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Re: Steller's Eider
I wish to sincerely thank the eastern Wa birding community for getting the word
out on this "cosmic" bird. I was giving WOS member Paul Cozens and family an
"Interpretive Tour" of Washington Apples, their packing, grading and marketing
when my wife Susie came up to the rear of a truck destined for Overwaitea Foods
in Calgary (for the Canadians out there in Tweetersville) with our Golden
Delicious and said she had just received a message from Scott regarding the
discovery of this duck at the Walla Walla River delta a few hours earlier by
Mike and Merrylynn Denny. Paul said he had seen the Pt. Townsend male
Steller's a few years back (more than a few if I'm right - that was 1986), so I
acted cool and uninterested. At the end of the scheduled tour, I "blasted Off!
Wapato to the Walla Walla River delta in 1 hr, 20 min. The eider was there!
What a class act! Thanks guys!

By the way, whats going on in the arctic this fall to send our way more than
usual #'s of Red Knots, Long-tailed Jaegers, Sabine's Gulls and now...a
Steller's Eider? Any connection to all this?

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato Wa