Greetings all and good birding on the counts! I'll be looking forward to
the summaries.

We're going to be in western Washington from Jan. 1-8 and have in mind to
look for these species that have been reported recently or are regular
winter residents. There are some specific questions about the birds or
the sites. If you have any comments, please let us know. We will have a
good scope with us, so we don't necessarily have to be right on top of
the birds.

Ancient Murrelets
seen at Point no point at the end of Kitsap Peninsula.
Question: where is the best spot to look for these birds from the
Point? We have not been there for about 20 years.
seen also at Dungeness Spit
Question: were they seen from above as you walk down the hill or do
you have to hike a long way out the spit & teeter on top of the driftwood
to see the birds?

Rock Sandpiper
This is a jinx bird for us and, as far as we know, strictly mythical.
They should be regular at Ocean Shores/Westport.
Question: given that we may have VERY limited birding time, is the
jetty at Ocean Shores or at Westport the better bet?

I note also that Rocks were seen at Alkai Point along with some
Surfbirds a few weeks ago. Someone mentioned a trip to Alkai last week
and they saw Surfbirds but didn't mention the Rock Sandpipers. Have they
disappeared? Alkai seems as likely a place for one to be out of range as
any other place. At least there are some rocks there.

Emperor Goose along the Columbia (Lewis & Clark park)
Question: Has anyone reported it recently?

Yellow-billed loon
Happily reported on the Portland hotline for this week :-)
Questions: #1 since we've never birded the highway 101 bridge at Yaquina
Bay, where is the best place to pull off the road & bird (i.e., which end
of the bridge)
#2 Does the tide make any difference on the loon (or the King eider
either, for that matter)

Other species to look for, but haven't been reported of late
I understand that Harlequin Quail frequent the mountain range south of
Olympia. Does anyone know where some are? We didn't have much luck last
summer when we poked around on the roads going toward McCleary from 101.

Thanks for all your help,
Lois & Mike Schultz

Lois Schultz
lois at acpub.duke.edu
Music Cataloger, Duke University