Subject: [Tweeters] Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Continues at Ocean Shores etc.
Date: Oct 25 16:14:58 2011
From: . KDB . - buhrdz at hotmail.com



Hello, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was in the same general area north of the Ocean Shores Marina again this afternoon. At about 12:30 it was in the scotch broom, 6 feet off the side of Catala Avenue. As it clambered around 10 to 15 feet in front of me at about 2 to 4 feet high, the only black I could make out on the underside of the tail was down the middle. I could not see any black under the tail base. I don't know if Ryan or Alan saw differently or if Ryan has pics of the undertail. I don't have the experience to know if the dark at the base of the underside of the tail of the Western form should have been visible to me or if it is more difficult to detect than that.
A nice array of raptors were at Ocean Shores today: amongst the more usuals were multiple Cooper's, Sharp-shins, Merlins and Peregrines. A very white, what I am assuming was a Ring-billed Gull, was at the Ocean Shores Sewage Treatment Plant on the 10th. See pics here: http://www.pbase.com/slickslug/recently_added. Surprisingly also there over several days was a Beaver, sleeping on the grassy hillside and being busy otherwise.
A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was standing alone on an island out in the middle of the Elk River estuary on the 17th, not another shorebird to be seen. A pair of Harlequin Duck were on the rocks south of the base of Damon Point on the 20th. An Osprey at Wenzel Slough Road on that same day, was the first I'd seen in awhile. The White-throated Sparrows are back in my yard in Olympia. Thanks for reading this far.
Keith Brady
Olympia, WA