Thursday, October 1, 2026
Regular bird watchers in Thurston County don’t need a calendar to know when the end of July has arrived. It’s announced by the appearance of the first adult shorebirds (sandpipers and the like) returning from their Arctic breeding territories.
My first sighting was last week — three least sandpipers actively feeding at the high tide line along the northern edge of the Port of Olympia.
Birdwatchers will recall that in April and early May we saw huge flocks of shorebirds stopping along the Washington coast on their way to those Arctic breeding territories. In contrast, the fall migration beginning now consists of just a few birds at a time, with the first to arrive being post-breeding adults. Their children will catch up later.
Shorebirds are the type of birds we call precocial — their young are active and able to feed themselves immediately. The adults abandon their young shortly after hatching, and the young need to feed themselves, molt from down into feathers, and then fly south to join the wintering flocks. Now that’s what I would call parental “tough love.”
The adults of many shorebird species are arriving almost daily now. They will be in small groups, sometimes of mixed species, and may include least sandpipers, western sandpipers and dunlins. These are the small sandpipers affectionately known as “peeps,” because they seem to constantly peep to each other.
There are likely to be larger shorebirds as well, and you will probably want to take along binoculars and your bird book. Look for greater and lesser yellowlegs, and possibly some plover species. During this early migration time you never know what shorebird species might come into view. Earlier this week a whimbrel was hanging out at Nisqually.
Greater yellowlegs
Liam Hutcheson | For The JOLT News
The yellowlegs are medium-sized wading birds with, not surprisingly, bright yellow legs. They also have a thin bill and long neck. If you see only one bird, it might be difficult to distinguish greater from lesser. But if both are nearby, the more slim and graceful appearance of the lesser will be obvious. The two species have different alarm call, the lesser a two-note "tu-tu" and the greater a distinctive three-note "tew, tew, tew."
To plan your shorebird-seeking adventure, first take note of the tide table. You will have more success at mid tide to high tide, since many of these birds feed near or at the waterline (they’re shorebirds, after all). The Port of Olympia has some good shoreline, but the best local site is the McAllister Creek boardwalk at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. I’m told Mud Bay on Olympia’s west side can also be a good place for seeing shorebirds.
At the Nisqually refuge, the dike trail that leads to the long McAllister (western) side boardwalk passes good mudflat habitat, but it’s the ebb and flow of the tide along McAllister Creek that creates the best active shorebird feeding opportunities. And if you happen to have timed the tides wrong, the 1-mile long boardwalk will take you out into good birding habitat even at low tide.
The beginning of the fall migration season is potentially very exciting for dedicated birders since there is a good chance we’ll see an unexpected or unusual bird, including in those flocks of peeps. So, if you see a bird that looks or sounds odd, this is the time to give it a second look. You never know.
Have you ever wanted to see puffins in the wild? Smith Island, a small, remote island located in northern Puget Sound west of Whidbey Island and north of Port Townsend, hosts 20-plus breeding pairs of Tufted puffins.
During the summer months they are actively feeding around the island, catching fish to feed their nestlings. A nonprofit group located in Port Townsend, The Salish Sea School, offers guided three hour to four hour boat trips to Smith Island as one of its fundraising activities.
Folks who have gone one of these trips report seeing many puffins, and other seabirds too. They also tell me that the naturalists that lead the trip are very knowledgeable and helpful. August is a prime month for this trip — puffins are very active and ocean birds are sometimes seen as well. For more information, including talking with a real person on the telephone, check out the organization’s website.
George Walter is environmental program manager at the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s natural resources department: he also has a 45+ year interest in bird watching. He may be reached at george@theJOLTnews.com.
Photos for this column are provided by Liam Hutcheson, an 18-year-old Olympia area birder and avid photographer.
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Georgewalter
Important correction about puffin tours: the Salish Sea School, and their puffin tours, are located in Anacortes, not Port Townsend.
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