Hello Tweets,
I took the first Jetty Island Ferry of the season this morning to go look
for shorebirds. I've been keeping tabs on this location through a scope
from the mainland for a few weeks, but it was nice to see those tiny little
dots a bit closer.

On the outer beach I found a group of Whimbrels and a Marbled Godwit. I
first spotted this Godwit on 6/24 so it's been here at least since then.
The Whimbrels have been around since the beginning of June and are
presumably non-breeders. Inside the lagoon on the north half of the island
were good numbers of small shorebirds and a few more Whimbrel. The most
numerous bird here were Western Sandpipers, but the were a good number of
Semipalmated Sandpipers, a few Least Sandpipers, and one or two
Semipalmated Plovers. Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers were all over the
island as well and there were a few *tiny* Spotted Sandpiper babies running
around the mudflats.

I worked my way south tip of the island and found about 15 Bonaparte's
Gulls and 10 Black-Bellied Plovers. Offshore there was a surprisingly large
group of Surf Scoters for this time of year, at least 25.

The ferry runs many times daily until Labor Day. Parking is $3 a day, but
the ferry is suggested donation of $2 per person only. It does get very
busy, especially on weekends.
https://everettwa.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Jetty-Island-82

Josh Adams
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