On Sept. 21, Scott Richardson wrote: " I had high hopes for East Bay,
Olympia, surveys, but the grebes and their buddies still haven't worked
their way this far south."

Actually, "the grebes and their buddies" have worked their way at least
almost as far south as East Bay (southern Budd Inlet), just not that far
east. I've seen the following species regularly since their arrival date
(in parentheses below) this month--the arrival date being when I've first
seen them from my house on lower Eld Inlet.

Horned Grebe (October 8)
Surf Scoter (October 8)
Common Loon (October 9)
Western Grebe (October 11)
White-winged Scoter (October 17)

I've only seen a Red-necked Grebe once, on October 14.

Bob Sluss (a biologist who frequently sails on Budd Inlet) and I used to
compare arrival dates for Western Grebes in the two inlets, and they
invariably appeared first in Eld. We never could figure out why.

Betty Estes
Olympia