Hi tweets,
we got down to Oregon for a long weekend, with stops at Smith Rocks (N of
Bend, central Oregon), Crater Lake (1ft of snow on Monday), and Reedsport
(dunes). We saw Prairie Falcon and Canyon Wren at Smith Rocks, a Great
Horned Owl in Ft.Klamath (a grove of aspen(?) in the middle of the
town, early afternoon), and Wrentits as a lifer for me in the dunes N of
Reedsport. Additionally, many Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Peregrine,
Sanderlings and a Dunlin in the same area. East of Florence we came
across a Great Egret - I was quite surprised by how much the avifauna
changes just 'down the coast' from Vancouver B.C.
The mystery bird was seen from the beach N of Reedsport: long pointy
wings, uniformly grey (but not black), travelling S by sailing normally
just a little bit above the water, then suddenly crossing a wave crest,
and diving into the next valley. We thought of a Shearwater, but the
colour was confusing. Size of a large gull. I was also thinking of a
Heermann's gull, but the other (Glaucous-winged?) gulls around all showed
distinctly white head and tail, and different flight pattern. Thanks for
any help in advance.

Reto Riesen
Dept. Chem., UBC
Vancouver, B.C.
riesenr at chem.ubc.ca