Tweets,
Finally got time to report on my trip to Neah Bay 15-18 May. Since the
primary purpose of the trips was finny creatures I didn't get to spend as
much time birding as I had hoped. My buddy with the boat was more concerned
with catching fish then with me getting close enough to ID everything I saw.
I didn't see the small bird I had seen the past few years that I couldn't ID
but I added a new ??. While fishing at Umatilla Reef about 20 miles south of
Tatoosh Island I saw a small bird on some rocks that looked like a
semipalmater plover working the weed line & barnacle/mussel beds. It would
run down the side of the rock almost to the water line and literally hand on
the side of an almost perpendicular rock face. There were 2 other birds with
this one but they were drab gray from what I could see. My fisrt thought was
turnstones or surfbirds, but I couldn't find anything except the semipalmated
plover that was close. Any suggestions?
Other than that I saw the usual cast of characters:
common murre tufted puffin
rhinoceros auklet pigeon guillemot
sooty shearwater black oystercatcher
common loon bald eagles (lots)
leech's storm petrol harlequin duck
belted kingfisher glaucous winged gull

We also saw a turkey vulture sitting in a low snag beside the road on the way
up to Neah Bay. It was the closest I've seen one.

Seems like every time I go somewhere I see something I can't ID. I guess that
is what keeps me birding...You never know what you will see.

Phil Kelley
Lacey, WA
scrbjay at aol.com