Dear Tweeters,
With calm water and sunshine, we had a great day of birding on the
November 29 trip to Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge and the
tide flat at Rat Island (near Marrowstone Island). Sightings were as
follows:

Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Red Necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Double
Crested Cormorant, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue
Heron, Black Brant, White Wing Scooter, Surf Scoter, Harlequin Duck,
Oldsquaw, Common Golden Eye, Bufflehead, Red Breasted Merganser, Black
Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Bonaparte Gull, Thayer's Gull,
Glaucous Wing Gull, Common Murre, Pigeon Gillemot, Bald Eagle,
Northwestern Crow. Also, perhaps 200 Harbor Seals hauled up on PI and
14 Deer.

If you're interested in going on a birding cruise, there is one
additional trip to Protection Island this year on December 31 from 1 pm
until 4 pm. Contact the Port Townsend Marine Science Center
360-385-5582 or info at ptmsc.org. Spring trips to Protection Island run
every Saturday from March 20 through April 24.