August 24-25 2013 Field Trip to Westport/Ocean Shores Sees Rare State Records Report from Art Wang: Twenty ABC members on the Tahoma Audubon Aug. 24-25 field trip to Grays Harbor enjoyed great looks at rare birds: a second state record Smith’s Longspur and a fourth state record Great Shearwater. Eleven of us were on the pelagic portion of the field trip and enjoyed calm seas and sunny skies aboard the Monte Carlo with Westport Seabirds. It was a great day for big numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, and our prettiest gull, the Sabine’s Gull, with big numbers and good views of each. Black-footed Albatrosses sailed by, displaying their amazing flying talents. We also had excellent views at Tufted Puffins, Arctic Terns (some still in breeding plumage), and Red Phalaropes. Views were more fleeting for Buller’s Shearwater and a slam with all four Northwest members of the Skua-Jaeger family: South Polar Skua, and Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaegers. But the highlight of the day came as we stopped to investigate the flocks of pelagic birds trailing after shrimp boats on the open seas. One of the shearwaters let us get closer and closer until we realized it was a Great Shearwater, an Atlantic species and only the fourth record for the state. Everyone had sensational views and our boat must have taken several hundred photos of it. This was the first pelagic trip for many of our members, so most got numerous life birds. But birds weren’t all that we saw. We also had the rare treat of seeing dozens of Risso’s Dolphins and Northern Right Whale Dolphins in active feeding right next to the boat. We got back to Westport in the late afternoon and took off to Tokeland and Graveyard Spit to find the Elegant Terns that had been there all week. By the time we arrived in Aberdeen and ate dinner, we were all exhausted, but satisfied after a great first day of birding. The second day may have been even better! Several more birders joined us who had not been on the boat trip and we headed to the Game Range in Ocean Shores, where a Smith’s Longspur, the second state record, had been seen the day before. Sure enough, we found it and had great looks as it perched on a log, gave its rattling flight call, and flashed its white outer tail feathers when it flew. This was a life bird for almost everyone there. After a stop at Bottle Beach, some of the group saw Willets, Great Egrets, and Elegant Terns at Tokeland, while others refound and had great looks at a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Midway Beach. A very successful field trip! Not only a second state record and a fourth state record, but everyone present had great looks at them! See the next Towhee for more photos. See photos on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/TahomaAudubon Click on photo(s) below to enlarge: (Top group and bottom Smith’s Longspur by Diane Y-Q; middle Great Shearwater by Art Wang)
