Hello Tweeters<
I could not resist to write about Jetty Island and our trip to this smal
Island in July 1989.
After i reading about "Destination Jetty Island" by Steve Dang the monthly
newletter of Seattle Audubon call " EARTHCARE NORTHWEST"also reading Eugene
Hunn latest visit there.I wrote a little information about the Arctic Terns
and there status in our Tahoma "THE TOWHEE" Tahoma Audubon Newsletter
September 1989.Here is what i wrote:
ARCTIC TERNS NEST NEAR EVERETT
by Ruth and Patrick Sullivan.
Jetty Islandis a smal man-made island(200 yardsby two miles) lying at
thenorthern end of the Everett waterfront and protecting the entrance to the
Snowqualmie River navigation channel.
At the south end of the island is the only Arctic Tern nesting site on the
west coast ofthe contiguous United States.The next nearest site is 800 miles
to the north,in coastal British Columbia.
The Arctic Terns were first noticed during 1977,when there were as many as
ten pairs. This year,three pairs nested on the east side of the island on a
grassy beach.Only one nest hatched chicks as the other two nest suffered
predatation.We first found out about Jetty Island at the beginning of March
1989,when volunteer Audubon members,the Port of Everett,and the Everett
Parks Department tied to create a rocky habitat on the island.Caretakers
suspect that advancing vegetation had driven Terns off the island to a
gravelled lot which is closer in character to the rocky north Pacific
beaches where the birds normally nest.
Our visit in late July disclosed at least ten Arctic Terns,including one
juvenile,on the island.It took us only a ten minutes walk on the beach to
spot our first two Terns.
We used our spotting scope and were delighted to also see two Whimbrels. We
were surprised to see three orfour Arctic Terns dive-bombing one Caspian
Tern.We found out later that there were some young Terns which they were
protecting.We walked to the southside beach and saw all kinds of different
shoebirds like Semipalmated Plovers,Western and Least Sandpipers and
Short-billed Dowitchersin full breeding plumage.
All togetherwe saw 25 species of birds in 3-1/2 hours.During fall migration
over 45 species been seen including Osprey,Bald Eagles and Peregrine
Falcons.
Some tall poles with platforms have been build to entice and encourage the
Osprey to nest.Such platforms have been very successful on the east
coast.The island is manned by helful park rangers and by biologists.Ferry
sevice has been free from July 7th to September 3th this year on a first
come-first served basis,or by reservation for groups (one week in
advance).We would like to see ferry service provided at least through the
migration season to enable the public to see the wide variety of birds that
use the island.

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
godwit at worldnet.att.net
Tacoma