Subject: [Tweeters] Port Susan - Warm Beach Shorebirds
Date: Aug 10 14:36:20 2012
From: Marcus Roening - Marcus.D.Roening at gsk.com


Hi Tweets,

I've spent the last couple of weeks off and on visiting with my family at the cabin at Warm Beach (south of Stanwood) on Port Susan. I've been able to take my kayak out to the mouth of Hatt Slough of the Stillaguamish River to check the shorebirds at high tide. The numbers had been pretty stable for the last 2 weeks of primarily adult birds, until this past Wednesday when a whole influx of shorebirds came in along with two very attentive Peregrine Falcons.

For Wednesday, the Peregrines had all of the shorebirds in the air from the whole area, so I was able to get a pretty good count:

380 Black-bellied Plovers - my highest total ever at this location and mostly adults in the roosting birds.
15 - Greater Yellowlegs
14 - Lesser Sandpiper
160 - Western Sandpipers
1 - Spotted Sandpiper
1 - Dowitcher sp.

Best public boat access for this location is off of Marine View Drive from the boat launch south of Stanwood.

Good Birding,

Marcus Roening
Tacoma WA
marcus.d.roening at GSK.com