Hi, Tweets

I will hope this gets through since I'm not used to using this system.
The weather has been great for two days with sunshine and, finally,
southeasterly winds. Plus, of course, turkey vultures! After sitting for
nearly a week through a complete day of fog, two days of spitting rain
alternating with clear, and a full day of gale force winds, these nice
days are welcome, even if they are a bit chilly.

I almost forgot, turkey vultures. Yesterday, the 27th, there was a nice
total of 719 vultures crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Today, and
starting the earliest I've ever seen them, were nearly 200. I'm sure I
am missing a few (hopefully, not a few hundred), since this is a
two-person job in reality.

Even though the other days were productive, vulture-wise, there were
plenty of other interesting sights. Gail and Steve Aslanian from Skagit
Audubon were out and helped for a half day on the 26th. They mentioned
seeing a jaeger in the tiny bay in front of their campsite the night
before, so we watched for jaegers and weren't disappointed.
Approximately nine parasitic jaegers came by during the morning, and as I
heard their car pulling away about 1:30 p.m., a group of six passed by to
make a total of 15 parasitic jaegers! Were these birds blown in by the
gale raging down the strait and were just making their very determined
way back out to sea?

Other sights of interest have been an immature golden eagle about 30'
over my head (flying west), a small flight of violet green swallows the
morning of the 24th, savannah sparrows arrived yesterday so I am now
entertained by their lovely little sounds, and also yesterday what seemed
like a tiny migration of small white butterflies appeared in the
afternoon. I'm no lepidopterist in any way, but they were about 1-1 1/2
inches in size, white with markings like gulls have on their front wing,
i.e. black tipped with tiny white spots. Haven't seen a dragonfly at
all, Ruth.

The regular birds are all in residence: lots of harlequins, a band of ca.
8 oystercatchers, six+ species of gulls with the young Heermann's still
the most interesting to watch, loons, grebes, alcids, scoters, herons,
kingfishers, etc., etc., etc. Never a dull moment! Thanks to those who
have come out for a visit; it really helps the time pass.

Cheers, Diann
Olympic Vulture Study
Salt Creek County Park
tvulture at halcyon.com

P.S. I have not edited this so please excuse any errors. There is a
time-limit on computer use at the library.