>Hi Tweets,

During the work week I spend my time heading up a marbled murrelet survey
crew for the Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, based in Forks. Since I
can only check my e-mail on weekends, I get behind on the hottest topics on
Tweeters. I hope the following response is not too delinquent ... .

Dennis: About kestrels breeding west of the Cascades. For the last two
summers I have repeatedly seen them perching on power lines and poles both
on the Forks Prairie and along Hwy 101 in the Sol Duc valley, not far from
Sappho. I've never spent time trying to determine their breeding status,
but have assumed they were indeed breeding because of the reliability of
seeing them in those spots. Interestingly, these areas are clear-cut.

Chris Hill asked:

>Any suggestions for birding sites on the western Olympic Peninsula this
>time of year? I was delighted to find my first and second Northern Pygmy
>Owls within an half-hour on a recent trip to Forks ("Logging Capital of
>the World"), and I am sure there are plenty of Saw-whets and some Spotted
>Owls hanging on in the few big trees remaining. [snip]
>Are there any "hotspots" out that way, any local specialties

Sounds to me like you've found most of what's "hot," Chris. I heard a
Barred Owl from the town of Forks last year; Spotteds are "spotty" (I'm
better with puns than limericks, but lame in both!) as one might expect
from the pitiful state of the landscape; Great Horneds are around; heard a
Screech Owl a month ago in the Hoh valley. Any detection of a Spotted Owl
would be of extreme interest to WDFW -- please notify them in Olympia if
you should get so lucky.

My time devoted specifically to true *birding* is limited but I'm doing
better this year. Seen from La Push / Rialto Beach in the last two weeks:

Surf & White-winged Scoters (some apparently molting/in very PALE plumage!)
Harlequin Ducks
Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Tufted Puffins (very few)
all three cormorant species
Sooty Shearwaters
Black Oystercatchers
Red-throated Loons
Western, Glaucous-winged, ?hybrid, California, Bonaparte's and Ring-billed
gulls
Caspian Terns
Bald Eagles (as many as 5 at a time), Osprey, American Crows
Green-winged Teal -- one female, with
Common Mergansers

California sea lions, harbor seals, river otter. A month ago: gray whales.

Except for the gulls, none of the species were a surprise to me, but it has
definitely been fun scoping everything out. If you find any other
"hotspots" I'd love to hear about it!

Now it's off to look for fox sparrows, I suppose.

Good birding!

Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net