Hi folks,

This is a belated report, and none too 'technical', from a day I spent on the water last Tuesday. I was involved in observations of fishing vessels, contacting fishers and buyers and wasn't able to spend much time "birding", due to this fact and the fact that there was less than decent visibility for most of the day.

If you recall, Tuesday the 8th was rainy (over 1 inch) and windy (about 15-20 knots from the south); there was about 1.5 to 2 feet of chop as I left the 'calm' of Deception Pass for Iceberg Point on Lopez Island in the San Juans. The route was then up San Juan Channel and Obstruction Pass to Rosario, up to the north end of Lummi Island, and back down Rosario to Biz Point and Deception Pass.

The main point of interest to me was that I did not see any concentrations of Common Murres. I would expect that the apparent failure of this year's murre colonies along the Oregon Coast will result in these birds abandoning the colonies and coming to the Strait of Juan de Fuca/San Juans earlier than 'normal' (mid-August). The reports of dead and dying murres, due to starvation, along the Oregon and Washington coasts is, I fear, an indication that they'll be doing so. Perhaps the 'good news' is that there appears to be good numbers of pilchards (or Pacific sardines - Sardinops sagax) along the south coast of Vancouver Island, so hopefully the murres will have some feed there in the Strait, as bait fish appear to be unavailable as murre prey in the coastal waters.

The few murres I did see were in small, scattered groups - no more than 8-10 in a group; mostly singles or pairs. I saw *no* juvenile murres. I saw many more scattered, small flocks of Rhinoceros Auklets, but again, no great numbers. Almost all the 'land' birds in the following list were seen at or near the boat launch in Coronet Bay in Deception Pass.

Double-crested Cormorant
Brandt's Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron - 1 near Coronet Bay boat Ramp in Deception Pass
No Ducks - 1 domestic goose at Coronet Bay boat ramp
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk - along Hwy 20 near Swinomish Channel
Black Oystercatcher - 1 on rocks off Bowman Bay - Deception Pass
Heerman's Gull - hundreds on rocks near Iceberg Point - Lopez Island
California Gull - 1 'adult' at Lego Bay - Lummi Island
Glaucous-winged Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet - 1 in alternate (brown) plumage in Bowman Bay - Fidalgo Island
Cassin's Auklet - 1 off Iceberg Point, 1 in southern San Juan Channel
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Dove - Deception Pass bridge
Vaux' Swift - Coronet Bay
Rufous Hummingbird - Coronet Bay
Belted Kingfisher
Willow Flycatcher - Coronet Bay
Tree, Violet-green, and Barn Swallows
Steller's Jay
Crow - there was an adult feeding a fledgling at the Coronet Bay ramp
Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit - Coronet Bay
Winter Wren - "
Golden-crowned Kinglet - Coronet Bay
Robin
Swainson's Thrush
Cedar Waxwings
Starlings
Wilson's Warbler
Yellowthroat
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Oregon Junco

Not a bad little list, considering the weather. At least the rain was warm....

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net