against the cumulous clouds.

I put the window mount on my scope and parked north on the beach for a bit
to see what else was in among the Dunlin; I found Western and Least
Sandpipers again, then the Sanderlings began to fly in from the south and
began a line of their own, inside the mass of Dunlin, and mixed sandpipers.
In the many years I have watched the shorebirds, I have noticed the
Sanderlings usually keep themselves apart from the rest...and I wonder about
that. I will not anthropomorphize.

It was a great day to take off and just enjoy the sunshine and watch the
shorebirds; we have certainly earned it. I hope everyone got to spend their
day in such a manner.

Dianna Moore
Ocean Shores, Wa.
dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com