Theroj wrote:

>Today, Feb. 25, Jim Burlingame called from Neah Bay with an update on the
>Caracara. It was last seen in Neah Bay on Feb. 4th, but prisoners ,who had
>seen Jim's
>photos of the bird, reported to have seen it in the Deep Creek area along the
>Straits about Feb. 11th. That area is about 38 miles E. of Neah Bay.

To join this message to a previous thread, I had occasion to drive to Sekiu
and just farther west (though not all the way to Neah Bay) on Feb 12-13.
Didn't see the Caracara (though I did keep my eyes peeled). I spent the
night in Sekiu with a friend. In the course of conversing with the
proprietor/owner of the motel, we told her that we were in the area
primarily to see birds and wildlife. She got rather excited and asked if we
were with the hawk watch group; she knew just a little bit about local
wildlife, and was enthusiastic about encouraging visitors with an interest
in natural history. I found myself wishing I had one of those birding cards
to leave with her. Her motel was small, but much nicer than the one I
stayed in last summer, and I would highly recommend her establishment for
Tweets planning a visit to the Strait/outer coast in future:

Straitside Inn, Sekiu. Owner's name is Linda. Charged my friend and I only
$45 a night (yes, it was the off-season), and the room had two beds and a
full kitchen.

I would highly recommend patronizing this motel if you go looking for the
Caracara (or sea otters, or...). The area has traditionally relied on
salmon fishermen and other resource extractors for its livelihood, but has
much to offer in terms of other types of recreation. In my book, any time
we can help a financially-stricken area change its focus into a new (in my
prejudicial judgment, "better"), profitable arena, we should do so.

Cheers! --

Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net