Four of us travelled across the mountains to experience the west side
on Friday and Saturday. By some of the other postings from the
weekend it was obvious that we didn't go to the right places at the
right times, but we had spots that we wanted to check.

Friday morning near the Rainier brewery along I-5 we had what looked
like a Scrub Jay cross the highway and land in blackberry bushes in
the median strip. Bob Flores and I both immediately said Scrub Jay
from the brief look that we had at 60+ mph.

In Sequim just south of the Three Crabs Restaurant there was a
Semipalmated Plover mixed in with a dozen Killdeer and lots of puddle
ducks, including one Eurasian Wigeon. Is it unusual to find s.
plovers in the winter?

We also had very distant looks at Ancient Murrelets north of Sequim
Bay from the Port Williams access, but saw none on the Port Townsend
to Keystone ferry.

Now that the area has been scouted and proven as an albatross
producer, are there plans for a return pelagic trip in the next few
weeks for everyone that "missed the boat" last weekend?

Randy Hill
Othello
hill at cbnn.net