Tweets,

The highlight of a trip in perfect weather on Sunday to Ocean Shores, Hoquiam STP and Brady Loop Road by Shelley Horn, Teri Martine, Jeanelle Richardson and myself was a Western Kingbird seen hawking insects over the coastal scrub and between the scrub and a beached root wad at the western end of the Oyhut Wildlife Area. Another highlight of the Game Range was a juvenile Red-throated Loon serenely preening itself at the water's edge of the entrance to Grays Harbor.

Though we missed the pulse of returning Western Sandpipers reported last week by Ryan Shaw, Sunday's trip gave all of us a good chance to study shorebirds in their range of fall molts and age classes. Flocks of mixed Western, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers were challenging. It was nice to run into Ryan Merrill and Bill Tweit at the Hoquiam STP lagoon, who gave us pointers on identifying the sandpipers we were seeing. Semipalmated Plovers were also on hand at the lagoon, as were Long-billed Dowitchers and families of Gadwall and Mallards.

On our way back home, we cruised Brady Road, where we found the Bank Swallows also reported last week by Ryan Shaw hanging with Barn Swallows along the road.

Here's a complete list of the 64 species seen during our trip:


Red-throated Loon

Pacific Loon

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Canada Goose

Gadwall

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Surf Scoter

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer

Wandering Tattler

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Long-billed Dowitcher

Heerman's Gull

Mew Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Western Gull

Caspian Tern

Common Murre

Rock Dove

Mourning Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

Rufous Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Northern Flicker

Willow Flycatcher

Western Kingbird

Flycatcher (sp)

American Crow

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Bank Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Pacific Wren

American Robin

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Common Yellowthroat

Spotted Towhee

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Purple Finch

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

Jim Owens
Mercer Island