Tweeters:

My wife and I just returned from a trip around the Olympic Peninsula. On
the morning of 12/13, we took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria
and back. On the way over, we ran into a feeding flock of gulls on the
Canadian side of the trip (based on transit time). In among the gulls
was a dark shearwater. Unfortunately, we were not able to get good looks
at the underside of the wings as the bird flew away from us then landed
in the water. Unlike a pelagic trip, the captain was not too likely to
pursue this bird ;) We were on 2 pelagics out of Monterey in September
and saw thousands of Sooty Shearwaters and felt that due to the overall
darknesss of the upper wing that this was what we saw.

What is the likelihood of seeing Sooty Shearwater in the Strait of Juan
de Fuca at this time of year? Is it possible the bird was a Short-tailed
Shearwater?

--
Good Birding! ...and all this science,
Tyler Bell I don't understand, It's
mailto:bell at say.acnatsci.org just my job five days a week.
California, MD Elton John (Rocket Man)
http://www.acnatsci.org/erd/berc/