The end of the jetty

The jetty at Point Brown on the north side of Grays Harbor has a similar construction as the one on the south side, though it is much shorter. This side is probably the best place to see Surfbirds, Black Turnstones and Wandering Tattlers for two reasons: first, it is not so far to walk and second, the birds are usually on the north wide of the jetty so you can always position yourself os the sun if over your shoulder in early morning and late afternoon. This last point is probably the most important as it means that you can keep away from the edge of the water and stay a littler higher up than the birds and so minimise the risk of getting seawater on your lesnes. As with the jetty at Westport Rock Sandpiper and Black Oystercatchers can also be found. A few Ruddy Turnstones also visit, most commonly in early May.

IMPORTANT: If the rocks are wet either from spray or rain don't go out on the jetty you will almost certainly fall. The best that will happen is you will wreck your equipment. The wost that will happen is that you will break instead. The same warning applies about large waves though the risk is less than for the jetty at Westport - the jetty does not project as far out from the beach and there no sand-bars which accelerate the waves before they hit the jetty.

ALWAYS PLAN WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO PLACE YOUR NEXT STEP AND A WAY TO RECOVER IF YOU START TO SLIP. I have slipped many times, fallen a few of times. On two occasions I only narrowly avoided seriously injury or perhaps death. Thankfully the worst that happened is that I have a few shiny scratches on my scope and camera and I lost several square centimetres of skin from my legs.

Best Times To Visit

Fall and Spring are the best times when the numbers of birds are at their hightest - typically 20 to 60, though it is possible to see several hundred surfbirds in a singe visit. Although the jetty is much shorter numbers of birds appear generally higher than over on the jetty at Westport. This is almost certanly because the Westport jetty is much, much longer and so is hard to cover completely. However it could also be that there are are better feeding conditions at Point Brown, the diversity of marine life appears higher.

During The Day
The state of the tide is less important that at Wesport since it is possible to walk out to the end of the jetty - though it is not that easy. The birds are almost always feeding on the north side or out inthe boulders at the tip - low tide only. There is more marine life on the north side since there is less sediment in the water from Grays Harbor. If the surf is heavy the birds may be on the north side, however the jetty is narrow so it is easy to check both sides.

Best times for photos is around 3 hours after sunrise and 3 hours before sunset when the sun is almost due east and west respectively. The period of best light is longer than at Westport if the birds are on the north side of the jetty.

What Species To Expect

Surfbird, Black Turnstone and Wandering Tattler are the most common species and you can usually find a few of each any month of the year except from mid-May to mid-July. Rock Sandpipers can be found from around October when the last rush of shorebirds come down from Alaska through to early May. Black Oystercatcher is relatively rare - most birds can be found further north on the Olympic Penninsula - a few birds typically show up in Fall. The start of May seems to be the most reliable time, perhaps young birds returning north to breed.

What's Good

• This is the best site for Surfbird, Black Turnstone and Wandering Tattler. Seeing one of these three is pretty much guaranteed - though not by me.
• The jetty is short - just a few hundred metres - so it is relatively easy to get out to the tip. Walking, or more accurately stepping or jumping between boulders is pretty hard work and not something to do with heavy equipment.
• The birds are normally on the north side of the jetty so with the sun over your shoulder, the light is by far the best compared to Westport.

What's Not So Good

• The jetty is short - just a few hundred metres - so you or the birds are more likely to be disturbed by people out sightseeing. The best time to avoid this is early in the morning, particularly on a weekday.
• There is a lot more salt spray in the air. The jetty is rather narrow so there is little real shelter from the surf.
• The rocks are more brownish than over at Westport. It can be hard to tell whether they are wet (a problem with early morning dew) or covered in a thin film of algae. As a result you can slip without realising you are taking a risk.
• Unless you have the characteristics of a mountain goat, sooner or later you will slip or fall (hopefully not). Try not to break anything.