[Tweeters] Willapa Bay Marsh Sandpiper

[Jeff Gilligan]

I had tried to send a message to Tweeters regarding this on SEP 22, but Tweeters had my old email address, and it bounced.

On SEP 22 while packing to start a birding cruise off the west coast, I noticed a smaller tringa near the small flock of Greater Yellowlegs.  I looked at it with binoculars, and realized that it was a Marsh Sandpiper (MASA).  I have seen the species many times on other continents, including last fall in NW Australia.  

I took 4 photos from within the house, but forgot to zoom, so I only shot at 100.   The photos show though what I saw:  a delicate tringa, dull green legs (unlike the yellow  that looked bright on the GRYLs, that the legs were very very long inrototion to the body, that the face was white, and that bill was thin.  

I contcted an app for the northern regon coast and Pacific County, WA.   I leter photoed one of the photos on my camera and sent it to the moderator of the app, and he put it on the app. I suggested that someone put it on Tweeters if my post failed, which I suspected it had.

Anothr. urder who lives up the bay from my house then reported that she had seen an identical bird on SEP 20, but had not identified it.  She also had a Bar-tailed Godwit in her back yard with BBPLs and focused her attention on it, rather than the strange looking tringa.

The tide is nearly in right now, so I will look.

My sighting was near the vacant lot just south of 17304 Sndridge Rd., Long Beach address. The lot has a red and white contruction sign (DonneRight Construction).  There is a narrow band of trees to the bay.  There is no problem with parking in the lot and walking the short distance to the bay there.

The other sghting was at a residence on about 268th. and Sandridge.

The public clamming/oyster area at Nachotta might be a place to look.  Others might ibnclude the ba access near the NWR HQ, or the two roads that go to the bay from Sandridge Rd. south of the public utilities building.

A flock of tringas also roost on a log near the bridge on HWY. 101 over the Chinook River.   

It is a huge bay of course, and if the bird is still in the area it might be anywhere.  

The cruise during the bomb cyclone off Pacific County on SEP 24 produced the following sightings:

1 South Polar Skua
1 Pomarine Jaeger
3 Long-tailed Jaegers
several Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters
4 Pink-footed Shearwaters
6 Buller’s shearwaters
6 Black-footed Albatrosses


Jeff Gilligan