Hi Tweeters,

Well, after being so smug about the wonderful weather I've had while
going into the field for our research fishery, the Weather Gods got
even. It was blowing from the south at 10-15 knots, gusting to 20, there
were 3-foot swells, and it (finally) rained. Autumn is here!

I got a bit of time in between seine sets to watch what was flying by
Apple Cove Point, about 1 and 1/2 mile north of Kingston, Kitsap County,
from 7:30 a.m. to about 4 p.m.

Not as many terns this week, but a bunch more of the northern stuff is
moving in. Didn't see phalaropes this week. The tide was High in the
a.m. and didn't get to much of a low, so did not have a lot of birds on
the mud flats, as we did last Wednesday.

~30 Common Terns
~20 Bonaparte's Gulls
~20 Glaucous-winged Gulls (including intergrades...)
~15 California Gulls
~12 Heermans' Gulls
2 Mew Gulls
1 Thayer's Gull
4 Parasitic Jaegers
8 Pacific Loons
1 Common Loon
~18 Rhinoceros Auklets
4 Western Grebes
12 Double-crested Cormorants
~50 Surf Scoters
3 White-winged Scoters
3 Belted Kingfishers
~6 Common Crows on the beach

*5* ORCAS!! 1 male, 3 females and a calf seen - 40m from the boat!!

All in all, a pretty nice day. Even if it *did* rain....

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov