Today on the westport pelagic, on the return trip from the chum spot, we came
upon a small gull sitting on the water alone, with a solid yellow bill, no
markings. Bruce LaBar called out Kittiwake. a very good bird for august
offshore. As we approached the bird closer, I was seeing flashes of red just
under the water surface as the bird was facing away. Thinking my binoculars
were playing tricks on me, I didn't think much of it...until examining it
closer, again seeing red legs under the surface. Bruce, myself, and several
others on the bow of the Monte Carlo all started asking each other "DOES THAT
HAVE RED LEGS!" and indeed it did. I'm not sure who exactly called the bird
out first, but RED-LEGGED KITTIWAKE calls from everyone on the bow of the
boat were filling the air, as everyone got on the bird. I quickly grabbed my
camera, started shooting frame after frame. The bird was just sitting very
still in the water, not going anywhere. we were able to get close enough for
great photos and great views by everyone on board. The bird was very dark
mantled, short all-yellow bill, with bright blood-red legs. The left eye of
the bird was injured, maybe missing. Chum was thrown out for the bird, and
it took off into the sky flying above the boat, allowing me to take several
photos of the underside, red legs showing. It then landed directly behind
the boat, within a few feet, feeding on the chum we were throwing overboard.
We observed this bird for a good 20 minutes to a half hour, before having to
head back to port. But as we left, the bird took flight again, passing
within feet of everyone sitting and standing at the bow of the boat. 4-5
rolls of film later, I was a VERY happy guy! I just hope I get a few descent
shots out of them. Throw in RED and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, FORK-TAILED
STORM-PETRELS, 2 LONG-TAILED JAEGERS, 1 dark morph SOUTH POLAR SKUA, 2
BULLER'S SHEARWATERS, ARCTIC TERNS and SABINE'S GULLS, it made for a GREAT
ending to a wonderful trip!
Great job Bruce, Scott and Phil for a wonderful and memorable trip!

Oh, and the TWO Bar-tailed Godwits are still in Tokeland.
Keep an eye out for those one-eyed kittiwakes
Ryan Shaw
Lacey, WA
RTShaw80 at aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com//rtshaw80/index.html