Andy,
A nice writeup of your trip.
I have also noticed that I can see few adult hybrid gulls in Clallam or
vicinity in the summer. I suspect they go down to the Columbia River coastal
area to nest as I have seen none up the Vancouver Island coast on summer
trips and few or none in the summer in the Puget Sound area. Does anyone
else have pertinent observations?
Bob Norton
Joyce (near Port Angeles), WA
norton36 at olypen.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Stepniewski" <steppie at nwinfo.net>
To: "TWEETERS" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2002 5:25 PM
Subject: Proptection Island cruise


> 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
>
>
>
>
>