Mike, I'm sending this through tweeters, as I suspect this sort of
information would be of general interest, and I hope others do so, too.
(and I've heard there are still one or two people out there who aren't
surfing the web)

>Where's your favorite seabird spotting spot?
>
>I'm trying to build a seabird spotting guide for land based
>watching for my web page and would very much appreciate those
>with favorite spots taking the time filling out the following
>survey and e-mailing it back to me. If you have more than one
>favorite spot and feel particularly energetic feel free to write
>about each of them.
>
>Site name: Point Brown jetty
>Nearest community: Ocean Shores
>County: Grays Harbor
>State: Washington
>
>Best bird seen: 2 Thick-billed Murres on a Christmas count
>Seen any whales?: lots of grays, occas. harbor porpoises, lots of
>pinnipeds, once a sea otter!
>
>Can one comfortably scope from a car?: at one spot at the base, into the
>harbor
>If not, how far does one have to walk?: <100 m to jetty itself, probably
>500 m to its tip, the best spot
>
>This next part gets a little complicated...
>using e=easy n=not-so-easy o=once in a blue moon
> and
>w=winter v=spring s=summer f=fall
>mark the species you've seen at your spot
>
>BFAlbatross
>LaysanAlbatross
>NFulmar once
>Mottled Petrel (others have seen)
>MurphysPetrel
>PFShearwater (others have seen)
>FFShearwater
>BullersShearwater
>ManxShearwater (others have seen)
>SootyShearwater es,f
>STShearwater
>FTStorm-petrel once
>LeachsStorm-petrel
>WilsonsStorm-petrel
>BlackStorm-petrel
>MagnificentFrigatebird
>PomarineJaeger
>ParasiticJaeger nv, ef
>Long-tailedJaeger
>SouthPolarSkua (others have seen)
>Black-leggedKittiwake ew, variable other seasons
>Red-leggedKittiwake
>SabinesGull (others have seen)
>ArcticTern once f
>CommonTern ev,f
>MarbledMurrelet es
>AncientMurrelet ow
>XantusMurrelet
>ParakeetAuklet
>CrestedAuklet
>CassinsAuklet o
>RhinoAuklet es
>TuftedPuffin ns
>HornedPuffin
>Stuff I missed
all those zillions of loons, cormorants, waterfowl, gulls,
shorebirds, and other alcids that make it a mind-boggling experience if
conditions are right! The rarities provide the oh-so-skimpy occasional dab
of icing on the rich, many-layered chocolate cake of the overall
experience.

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