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Cape Disappointment and Leadbetter State Parks, WA
December 2021
Synopsis
In what is becoming our annual tradition, we spent a few nights camping before Christmas. However, knowing this year's wet weather, we decided to rent a yurt for the first time. It turned out to be a good idea because it was quite windy and rainy during our stay at Cape Disappointment State Park. The yurt came with electricity, a small heater, and a bunkbed (with a hard mattress). There's definitely a lot to be said about returning to a solid roof for the night after a day of blustery winds and pelting rain. Either due to the storm or the timing before Christmas, the park was relatively empty. And the campers few and far between.
We've stayed at the park multiple times and enjoy our time walking the beach, visiting the lighthouses, and finding rough-skinned newts along the trails through the coastal forest. We drove up the Long Beach Peninsula to Leadbetter State Park/Willapa National Wildlife Refuge to view the mudflats and do a little hiking. On this particular visit we were rewarded by a close encounter with a large flock of Dunlins that were being pushed in with the rising tide. They were feverishly feeding on the salty mudflats and marsh grass. Least Sandpipers and a few Semipalmated and Black-bellied Plovers were mixed in. A Peregrine Falcon swooped over the flock sending everyone up in the air. It was quite a spectacle!
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| Mallard | CD, L |
| Ring-necked Duck | CD |
| Surf Scoter | CD |
| Bufflehead | CD, L |
| Hooded Merganser | CD |
| Red-breasted Merganser | CD |
| Pied-billed Grebe | CD |
| Red-necked Grebe | CD |
| Western Grebe | CD |
| Virginia Rail | CD |
| Black-bellied Plover | L |
| Semipalmated Plover | L |
| Sanderling | CD, L |
| Dunlin | L |
| Least Sandpiper | L |
| Ring-billed Gull | CD |
| Western Gull | CD, L |
| Glaucous-winged Gull | L |
| Red-throated Loon | CD |
| Pacific Loon | CD |
| Common Loon | CD |
| Pelagic Cormorant | CD |
| Double-crested Cormorant | CD |
| Bald Eagle | CD, L |
| Red-tailed Hawk | CD |
| Belted Kingfisher | CD |
| Downy Woodpecker | CD |
| Northern Flicker | CD |
| Peregrine Falcon | CD, L |
| Common Raven | CD |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | CD, L |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | CD, L |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | CD, L |
| Brown Creeper | CD |
| Pacific Wren | CD, L |
| Marsh Wren | L |
| Varied Thrush | CD, L |
| Hermit Thrush | CD, L |
| Fox Sparrow | CD |
| Dark-eyed Junco | L |
| Song Sparrow | CD, L |
| Spotted Towhee | CD |
| Red-winged Blackbird | CD |
| Townsend's Warbler | CD |
| Critters: |
| Harbor Seal |
| Steller's Sea Lion |
| Mule Deer |
| Raccoon |
| Douglas Squirrel |
| Rough-skin Newt |
| Pacific Tree Frog |
| Red-legged Frog |
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