7/29 Shorebirding at Theler

I put it to a family vote.  I had been to Mason for two good days of birding or so for the month, but shorebirds were coming through (including some rare ones for the county like Semipalmated Sandpiper), and I felt like a morning of searching for birds would help.  I casually asked Declan what he thought of me heading over with rare birds coming through, and he said, "Well, you've seen a lot of birds this year already... it's going to get harder and harder to find new ones, so I think you should go."  I peeked behind me suspiciously, half-expecting to find a teleprompter run by one of those birders that chases a little more frequently.  With everyone's blessing, I picked a day and promised to be back by three.


Theler Wetlands

I hadn't been here in some time!  On other recent trips, I had been at higher elevation, or scouring unexplored roads in the western half of the county.  Here is where recent weeks had brought some birds that I needed for the year:  Long and Short-billed Dowitchers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpipers, as well as a Western Meadowlark! 

I made my 7-11 stop, and my favorite Indian gentleman was training a new employee as I got my coffee... and donuts... I tried to pass, but I figured I'd walk it all off at Theler, yeah?

I arrived around 7.  Honestly... this may have been on the late end of preferable.  It would be extremely interesting to do a full Big Sit at Theler, just to watch the tides, although I put in quite a few hours on this day.  Still, birds were singing/calling as I passed through.  Many birds were already shifting into more passive calls instead of their full songs as we were well into The Doldrums of summer when the heat melts away any interest in singing for the birds.

blackberries were starting to ripen - fall is coming!

I really don't like shorebirds.  I mean... they aren't as bad as gulls, but they definitely require what I would call "work" in terms of diligently looking over field marks.  I had already found Western and Least Sandpipers, and they are pretty common, so my main concern with the little peeps was to keep an eye out for any bird with dull markings on its back (Western and Least usually have some rufous coloring on their back), black legs (Least have yellow, unless they've been tromping about in the mud), and a stubby bill (Western has a longer one that tapers and often droops, although that is pretty variable).  Finally, I wanted to look for something that was semipalmated if I could.  I used to joke about this word.  "Man... I'm feeling... like.. not really palmated, but definitely semi today." before someone explained to me that this has to do with the webbing on the feet.  Semipalmated Sandpipers have got a little bit.  It wasn't likely something I'd be able to look for, but I had it on my list anyway.


Rounding a tree lined turn and approaching the first few shorebirds, it wasn't the little dudes at all.  As I appaeared, two Long-billed Dowitchers (165) and a single Lesser Yellowlegs (166) called out for me and took flight.  When they finally did return, it was nice to be able to go through the field marks for them.  I had a chance to see the extensive orange belly on the dowitcher, and bars (short-billed has spots rather than stripes on the flanks.  There is also a difference in the tertials... but you know me and tertials), the yellowlegs had a bill that appeared short (on greater, the bill is a good bit longer than the head), and a straight, if not slightly downwardly turned bill (slightly upturned on a greater).

Peeps!  Nothing unusual today

Spoiler alert... these were my only new year birds of the day, but the amount of stress that was removed by having good looks at these shorebirds was significant.  Not like back when I got a good look at a Hermit Warbler, but up there! 


For the next I don't know how long, I watched Least and Western Sandpipers under and around the next bridge.  They were happy with me right there on the bridge, so I used the time to give as many birds a careful look as I could.  With all of the field marks above, it was nice to also add the calls - I listened to birds as they took flight and inspected them as they landed, with most of them giving a nice call for a Least Sandpiper, while some gave the more strained, higher pitched calls for a Western.  My ears strained to find a Semipalmated call in the mix - my phone giving me the range of tunes to listen for - but nothing gave any clues as to which bird should get my attention. 

Swallows speckled in the sky - I should've checked!

I did find three other shorebirds - Killdeer galore, of course, a lone Semipalmated Plover, and Spotted Sandpipers - three of them found at a fishing pull-off as I travelled up to Belfair State Park.  Belfair S.P. was not a large part of my day, but I figured it would be silly to not at least look.  When I arrived, we were about 20 minutes ahead of low tide, and the birds were mostly 500 miles out, with the exception of a few Killdeer and a handful of Least Sandpipers in close.


Finishing up at Theler, I added in the whole loop and took another look at the sandpipers, as well as some of the juveniles running around - robins, yellowthroats and blackbirds were the strangest looking characters.  I did not give the 3 billion swallows a good careful look, and wish that I had in retrospect!  A Bank Swallow was found that day by Cara Borre later in the day! 

Thistle - already thinking about next year

Cara has been giving Mason County a lot of extra love ever since our trip together, slowly adding the easier birds in step with me, finding some that I still haven't, and adding a slough of code 4 and 5 birds!  With all of those, she is just 2-3 birds behind me for the year.  We've been keeping in touch on rare birds coming through, and it will be interesting to see what we turn up with the added energy of competition as we enter the last few months so close to the county year list record of 179!


The tide was ooooooout, and the birds weren't moving when I packed it up and made it back an hour early for my date - making sugar cookies with my daughter.