I spent a couple hours at John Wayne Marina, in Sequim today (Mon.).
Not too many birds: Common Loon, White-winged Scoter, Black Oystercatcher,
Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin, American-type <G> Crow, Hooded Merganser,
Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Surf Scoter, Pigeon Guillemot, Red-necked
Grebe, Horned Grebe, Greater Scaup, Red-tailed Hawk.

I also saw a beautifully marked pair of Marbled Murrelets. I was confused
at first, because I had dropped the N.G. guide in my vest and was
looking at it to be sure of what I was seeing. The Marbled Murrelets
pictured there are squatty-necked birds, with little of the white from the
throat and cheek passing around to the neck. When I got back to the car,
I looked in Peterson's and the picture there was exactly like what I was
seeing - a bird with a good bit of neck, head held high, and a significant
amount of white below the eye and extending back to the neck, leaving
a narrow vertical dark line at the rear of the neck, like a Horned Grebe.
My view was at 60X, unfortunately, but the striking white wing mark, the
white at the side of the rump, the hood covering the eye, and the white
mark immediately behind the bill, cleared things up.
(Another vote for Peterson's.)

These two birds were very busy little things, constantly swimming,
changing direction to and fro, always 4 to 6 feet apart. I did not see them
dive even once.

The White-winged Scoters were diving for shellfish that seemed much wider
than their gapes. These ducks were literally gagging the shellfish down,
shell and all. I don't know how they get them down, nor how they digest
the things. Anybody know what it is about the digestive systems of
ducks that allows them to eat those things?

Jerry


E-mail from: Jerry Blinn, 24-Feb-1997