RECAP OF BHAS FIELD TRIP TO OCEAN SHORES
By Paul Hicks
Our team of six birders covered several sites in Ocean Shores and identified around 55 species over the course of the morning of August 19, 2023. “Best” birds were Pacific Golden-plover which provided perfect, prolonged viewing for everyone and Green Heron, a species that was on just about everyone’s year target list. Though plenty of peeps were around, shorebird diversity was limited. At midday the wind kicked up and the fog rolled in, so the group reluctantly disbanded. Ken and I continued through the afternoon high tide, adding a dozen-plus to the day list. Great fun with a great group!!
Oyhut Wildlife Area via Tonquin St access (8:00 to 10:45am)
Passerines in the bushy margin outside the dunes were plenty evident (if not visible) in the morning hours. Several were ID’d by voice, a theme throughout the day: Swainson’s Thrush, Spotted Towhee, Yellow Warbler, and a scruffy finch that turned out to be a Purple Finch, recognizable only by the “popping” call note.
Oyhut Cove held several Red-throated Loons (reliable here), a few Common Loons, scads of Surf Scoters with a few White-winged Scoters, plus the near-ubiquitous cormorants and gulls.
Tonquin pond had plenty of exposed shore but precious few shorebirds due to the low tide: mainly Least Sandpipers plus some Westerns, as well as Semipalmated Plovers and Killdeer. We found no shorebirds out in the salicornia marsh. However, the bird-of-the-day, a Pacific Golden-plover, sneaked in just as we were leaving, detected by a single simple call note. Everyone got great views in perfect lighting. We batted around the correct identification, but ultimately decided the bill was too long for American. As it finally lifted, its simple flight call seemed to confirm the ID.
We were impressed with the number of swallows swarming about at the pond. All were Barn Swallows except a couple Cliffs and up to 10 young/female Tree Swallows.
Marine View boat launch (water tank access) (11:00-11:15am)
A short distance toward Damon Point, we checked the canal for phalarope and Green Heron. Instead we found a resting Red-throated Loon. A Common Yellowthroat and Marsh Wren also sounded off.
Toward Interpretive Center and around Bill’s Spit (11:30am-12:30pm)
En route to the Interpretive Center we spotted the second bird-of-the-day, a Green Heron frozen on point watching for aquatic prey at the canal outlet. Eventually it foraged among the floating vegetation where it captured a minnow.
The conifers and woods around and north of the Interpretive Center are reliable for woodland species including, more often than not, Red Crossbill. We started encountering them as we approached closer to Bill’s Spit.
Since the tide was so far out we declined trekking out Bill’s Spit (trailhead at end of Peninsula Court). However, from the vantage point at the end of Mariner Court we could scope the mudflats from the spit clear out to Damon Point. Besides a smattering of peeps we saw a Whimbrel, several Caspian Terns plunge-diving, and a likely juvenile Short-billed Gull.
Point Brown jetty (1:00pm)
Most of the group was game to visit the jetty (even though by now it was past our scheduled time) but we were met with stiff winds and heavy fog. No “rockpipers” were visible from the base of the jetty, and there were too many people for Sanderlings, so most folks headed home. Ken and I decided we would “kill time” searching for Sanderling until the afternoon tide came in to push shorebirds up into Tonquin Pond. While we were deciding, a half-dozen noisy Black Turnstones zoomed by.
Reprise: Oyhut Wildlife Area via Tonquin St access (2:30-4:30pm)
The rising tide pushed hundreds of peeps (Least and Western Sandpipers) into the pond, but little else. A few Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers and Greater Yellowlegs were seen.
Return via Burrows Road (4:45-5:00pm)
The return via Burrows Road shortly after high tide added nothing of note. (Not even a Bald Eagle!) This route skirts the north shore of Grays Harbor and offers several vantage points.
Hoquiam Sewage Treatment Ponds (5:15-6:15pm)
Though the tide was still up, the water level of the ponds was too high to host the otherwise expected many shorebirds. We did see a single Red-necked Phalarope and a single Pectoral Sandpiper (both species fairly reliable here in the fall; the latter was identified by low-pitched call and larger size in flight with several peeps). Lots of dabbling ducks were present, plus an (early?) female Bufflehead. Ken spotted a Northern Harrier, apparently a young male cruising around.
Return via Brady Loop (6:45-7:15pm)
The only noteworthy addition was at least four seemingly full-size Osprey crammed into a platform nest.
So I ended the day with 70+ species plus a number of question-marks. Great fun!
Photo credit: Pacific Golden Plover at Ocean Shores, by Laurie Gneiding.
