Folks,
I checked out Des Moines Marina, and other than a bunch of temporary W.
grebes passing through, there are simply more and more of our usual winter
residents leaving.......summer residents have not arrived, but bird song
among the locals is getting more exuberant. There was a huge sea-lion
feeding not far off the Beach Park shore; we see these on occasion this
close in. So, I'll give details of Sat's birding-by-boat tour.

George Gerdt's annual circumnavigation of Bainbridge Island was wonderful
(as usual!). Notable were the huge rafts of Western grebes (no
confirmation of a Clark's this time) and Pacific loons in Agate Passage.
The small numbers of Common loons seen had many already in alternate
feathers. Especially notable were about NINE Marbled murrelets,
all still in basic plumage and all on the west side of Bainbridge.

Restoration Point area (SE end of island) had bunches of Surfbirds,
Sanderlings, Dinlin, some Western sandpipers, Black turnstones, all
intensely feeding along the rocky shore.

There were more Oldsquaws allowing prolonged close-up views than in past
years. The beautiful males were in various stages of plumage transition.
Bright and gaudy Harlequin ducks were observed, nearly all in pairs, along
the SE and S shores. Three separate flocks of Brant geese were seen,
totally perhaps to 250 birds with one group of geese in Eagle Harbor not
far from the ferry terminal.

A few Eared grebes were reported with excellent views of one in its usual
wintering cove on the west side.

Up to fourteen Bald eagles were perched in tree tops (most of these were
adults) or on the beaches (all these were sub-adults) with a
few flying about between landings.

At the north end of Bainbridge, a Great Blue heronry is in progress, and
there may be as many as a hundred birds now at this nesting site.

There were great views of all three scoter and three cormorant species,
many in alternate dress......exquisite. A few people thought they spotted
a Common tern...........early, but possible?

This is such a fine birding trip with a chance for close-up views and
study of common AND less common water birds. George Gerdt is an excellent
and thoughtful guide/narrator/educator/bird-finder for these trips (also
does a Protection Island trip) and highly recommended......perhaps he
will consider doing an annual pelagic trip on the "big" water in the
future. His professional bird-leader style insures that everyone has a
chance to see the birds and know what they are seeing. This works very
well for the diversity of experience, from beginner to those with 500+
lifers, among the birders on these trips. Yep, I'm putting in a plug for
for Mr. Gerdt's unique birding trips; they are a very good value for
those of us who are so-ooooo busy, we don't have much time for more
leisurely birding. Anyone else on this trip? What did I forget?

Cheers to all,
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu Univ of WA and Des Moines, WA
************************************
"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
confusion and bamboozle requires vigilance, dedication, and courage."
-Carl Sagan-