Hello, Tweets.

On Wed., 4 September, I finally boarded the _Glacier Spirit_ for the first
time here in Port Townsend and took advantage of the daily passenger run
made by Puget Sound Express up to Friday Harbor and back. It is an
experience I can highly recommend to anyone interested in wildlife viewing,
and this is a particularly good time to do so. The crowds of tourists have
thinned out, birds are migrating as well as arriving for the winter, and
there's the chance of seeing marine mammals of various species. Beautiful
scenery is even more reliably spotted. The daily trips function as both
regular transportation and as wildlife tours; if you go round-trip you get
a 3-hr layover in Friday Harbor.

Although it was a great trip, bird species diversity was low and most birds
seen could be readily expected at this time of year. The one exception was
a Cassin's Auklet, which provided a close look at a distance of about 10
meters from the boat, about midway between Pt. Wilson and Pt. Partridge. We
saw no puffins. Common Murres were rafted in several locations. A few
chicks accompanied their fathers (I spotted perhaps only 3-4 the whole
day), and adult murres were well into various stages of moult. Just south
of Smith Island was a flock of about 30 Red-necked Phalaropes on the water.
Smith/Minor Island(s) hosted cormorants, Surf scoters, and approximately 10
Red-necked Grebes, as well as a multitude of harbor seals (I didn't try to
count them). I spotted no jaegers at all during the day, though Bonaparte's
Gulls were around in small numbers and one time a flock of about 20 Common
Terns flew by.

We were very fortunate when it came to cetaceans. There was a group of
about ten harbor porpoises feeding in a tide rip approximately off Pt.
Partridge, near Partridge Bank. Later a couple of Dall's porpoises were
seen, though not by me. And we were able to locate and spend time with
orcas of both J-Pod and K-Pod (travelling together) on the trip up as well
as on the trip back. In recent weeks orcas had been seen on only about half
the trips, and since I had only seen orcas on pelagic trips off Oregon and
California, but never the famous local whales, it was a good day. We kept a
respectful distance and got to see most of their classic behaviors:
breaching, tail-slapping, spyhopping, as well as chasing fish and playing
in kelp. After 24 years perhaps I've finally arrived in the Northwest ;)

As for the more local sea-birding scene: today Oak Bay hosted 5 Common
Loons (all in breeding plumage), 2 Red-necked Grebes, one male White-winged
Scoter, approx 10 Surf Scoters, and Pigeon Guillemots starting their moult.
Winter is a-comin'.

Cheers --

Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, Wa
wings at olympus.net