Hello Tweets,
After my somewhat disappointing "Shorebird Marathon" last weekend I
spent much of this week trying to see some of those migrants we have
passing through this time of year and much of the week being utterly
frustrated. I'd spent a couple hours last Saturday burning time in
Stanwood while I waited for high tide only to find out that a Stilt
Sandpiper and other shorebirds were seen just north of me about the
same time at Fir Island. My Eide road experience had been
underwhelming with only a few G. Yellowlegs and some W. Sandpipers,
but I was seeing eBird reports a few days later indicating huge
numbers a many species continuing through the week. I took a long
detour home from work on Wednesday and stopped by the Fill only to
find completely empty ponds and incredibly miserable temperatures.
Thursday I almost went again, but decided to skip it after my bad
experience on Wednesday only to see Connie Sidles post of Solitary
Sandpipers, etc. when I got home. Friday I tried again and again found
the ponds devoid of all but a turtle. To add insult to injury I saw
that Jeff Gibson had globs of shorebirds at the same Everett flats
that yielded only Killdeer for me last week.

Feeling utterly dejected I decided I'd make one more valiant try this
morning, so I got up at 5am and hit as many spots as possible. The
thick clouds were in the sky as I made my way north and I cringed as a
mist hit my car somewhere north of Marysville. I arrived at Eide Rd.
and stepped out of my car into a deafening silence. "Not again" I
thought, as I put on my boots and grabbed my scope. The thick clouds
were blocking out whatever sunrise might have existed, but as I walked
out to the ponds I soon realized I had finally lucked out. The pools
were absolutely full of birds, although I couldn't see much more than
silhouettes in the dim light, and more groups were flying in from the
north every minute. Eventually the light improved and I began being
able to make some ID's.

1 Stilt Sandpiper
~1000 Western Sandpipers w/ at least a few Semipalmated mixed in. I
stopped trying to pick out the Semi's after a bit but never found it
hard to find them leading me to believe the concentration was
relatively high.
Several Pectoral and Bairds Sandpipers
1 Solitary Sandpiper
10+ Greater Yellowlegs
5+ Lesser Yellowlegs
Both Long and Short-Billed Dowitchers in small numbers
1 Wilson's Snipe

Additionally, several other species of non-shorebirds were found as
well including 5 Yellow-Headed Blackbirds.

The biggest surprise of the day was the species not present. I could
find no Least Sandpipers among the peeps, which really came as a
shock.

The birds began thinning out as they presumably headed out to take
advantage of the dropping tide so if you make a trip up there try to
hit the high tide if at all possible.

I stopped by Everett on the way home, but by the time I arrived the
tide was out far enough to make ID difficult, but two birders I ran
into had gotten many of the same birds that Jeff Gibson had reported
on Friday.

Josh Adams
Lynnwood, WA