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Birding: A great day for Point Blue Conservation Science
Published 9:20 am Monday, December 15, 2025
Dec. 12 was exciting for me because it was the Pacific Flyway Shorebird Survey sponsored by Point Blue Conservation Science.
“Point Blue is a leader in climate-smart conservation” and “is an active, trusted science leader in major regional, national, and international conservation partnerships,” according to their website. Point Blue has been actively at work for the past 60 years. It not only conducts scientific research but also uses its data to inform the public, habitat managers, and educate children and others in order to improve conservation outcomes for ecological and economic benefits.
Their website sums it all up, “We advance nature’s health through extensive collaboration on land and at sea with government agencies, private landowners and other wildlife and habitat managers. We and others were involved in Columbia River Estuary Shorebird section of the flyway. A shorebird survey began in the late 1980s and early 90s. The most recent survey was launched in 2011.”
The territory assigned to Susan Stauffer and me included the Chinook coastal area and Ilwaco’s Stringtown Road. We began to count and identify the shorebirds and raptors at the low rising tide. The idea is to get a snapshot of shorebird use of coastal habitats. The survey has been happening for years and aims for the same tidal conditions each year. We survey on a low rising tide, which pushes the birds closer to shore, making it easier to count and identify them.
So, last Friday was the big day! The weather was balmy with temperatures in the 50s F. There was cloud cover, but sunny periods also occurred.
The Chinook coastal area was our first destination. Not much was observed because a bald eagle was busy patrolling the area. In addition, three red-tailed hawks were perched in tree-tops on the lookout for lunch. At one point, the eagle dove down faster than the speed of sound to snag prey that appeared to be a duck. Shorebirds were nowhere to be found. Our total for that coastal area was only one greater yellowlegs!
The Stringtown Road coastal area proved to be of much more interest to shorebirds even though a bald eagle was patrolling the shoreline adjacent to the airstrip. As a result, shorebirds and waterfowl were not resting or foraging here, most likely because of the eagle’s presence.
Further down the Stringtown coastal area, there was more activity and what we had hoped to observe. A small number of greater yellowlegs were feeding at the water’s edge, but the sun was low on the horizon so identifying most of the backlit shorebirds was challenging. The key in this case to getting as close as possible to the correct ID was behavior, size and shape. Two relatively large flocks of shorebirds totaling 450 birds appeared to be dunlin. They flew in unison and landed just like dunlin do. A smaller flock of plover-shaped birds were feeding. Their method of foraging and the fact they were on the grassy areas suggest they were killdeer. Eleven other shorebirds were seen but were impossible to ID due being backlit and quite distant, even though a scope was utilized.
It turned out to be a great day weather-wise and challenging bird-wise. It was a wonderful exercise in citizen science and a very important one. It provided a snapshot of shorebird use of the coastal habitats we surveyed. Very clearly, the presence of predators during the survey likely influenced shorebird behavior, in that they stayed away during the time period we were assigned. This is good information!
Happy birding!
