I was at Ocean Shores on Saturday and saw the steady stream, about the same
distance out, but headed south. I assumed they were almost all Sooty
Shearwaters. I had hoped to see them on this trip since I had missed them a
week earlier. When I said to my wife, "Ah, there they are, thousands of
them.", she said, "There what are? You mean those little black dots?"



It seemed that most of the shorebirds were near the Pacific beach access,
mostly Semipalmated Plovers, Western Sandpipers, and Sanderlings though
there were some Black-bellied Plovers as well.



Kelly McAllister

Olympia, Washington











From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Greg Pluth
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 10:56 AM
To: tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Stream of birds



Hi Tweets -



On this past Sunday, Aug. 5, I birded and photographed my way from Ocean
Shores up to Copalis Beach. I was getting pics of some fishermen
withstanding the elements out on the jetty, but not until I climbed up onto
the rocks around 3:30 to scan for birds did I notice the endless stream
flying fast northward. A conservative guess would be an average of 20 birds
per second. Once I was aware of this "stream," every time I checked I could
see no change. As far as the eye could see (with my 10x Zeiss binos), the
stream was endless from south to north. I made numerous stops on my way to
Copalis and witnessed the stream at the same constant and endless rate until
around 8:20 when it was getting too dark and I headed back home. This
suggests that millions might not be hyperbole. The steam stayed consistently
several hundred yards out beyond the breakers and if anyone else was birding
that day, they would appreciate how dense the cloud cover was, making it
difficult to see any markings on the birds, save that they were dark. They
all would use several quick wingbeats, then a two or three second glide.

The question is, did anyone else witness this, or can anyone help ID the
species? My best guess is a shearwater (sooty?). And why were they headed
north?

Thanks for your help.

Greg Pluth, Tacoma