Tweets,

Ellen and I had a very fine cruise from Port Townsend out to Protection
Island. Neither of us had been around on this trip out to this famous
seabird-nesting island, located along the eastern Juan de Fuca Strait. The
trip started and ended with overcast skies, but the famous Olympic
rainshadow kicked in near the island, there we had bright sun and calm,
perfect for viewing the birds and mammals on the island, and it's
surrounding waters. The trip was sponsored by the Seattle Audubon Society
and Port Townsend Marine Science Center and led by George Gerdts, science
teacher and naturalist from Bainbridge Island.

Heading out, our large and stable craft, My Girl, slowed, even stopped, for
very close views of Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, and Marbled
Murrelets, near Fort Worden. We had excellent views of a roosting flock (35)
of Heermann's Gulls, off the lighthouse. These post-breeding visitors from
the Gulf of California seemed a little early; I usually think of them
arriving later in July.

Approaching the east end of Protection Island, numbers of Rhinoceros Auklets
increased. Most were in loose groups milling about the quiet waters in the
lee of the island. George explained they became much more active towards
evening, when they would fill their beaks with small fish, and then return
to their nesting burrows on Protection Island. This is Washington's largest
breeding colony of this species, 17,000 pairs nest here. Amongst the Rhinos
were a very few Common Murres. George related there were very few murres in
inland marine waters this year, which was good. In years when they are
numerous in inside waters, offshore conditions might be poor for breeding
(due to El Nino, poor feeding, or other causes) and their nesting has
probably been interrupted.

Pigeon Guillemots, striking in their breeding dress, were never out of
sight. There are more guillemots breeding here than anywhere else in
Washington, perhaps 6,000 pairs.

About as numerous were nesting Glaucous-winged Gulls. As George noted, these
nesting birds "appear" mostly pure Glaucous-winged. This leads us to ask
what happens to the very high percentage of "Olympic Gulls" (Glaucous-winged
X Western Gulls) which are abundant in fall and winter here and in Puget
Sound?

Near the east end of the island, we observed our first Tufted Puffin, the
'star" of the show. A puffin in breeding plumage is certainly a crowd
pleaser! Circumnavigating the island, we saw 10 of these charismatic
creatures. Apparently, an estimated 15-30 pairs breed here, making this the
scarcest nesting seabird on the island.

Two beached Northern Elephant Seals, rare this far north, certainly caught
our attention. These two animals deserve all the colorful descriptive
writing found in Bamfield's "Mammals of Canada." There I read these beasts
are "monsters...obese...amongst the largest of living
mammals...massive...ponderous...lethargic... short tempered..." Bulls of
this species may reach 8,000 pounds, thus obese and ponderous seem
understatements. This was especially true after we watched them clumsily
hunch their way forward on land, their incredible layer of blubber rippling
as they lurch along like a monstrous inch worm. Most of the hundreds of
Harbor Seals we saw were beached, but some on board had fine views of these
blubbery "torpedoes"actively fishing, even catching a glimpse of a seal
thrashing a salmon about at the waters surface. As we were returning, we had
brief views of several Dall's Porpoises cruising purposefully north near
Port Townsend. This made a pretty neat ending to our trip out to Protection
Island.

Other birds that were conspicuous included numbers of Bald Eagles. Though
only one pair is known to nest on the island, there is apparently plenty of
food for visiting eagles. We probably saw 15 in all, more than half
immatures. Other birds that we saw in low numbers included Black
Oystercatcher along the cobble-lined beach. Just offshore were also a few
Harlequin Ducks, all in female plumage. Both Double-crested and Pelagic
Cormorants were also conspicuous, and both nest commonly on the islands
cliff faces. The Pelagic also breeds on buoys around the island.

We highly recommend this trip to bird and wildlife enthusiasts. There are a
lot of birds and mammals to see, the scenery is great and the commentary
interesting and informative. Last but not least, there was also plenty of
complimentary beverages and gourmet cookies.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA
steppie at nwinfo.net