Just a quick follow-up to this mornings note on the evening grosbeaks. The
decision was to hit Percival Ponds. No solitary sandpipers that these eyes
could see, but several spotted sandpipers (doing the cha cha cha as only they
can) and all the killdeer in the Olympia area. Mallards, with broods, wood
ducks, & canada geese. There were a couple of dunlin (coming into breeding
plumage) and lots of sanderling (?), western sandpipers (?) . God, where is
a shorebird expert when you need one? How the heck do you really tell them
apart? Lots of violet-green swallows and barn swallows and common
yellowthroats.

New subject: I'm going to Neah Bay this week for an annual fishing trip and
every year I see small, nondescript birds on the water out in the straights
and on the ocean that I can't identify. Mostly gray, with no real identifying
features. My first thought is storm petrels, but I'm not sure. Any field
marks I should look for to figure out what it is I'm seeing. Thanks in
advance for the help.

Phil Kelley
Lacey, Wa
scrbjay at aol.com