Tweets, Besides the lifer Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at the Ocean Shores STP
that George Gerdts posted (finally! but I'll now need a different reason to
make the annual pilgrimage to the coast in late September), the other
interesting bird on Thursday was a pair of SANDHILL CRANEs flying eastward
parallel to the ridge above Hoquiam, spotted while driving in the vicinity
of the stadium. They may have come from Bowerman Basin area. In addition to
the GOLDEN PLOVERS seen in the Oyehut Game Range at Ocean Shores (in the
higher/drier dunes in line between the STP/navigation tower and the white
aviation beacon at the end of Tonquin), George and I kept encountering small
numbers of LAPLAND LONGSPURs as we moved northwestward toward and into the
salicornia. Due to the recent rainfall and extra high tides there is lots of
standing water. Unless you have knee boots and want to trudge through the
wet, the best access is across from the large cement water tank on Marine
Drive, not far from the base of Damon Point next to the marina. The high
tides drive the shorebirds to areas such as the game range and the sewage
treatment ponds. (Please remember to check in at the STP office, open until
4:30pm -- the staff wants to continue to be birder-friendly.) I also
stumbled upon a MARBLED MURRELET (some sort of transitional plumage) slowly
puttering across the placid waters through a flock of scoters close to shore
north of the marina. I had 90 species on the day. Good birding!
-- Paul Hicks / Tenino / phicks AT accessgrace.org