Birding Tokeland

I felt a little guilty about not going our fishing with Logan, but not guilty enough to overcome the sense that it would be stupid to pay $250 to spend the afternoon throwing up like the last time I went salmon fishing on the ocean.  So, after a quick breakfast, Leslie and I set out to entertain ourselves for 6-8 hours while Logan enjoyed himself.  

We drove down to Tokeland to see if the Godwits or the pelicans were there. They weren’t there when we arrived.  In fact, other than an awful lot of gulls, there only seemed to be a pair of Pigeon Guillemots who didn’t immediately take off when I focused on them.

After spending 10 or 15 minutes taking photos of them, I decided that I would head back to Westport to check out the pelicans again.  

Just as a I approached the car where Leslie was reading her iPad, a large shorebird that I didn’t recognize zipped by me. Irritated by the fact that I had somehow failed to spot it on the shore, I walked up the road from the dock scanning the shoreline.  

I was quite surprised to spot a lone Willet foraging.

I was even more surprised to see it pick up a very muddy crab, walk over to the water and 

drop it in the water, leave it for a moment, and carefully pick it  back up and quickly

down it.  I’ve been looking at shorebirds for quite awhile now, but that’s the first time I’ve ever seen one eat a crab, much less rinse its food off.

I got another surprise when I walked back to the car to tell Leslie it was worth getting out of the car.  A Pigeon Guillemot was sitting on the railing looking down.  Trying to figure out what it was looking out, I noticed this Pigeon Guillemot frantically flapping its wings.  

Although I never saw a nest, I’m pretty sure that the pair were nesting under the newly built dock, which made me wonder if the county had build nest boxes there like they had in Fort Worden.

One thought on “Birding Tokeland”

  1. Each time your post hits my inbox, I look forward to opening and reading about your latest outing. The photos are magnificent. This particular post is timely, in that my wife and I are spending time in Grayland this weekend. We might have to take a little side trip through Tokeland.

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