I made an early run to the Westport side of the
Coast today hoping to photograph an Elegant Tern
and also to see what might be found post WOS
COnference which I unfortunately could not
attend. There was a no visibility fog at
Aberdeen when I arrived around 6:30 a.m. and I
wondered if the day would be a total waste. It
was completely gone two miles south and it was one
of the loveliest days I can remember. I hit
Bottle Beach early wanting to look for passerines
before a hoped for shorebird show. Brad Waggoner
had reported what seemed an astounding 20+ Ccommon
Yellowthroats and indeed they were out in great
numbers. I saw or heard 18 and barely covered the
area. Many juveniles so I guess breeding was good
there. A smattering of other birds my favorite of
which was a beautiful Lincoln's Sparrow.

I hot the beach a little more than 2.5 hours
before high tide. It was going to be a relatively
low high tide and the birds never came in really
close. Black Bellied Plovers in every plumage. I
repeated scanned each one hoping for a Golden but
no go. I found only a single Semipalmated Plover
and a couple of Killdeer. Also many Short Billed
Dowitchers again in varying plumages. Many seemed
to me to have the shortest bills I can remember
and I kept trying to make them into something
else. There was at least one Red Knot - with lots
of color - and a single Marbled Godwit. There
were also at least 25 Dunlin - again in varying
plumages some still with black on their bellies
while others were completely "Dun colored". There
were not that many peeps and only slightly fewer
(20+) Leasts compared to Westerns. As I was
leaving George Pagos arrived with "Ed" from Long
Island who he had met at the parking lot. He was
an amateur and was thrilled to see the Godwit,
Dowitchers and the Red Knot. It is always fun to
show new birds to others.

I headed down to Tokeland. Lots of Gulls at North
Cove and mixed gulls and terns at Graveyard Spit
including at least one distant Elegant Tern. Just
as I found it in my viewfinder the entire group
took off so no photo. They flew even further out
so I gave up and headed to the Marina where with
the tide in there were no shorebirds and only a
few Caspian Terns. Disappointed I headed to
Midway Beach Ponds which had been fabulous just a
few days ago. The northern pond had disappeared
long ago and today I was astounded by how little
water was in the southern pond. Down at least 75
percent from when I had visited on Thursday. A
single Wilson's Snipe was the only bird I
encountered. Dreams had been of a Ruff or Buff
Breasted - not this time. Now hopes were pinned
on the Hoquiam STP. Although I like birding there
(moreso before recent changes) I hate driving
through Aberdeen and then Hoquiam so no ELTE
(Elegant Tern) photo from Tokeland was a double
bummer. Fortunately there were at least 3 Elegant
Terns at the STP and distant but OK photos were
taken. It was particularly interesting to see
juvenile Elegant and Caspian Terns together. Both
have yellowish bills and the juvenile CATE is
smaller than the adult but still much larger than
the ELTE. It also has a lot of white on the
forehead so I could see how it could easily be
mistaken as an Elegant Tern in a large mixed flock.

No other birds of note at the STP - only a single
Spotted Sandpiper, numerous Killdeer and some peep
flyovers for shorebirds. Lots of Canada Geese,
molting Mallards and Brown Pelicans. Headed home
and the traffic was not too bad. Truly a gorgeous
day.

--
Blair Bernson
Edmonds