Hi Tweeters,

I spent the day birding at Ocean Shores with Dave Hayden and Gary Wiles. The morning began cold and with a brisk wind, but the wind died down by the early afternoon and the temperature climbed into the 50s. We ended up with about 60 species for the day, including a few of our target birds.

Manfully ignoring the desperately needed bathroom stop, we first went to Canal St. to look for the EMPEROR GOOSE before the golfers showed up. We found it with a small flock CANADA GEESE just off of Canal St. on the golf course near the library. Then we went to the bathroom.

We next went to Damon Point where we spent a lot of time scouring the campground for Palm Warblers and the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. No luck. Then we combed the beach near the base of Damon Point scoping the rafts of scoters in hopes of seeing the Common Eider. Again, no luck. At this point I began to blame it on Dave's bad past karma. Next, we headed out onto Damon Point itself to look for the SNOWY OWLS. I was surprised to see how built up the area that connects the spit to the mainland was after the last two winters, when it was frequently cut off (although we were there at low tide). In addition, the small pond was back, which was nice to see. Anyway, we were able to fairly quickly locate snowies a little beyond where the vegetation begins. We didn't want to disturb them, so we kept our distance. From where we stopped, we were able to see 7 individuals (at least 2 were adults, I believe). If we had continued along the beach, we would have probably seen additional birds, but we would have had to walk fairly close to a couple of them, so we decided to turn back. We then returned to the campground. Again, no Palm Warblers or B.-G. Gnatcatcher. Some of the other species seen around Damon Point include COMMON and RED-THROATED LOONS, WESTERN and HORNED GREBES, SURF and WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, GREATER SCAUP, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, SANDERLING, 1 WILSON'S SNIPE, and N. HARRIER.

The STP was loaded with ducks, mostly GREEN-WINGED TEAL and NORTHERN SHOVELER, along with 1 GADWALL, and 2 black turnstones. The coast behind the tower yielded all 3 scoter species (although only 3 female BLACK SCOTERS, no males).

When we arrived at the Brown Point Jetty we were buzzed by an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD in the parking lot. On the jetty itself we located BLACK TURNSTONES, ROCK SANDPIPERS, and SURFBIRDS.

The Cabana Pond was loaded with ducks; nothing out of the ordinary, but it was nice to see so many birds out on the water, including a EURASIAN WIGEON.

We then headed to the area around the Interpretive Center, still hoping for the elusive warblers and gnatcatcher. Again no luck. Just lots of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. In desperation, we bushwhacked through the scotch broom jungle that grows from the very cool dock with the gaping holes back to the vicinity of Damon Point. Still no luck, but I did have a male RING-NECKED PHEASANT explode out of the bushes at my feet, almost giving me a coronary. After a long slog, we ended up back at the campground by the base of Damon Point. And on a beach myrtle just off of the nicely tended lawn, out in the open, was the BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. This was around 2:45.

We ended the day at Duck Lake. Nothing out of the ordinary was seen, but we did spot a loon with very white sides. After lots of deliberation, we decided that it was definitely a RED-THROATED LOON with very white sides.

Good birding,

Lonnie Somer
wheelermombi at comcast.net
Olympia