Marian and I got out of town today and headed for the coast. My primary goal was to see the Gyrfalcon at Westhaven State Park and to see how many FOY birds I could find. The CBC at Ocean Shores was so a battle with the weather that I got little on that day, so low hanging fruit for FOY birds was available. It seemed like except for no new rocky shorebirds we had great success.

We headed for Tokeland first, hoping for the tide to be low enough that Willet and Marbled Godwit would still be around. Willets were easy, as one flushed off the beach in front of the parking lot as I got out of the car, and a total of 16 were easy to see. Marbled Godwit not so much, but a single MAGO was at the end of Graveyard Spit at our next stop. Bright sunshine and no rain held all morning, and we were having great fun. The bonus of Tokeland was at least 12, maybe more Snowy Plovers at Graveyard Spit. They were running aroung sometimes near the water, often higher up on the sand, tiny, pale, shortbilled plovers with indistinct incomplete neck bands. I’d not seen them there before, but checked eBird bar charts, and it looks like the second half of Jan is the best chance for them there.
Greter White-fronted Geese were seen on a lawn in Tokeland too.

We tried the beach at Warrenton Cannery Road, but no SNPL there, so we were especially grateful for those at Tokeland.
As we got to Westport we picked up a nice flock of Semi-palmated Plover in the Coast Guard parking lot. Were they trying to get heat off the pavement? There were very close Least Sandpipers in the ditch beside the car. They shocked Marian with their tiny size, she thought they must be baby birds.

From there a dash for the Gyr. Found almost immediately after putting bins on a Bald Eagle, and then seeing the Gyr on the next more distant utility pole. It was very used to people as a steady stream of bike riders did not seem to faze it a bit. We looked from the road across the open field, then drove over to park by the large tower, where it was much closer. It posed for great views and photo ops, then flew to a stump for even better viewing. An awesome bird. Maybe the best looks I’ve ever had of a Gyrfalcon.

We tried for rocky shorebirds at the jetty, then at the marina rocks, but found only 3 or 6 (tyhe same 3 twice?) Black Turnstones.
Bottle Beach was fun, with a large flock of Marbled Godwits (est 450). along with Black-bellied Plover and Dunlin, but nothing different aI could find. As the tide receded more and more birds came in, and it rained harder and harder. We decided to call it a trip and head home as the weather report called for rain all night and most of tomorrow. We had considered an overnight and birding Ocean Shores tomorrow, but chose home cooking, staying drier and our own bed instead.

A great day though, and an in-our-face look at a Gyrfalcon is hard to beat.
Good birding and good day!