On 22 August, 1996, Jerry Blinn wrote:

> Incidentally, since she says she made this
>trip earlier this month, she reveals that the guillemots are done breeding and
>have molted already -- in breeding season, those birds are black guillemots -
>uh, er, just black guillemots, not black guillemots - well, what I really mean
>is.....

I will happily agree with the capitalization of common names, but I am
having trouble with the molted guillemots in early August. In south Puget
Sound on August 15 I saw numerous mostly black Pigeon Guillemots and only
one of the mostly white variety. I presumed the latter was a
young-of-the-year bird. Are there really places in our region where the
majority of adults are already in winter plumage?

Yesterday, at a pond in South Tacoma, I viewed a Least Sandpiper through a
spotting scope for a good long while. I have always had difficulty with
"peeps" and it was a pleasure to be able to see the characteristics that
allow confident identification.

Kelly McAllister