Hi all....First, thanks to all of you who decided to enjoy the sunshine at
the festival; we so much appreciate your continued patronage.

I had planned on sending off a short e-mail yesterday evening bragging about
the birding in the rain while parked behind the Ocean Shores Cinema building
overlooking the golf course:

Black-bellied Plovers - 72 (there is something spectacular about that black
and white plumage
against the greens)
Short-billed Dowitchers - 46
Marbled Godwits - 36

Too many peeps to count, and they move too quickly, but there were Western
and Least Sandpipers, Dunlin, and a few Sanderlings.

By noon the rain had stopped and my walk on the beach was a pleasure,
watching the birds flying out to the beach 2 hrs before high tide; they fly
2 to 3 feet off the ground and come in over the dunes or right along the
access roads, and the sight of all those ribbons of birds is just
spectacular! (Do you remember the 1997 movie, Star Trek Generations, when
Malcolm McDowell is the villain trying to catch that energy wave as it comes
swinging by? That's what I think of when I see the ribbons of birds coming
across the Ocean Shores peninsula in front of or after high tide. The birds
are flashing white then silver, all strung out in ribbons of light high in
the sky, then they dive down to skim over the dune grass....just lovely.)

I was talking to Dan Varland today...his home overlooks the refuge mud
flats...and he said he thought the largest numbers are still on their way.
As if to verify that, the new numbers are up on the festival web site, main
page, under Shorebird Sightings. The weather front moved on and by 1PM we
had sunshine which I hope will last through most of tomorrow. I will be out
on the boardwalk from about 1:30pm, with high tide at 3:20pm.

Finally, if anyone is missing a pair of (not expensive) binos in their
case...I have a pair that were left out on the trail during the
festival...identify them and I will ship them.

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