Tweeters

The Saturday, November Protection Island birding trip to Protection Island
had the good fortune to spot a somewhat immature Snowy Owl perched on a
branch of a beached log on the very tip of Violet Point, the eastern spit
of the island. The trip had been instrument-only from Point Wilson to the
island due to the thickness of the fog. Upon approaching the island the #
of birds spotted on the edge of the visibility range was large (species
below). As we circled the north side & rounded Kanem Point (west) the fog
burned off & allowed for great visibility of the south side of the island &
surrounding waters. The contractor for the US Fish & Wildlife Service was
in the process of removing derelict car/camper/van carcasses which had been
abandoned on the island. As we neared the eastern tip of the island a wave
of excitement surged through the boat & the OOHs & AHHs became audible as
one passenger after another spotted the Snowy Owl perched on the log, with
the sun highlighting its appearance against the blue water in the
background. It is remarkable how a sighting of this sort brings a
dissimilar group of passengers together, with some recounting previous
Snowy Owl sightings. To top it off, we sighted three ancient murrelets in
the water off of Violet Point. The trip continued off the northeastern
shore to observe the hundreds of harbor seals on the beach. Heading back
to Port Townsend & on to Rat Island, we reentered the fog again at
Middlepoint & it stayed with us until Point Wilson, where, as it so often
does, the fog line continued due east to Whidbey I.
Species sighted:
Common Loon Bonaparte Gull
Pacific Loon Mew Gull
Red Throated Loon Glaucus Winged Gull
Western grebe Pigeon guillemont
Red Necked Grebe Ancient Murrelet
Horned Grebe Bald Eagle
Double crested Cormorant Rock Dove
Pelagic Cormorant Snowy Owl
Great Blue Heron Belted Kingfisher
White winged scoter Northwestern Crow
Surf Scoter Starling
Harlequin Duck
Clangula hyemalis
Bufflehead
Red breasted merganser
Black Oystercatcher
Black Bellied Plover
Black turnstone
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper

the next Port Townsend Marine Science Center Protection Island/Rat Island
birding trip is Saturday, November 16th at 1pm

Peter Badame
Port Townsend Marine Science Center