Hi Peter,

Great follow up. We all enjoyed the trip A LOT. Thanks for all of your
enthusiasm and good effort. We'll be back! Tom Thorbeck


At 10:23 AM 10/14/96 -0800, you wrote:
>Tweeters
>
>The Protection Island birding cruise of 10/12/96 began withsome gusty winds
>that seemed to keep many birds out of the air. By the time we reached the
>island the winds had abated and, being in the lee of the island (south
>side) allowed us to get some great observations, including the nests of
>pelagic & double crested cormorants.
>
> We did include a side trip to Rat Island also. This site, across the Bay
>from Pt. Townsend, is a breeched spit extending from Marrowstone Island
>towards Indian Island. Being semi-protected, it offers a good opportunity
>to observe shorebirds from up close as we enter Kilisut Harbor. We've
>added this additional side trip to our cruises in the past and will
>continue to go there on all Protection Island cruises in the future.
>
>Saturday's cruise included Pilchuck Audubon Society & Seattle Audubon
>Society members.
>
>Sightings of 10/12/96 include:
>Pigeon Guillemonts
>Pelagic Cormorants
>Double Crested Cormorants
>Mew Gulls
>Heerman's Gulls
>Thayer Gull
>Bonaparte Gulls
>Glaucus Winged Gulls
>White Winged Scoters
>Surf Scoters
>Common Murres
>Harlequin Ducks
>Bald Eagle
>Red Necked Grebes
>Common Loons
>Pacific Loons
>Black Oystercatchers
>Sanderlings
>Rhinocerous Auklets
>Belted Kingfishers
>Black Turnstones
>Black Bellied Plovers
>Horned Grebes
>Black Scoters
>Northwestern Crows
>Starlings
>
>Additionally, we spied hundreds of harbor seals on Protection Island (shore
>& waters) and scores of harbor seals on Rat Island. The marine mammal
>highlight of the day was an exceptionally large elephant seal on the
>western spit of Protection Island.
>
>Those of you who know Protection Island will be pleased to hear that the U
>S Fish & Wildlife service has contracted to remove the derelict cars, vans
>& campers from the base of the cliff on the east side of the island. They
>should be taken out this week, eliminating the Aurora Avenue ambiance.
>
>The next Protection Island Cruise is scheduled for Saturday, October 19th.
>There are still spots available. Cost is $35 per person or $30 for PTMSC
>members, Audubon Society members & WOS members. Reservations can be made
>by calling (360) 385-5582 or eMailing ptmcs at olympus.net
>
>Peter Badame
>PTMSC
>
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