Alcids and tides: My experienced-fisherman friend reports that large bait balls (schools of herring and other small fish) are most likely to form during slack tides.

Sapsucker: We've discovered a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER hanging out at my friend's house in Shoreline, ten blocks north of the Seattle city limits and a few blocks east of I-5. It has drilled several rows of holes in an elm (not sure what type of elm), and is making regular appearances.

Andrea Grad
Alki
agrad at helsell.com