My wife and I made a quick mid-day circuit of Baskett Slough NWR. Bright sun, no wind, swallows on the wing and on the wires as they begin to collect and move southward. Today it was Violet-Green and Barn.
But highlight was a swirl of White Pelicans, dropping down from overhead and floating in circles, ever lower until they landed with a few of their kind already loafing on a mudflat. They were in Parvipes Marsh east of Smithfield Road. Dozens of Great Egrets were lurking along the shore there as well.
The shorebirds we saw were all the pond at the south end of Taverner’s Marsh just north of Colville Road. In this photo, left to right: yellowlegs, dowitcher, Least Sandpiper in the grass:
The Dunlin were too far away for photos.
Gold medal for all around performance must go to the many Great Egrets. At Taverner’s Marsh one flew the length of the pond to drive off a second egret.
The successful attacker, then turned back and landed along the edge of the pond to hunt undisturbed. 
Then we watched another egret stalk the marsh right along Colville Road and swallow several small bits of prey stabbed and jerked from the water.
The swallow: 
Baskett Slough NWR, Polk, Oregon, US
Aug 21, 2016 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM. 20 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 15
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) X
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) 30
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 5
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 50
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 4
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
American Coot (Fulica americana) 1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 2
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 15
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) 1
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 6
Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) 30
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 75
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 6
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) 40
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 8
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