hi all

phyllis stark, kathy ehrenberg, alan roedell and myself wandered around the
olympic peninsula today visiting point no point, port gamble, salisbury
point, john wayne marina, ediz hook and the mouth of the elwah river.
weather overall was chilly, but sunny off and on through the day. wonderful
day with lots of water birds but not many dickie birds as we didn't spend
any considerable time in the wooded areas.

we had a couple of worrisome sightings. at the mouth of the elwah, there
were over a dozen gulls that had been oiled. some were relatively minimally
covered, however there was one that had quite extensive involvement and i
doubt has much chance of survival. has anyone heard of any recent spills or
have any ideas about where the oil may have come from?? anyone in specific
to whom this should be reported??

the other sighting was that of an american crow at the john wayne marina.
he had a markedly deformed bill, very similiar to that reported in finches?
earlier this year. the lower mandible was very, very long , narrow and
upcurved; the upper manible long, thin and crossed over the lower mandible.
although the bird did not appear to be emaciated, he was significantly
smaller than the other crows in the area. has anyone observed any similiar
deformities in corvids and any idea about the etiology??

good birding

marissa j benavente
junebug99 at home.com
seattle