Subject: Clallam County NA Migration Count
Date: May 17 19:19:40 1998
From: bboek at olympus.net - bboek at olympus.net


Tweeters,

Tentative total for the Clallam County Spring Migration count last
Saturday, May 9th, is 180 species, which beats our total for last year by
two species. We are still waiting for some counts from the western part
of the county (Forks and La Push), so perhaps the final tally will be
higher.

"Good birds" for the count included an early Common Nighthawk, Sora and
Yellow-billed Loon at Graysmarsh (near Jamestown), Black-legged Kittiwake
at the Miller Peninsula, White-breasted Nuthatch along the Hurricane
Ridge road, and Sooty Shearwater off Tatoosh Island. Like many others,
we have had very high numbers of Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teal this
spring. Overall, migration appeared early this year, with later species
such as Swainson's Thrush, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Bullock's Oriole
well represented. Shorebirds had good species diversity, but relatively
low numbers.

We saw all the expected breeding passerines except one. Cedar Waxwings
were totally missing from Clallam County, mirroring the observations of
Andy Stepniewski in Yakima County the same day. We had a small passage
of waxwings in April, but they are now not here. Where are they?

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim