Hi Tweeters,

After seeing Tim Brennan's report of finally some shorebird action in the Valley yesterday, I snuck out for a quick look this morning (5-3-11 about 11am):

- S 204th St. (east off of Orillia Rd S): a solitary Solitary Sandpiper in a pond on the north side of the road, and a couple hundred Least Sandpiper (nothing else as far as I could tell) towards the back of the mud on the south side of the road and in the grassy mud to the south. ?A couple of American Pipits were around too.

- S 285th area pond: 6 Whimbrel feeding in the damp, rich field on the north end of this pond. ?Also a handful of Least and Western Sandpipers and a Greater White-fronted Goose. ?To get to this pond, go west on S 277th St. off of WA-167. ?Immediately go south on W Valley Hwy N. ?The best parking spot is if you proceed down to S 285th St and drive to the dead end, and then SCOPE the pond and field to the north. ?But a significantly better view at the time I was there was had by turning right off of W Valley Hwy into a business called BRC (this is a little north of 285th) - the birds were directly across from there, south of the barn - there may be space for 1-2 cars there (though I have NOT verified that it is ok to park there, and it is a busy construction lot, so please do not block the workers, and if they show interest, ask them if it's ok to park there for a few minutes).

Good birding,
Evan Houston
Seattle, WA