Well, some of them, anyway.

On Sunday, 7 July, we kayaked around the spoil-bank islands on the west
side of the Swinomish Channel north of hwy. 20, between Mt. Vernon and
Anacortes, and there were about 800 Caspian Terns resting and feeding
there. At the northwest corner of the northernmost island, there was a
tight clump of about 100 birds, many of them in positions that suggested
incubation, but I think it was misdirected behavior, as the ground was
littered with dumped eggs, probably all long dead. I saw one bird get up
and saw nothing beneath it. We could count about 20 eggs, some partially
buried in the sand, and from our low position in the kayak would have
missed any behind even a tiny hummock. These islands should furnish space
for a nesting colony; maybe next year.

Also present on the islands were 1200 or so Glaucous-winged Gulls (not a
Western among them, or even any fairly dark hybrids!), many with young.
The young were hard to see, as they would run into the grass as we
approached at quite a distance. Very different from the situation at
Dungeness, where the young seem pretty blase about kayakers.

Also present and rather surprising were about 500 Ring-billed Gulls, all in
flocks on the mud flats. Absolutely no evidence of nesting, but it's hard
to imagine that many birds present without nesting. It seems too early to
me for there to be that many in one place as early migrants from the
interior.

Even more surprising was a fresh juvenile California Gull, easily
identified at fairly close range. This must have been the first fledged
from some interior colony. The largest juvenile Glaucous-wings were only
half-grown.

The icing on the cake was a Great Egret with breeding plumes among the many
adult and juvenile Great Blue Herons wading around the mud flats. A
juvenile Great Blue seemed to be following the egret around briefly, maybe
thought it was a celestial being.

Surprisingly, no summering birds of any species--shorebirds, brants,
scoters, other gulls, etc.--were seen.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416