Last big birding drive

I get up early and take a quick look around Westport in daylight. There's a local country and western station on the radio called Bigfoot FM. All the songs are about trucks, working hard and having happy families. I never knew life was that simple.

I visit a nice wetland reserve next to the Gray's Harbour area. There are quite a few shorebirds on the mid flats. I'm joined by a couple and we discuss dowitcher identification! It turned out that they were on the pelagic yesterday, so I am treated to a lost of all the species I missed. Nice. Four lifers to be precise, but.nothing spectacular though. " so you were the Scottish guy who didn't show ". Yep, that was me alright. They give.me some tips on places to go. Many of these are part of my itinerary for today and no, I don't want to try and see bar-tailed godwit or Eurasian wigeon. They give some tips on how to find varied thrush, including correcting my impression of their call.

I go.to.a.place. called Ocean Shore and scramble along the rocky breakwater where I hope there will be some tattlers. The waves are splashing the rocks making them slippy. I find some black turnstones and settle down to scope the rocks. I get a quick look at what I'm sure must be a tattler bit it disappears. I wait 10 minutes as the splashing waves get closer to me. Eventually it appears again. In fact there are two of them. At last, I feel that my birding luck is changing.

Surf scoters in the surf off Ocean Shore

I drive up to Qualcot lakes where there are supposed to be varied thrushes. Again it looks like good habitat, but I've thought that before. I pay the full amount in the permit envelope this time. It must have worked, because 10 minutes later I'm watching a varied thrush I flushed from the trail. It Skua on a branch watching me watching it. The deep chocolate brown of its plumage is punctuated by pale orange wing bars and throat and a richer orange supercilium. All this against the setting of a misty, lush forest complete with lichen-covered tree branches and moss hanging from twigs. That was a special moment, made all the sweeter for the many miles I walked searching for one of these.

I start driving back toward Seattle, and stop at a site potentially for rufous hummingbird. There are no flowers out, and I conclude its going to be too late, unless I can find a feeder. I find a motel and start organising my bags for the return flight tomorrow.

I'm not sure if Air France are going to ne happy about me getting off in Paris instead of travelling through to Aberdeen as per my tag. It seems ridiculous, but it probably messes up their fare rules. We'll see.