Greetings All

The auklet report is intriguing and certainly not impossible.

There are a couple problems. First of all, the observer reports a white rump
not white undertail coverts. I presume he meant undertail coverts, but.....

Also, from such close range, the white eye should have been very apparent,
something not mentioned.

And, as Dennis' mentions, Whiskered Auklets are tiny. Smaller than Rhino
Auklet is an understatement. These birds are not much bigger than a Surf
Scoter head. I would feel better about this report if this extremely
dimunitive size was mentioned.

Could these birds have been Whiskered Auklets. Most definitely. Does the
description solidly show this. In my opinion, no. A more detailed description
would have been nice.

However, if anyone is birding out on the western Olympic Pen, this is
definitely worth checking out.

Cheers
Steven Mlodinow
Everett WA
SGMlod at aol.com
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