Tweeters,

Greetings from the San Francisco Bay Area:

Here's a quick summary of my recent trip to your neck of the woods. First,
I want to thank all of you who e-mailed me information regarding my two
target birds and, although I didn't see either one, I had a great time
searching. Second, I could get seriously interested in Washington
birding....I had a great time! Here is the trip report:

I arrived at around 11am on Friday and picked up my rental car (an
unrequested upgraded red convertible Cavalier - hmmm, this won't stick out
in a birding crowd will it....). I headed to Lincoln Avenue and the
wetland area (I won't even attempt the spelling). A quick check revealed
an assortment of Thayer's and Glaucous-winged Gulls with a few Herring and
really washed out Westerns. No Slaty-backed Gull though. I decided to
head for where I knew birders would be so I went down to the end of
Portland Street in Tacoma and found a group of birders anxiously looking
for the Iceland Gull. Someone asked me if I had seen anything and I
mentioned the wonderful Black-capped Chickadees I had just seen. Its
always fun being an out of town birder who gets thrilled at seeing common
birds that I am not used to seeing (they get to extreme northwest
Calfiornia) and mentioning them as highlights and waiting for the response.
I'm not sure the woman who asked knew how to respond other than to just
give a polite smile and an "are you nutty" look. I extend a thankyou to all
who told me how to optimize my chances for the Slaty-backed Gull although I
don't remember the names of the people whom I met there. A half hour of
searching did not turn up the Iceland so I returned for a more intensive
Slaty-back search. The rest of the afternoon was spent searching through
the gulls. I did see a few darker backed Westerns but nothing dark enough
(and none even approaching the ones we have off our coast down here).
However, an immature Glaucous Gull was nice. During late afternoon, I
checked the roosting gull flocks near the 11th street bridge but came up
short. I called it a day and checked into a motel early since I was going
on the pelagic trip the next day.

Saturday - an early morning departure to meet up with Gene Revelas and
Bruce LaBar for the trek to the coast. As you already know, the highlight
was the SHY ALBATROSS which circled the boat in the accompaniment of Laysan
Albatrosses and a single Black-footed Albatross. Interestingly, I saw the
Shy ALbatross off northern California last August so this was a year bird
and a state bird and a county bird but....where is the Short-tailed
Albatross? Pandamonium eventually subsided and we continued to watch the
Northern Fulmars and Black-legged Kittiwakes and the occasional
Short-tailed Shearwater. All three scoters, a male Harlequin Duck, and a
few Surfbirds and Black Turnstones greeted us on our trip back to the dock.
The drive back from Westport included a detour into some off highway
country where there were miscellaneous ducks, Common Mergansers and a few
sparrows. Upon my return to Tacoma, I packed up and drove up to Burlington
and checked in to a motel.

Sunday - a later start into the low fog of Samish Flats. Trumpeter Swans
hung on just beyond the fog line although at least I knew that they were
there. Eventually the fog lifted and I was treated to the many raptors of
the area. By the end of the day, I had tallied the following approximate
numbers:

Bald Eagle - 130 (probably higher but who knows)
Red-tailed Hawk - 40
Rough-legged Hawk - 11
Northern Harrier - 9
Gyrfalcon - 1
Peregrine - 2 (1 adult and 1 unbanded immature....Bud?)
Prairie Falcon - 1
Merlin - 2
American Kestrel - 1
Short-eared Owl - 3

and .....
Northern Shrike - 1
Trumpeter Swan - about 475 including one flock of 400
Black-bellied Plover - 75

I didn't fare very well with the Eurasian Kestrel (no surprise) although I
did see five species of falcons. I saw the Gyrfalcon at about 11:20 on a
telephone pole just south of the trailhead for the Bayside Trail (or
something like that) on Bayside-Edison Road. I mentioned this to someone
and heard them say that this was its hangout last year. I thank a group of
three birders who had spotted the Prairie Falcon on the ground near the
huge flock of oft spiralling Dunlin. Overall, a fun day with Bald Eagles
making a grand showing. In the evening, I drove south to Tacoma again for
an all out assault on the Slaty-backed Gull.

Monday - My search for the Slaty-backed Gull came up short although I saw
lots of Thayer's and at least three individual Glaucous Gulls. Other
interesting birds were one Rhinoceros Auklet almost under the 11th street
bridge (seemed kind of strange that far in), and one Red-necked Grebe north
(right) of the mouth of the river and one Common Murre. The Iceland Gull
was at the parking area at the end of Portland Avenue and it decided that
it had to check out my weird looking car (it probably never saw one like it
before - of course, I hadn't either). It turned its bill up at me when it
realized I had nothing to offer. However, it was a good video opportunity.
I spent the rest of the day wandering the area looking for gull flocks. A
Sharp-shinned Hawk augmented my raptor list. I did take one detour to look
for Varied Thrushes (a favorite of mine) and found bunches of them east of
South Hill near Orting and Katowsin (sp?). A Winter Wren chipped nearby as
I sailed by. A flock of Dunlin just west of Route 161 in a moist field
seemed strange given the inland location which was not close to a wetland
area. I returned to the 11th street bridge and continued my search.
However, I called it quits at about 4:45 so I could get back to the airport
and catch my flight home.

A special thanks to those who gave me advice on my trip. I will return!

Good birding to all of you and keep that Slaty-backed Gull around!