Dear Tweeters,

I've received just about all the reports I expect to get about the
Clallam County/Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society Birdathon on May 8th.

We had 106 incredible participants counting in 63 parties, ranging from
the continental shelf break 22 miles west of Cape Flattery to Discovery
Bay on the east. It's difficult to imagine more intensive coverage of
the county, although there were many spots we could not cover, such as
all elevations above 4000 feet because of record snowfall this year.

Our species total stands at 193 (well exceeding last year's record 182)
and total individuals stands at 33,416.

It clearly has been a strange spring. Even though numbers of individuals
of many species were low, we still picked up most of the late spring
migrants in small numbers. And NOAA graciously provided a boat out of
Neah Bay, helping us add 11 pelagic species.

Noteworthy species not typically counted include: (pelagic birds from
boat out of Neah Bay)
BF Albatross
N. Fulmar
Pink-footed SW
Fk-tld Storm-Petrel (including 50 pattering in Neah Bay)
Leach's Storm-Petrel
Red-faced Cormorant (if it's countable?)
Green Heron (Quillayute River)
Swan sp. (2 over Sequim Bay, not clearly identifiable)
N. Goshawk (1 in Graywolf River drainage and 2 near Sekiu)
Golden Eagle (1 at Elwha River in ONP)
Sora (1 calling in marsh near Dungeness Recreation Area)
Sandhill Crane (6 together near Hoko River at Sekiu)
Wandering Tattler (at Ediz Hook)
Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers
Sabine's Gull
Arctic Tern
BL Kittiwake
Cassin's Auklet
Willow Flycatcher (singing at Jamestown -- very early!)
Northern Shrike (present through winter at farmsite near Joyce, still
present 5/8)
Vesper Sparrow (one in pasturelands on Lost Mountain, southwest of Sequim)
Yellow-headed Blackbird (2 at Hoko River farmsite near Sekiu)

The possible misses included Blue-winged Teal, Merlin, Surfbird (seen
since), Spotted, Barred (count week), Short-eared (seen earlier), and
Saw-Whet Owls (all probably somewhere, but very quiet this year), Black
Swift (seen since), Horned Lark (under the snow at Hurricane Ridge???),
W. Bluebird (count week), and N. Oriole.

Most abundant species:
Loon = Pacific (total = 52)
Grebe = Western (51)
Shearwater = Sooty (780)
Cormorant = Pelagic (328)
Goose = Brant (1444)
Duck = Surf Scoter (830)
Diurnal Raptor = Bald Eagle (128)
Grouse = Blue (48)
Plover = Black-bellied (263)
Sandpiper = Western (1531)
Gull = Glaucous-winged (1632)
Alcid = Common Murre (4006)
Pigeon = Band-tailed (227)
Owl = Great-horned (5)
Hummingbird = Rufous (319)
Woodpecker = N. Flicker (62)
Flycatcher = Pacific Slope (14)
Swallow = Violet-green (1439)
Corvid = Crow (845) (includes 43 crows identified to Northwestern Crow in
western Clallam County, but we did not include as a separate species.
Would this make 194 species?)
Chickadee = Chestnut-backed (170)
Wren = Winter (245)
Kinglet = Golden-crowned (169)
Thrush = Robin (2234)
Warbler = Orange-crowned (251) (Wilson's was most abundant for last three
years -- only 140 this year)
Sparrow = Savannah (529)
Blackbird = Red-winged (491)
Finch = House (299)

Complete results will be posted sometime soon on the OPAS web page:
www.olympus.net/opas.
More reports may still arrive, causing revisions to some numbers. We
also are wondering if we could break 200 species in one day -- if we had
an earlier year and another great pelagic trip.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim