Every time we visit Olympic National Park's coastline we come away
refreshed and inspired. Karen and I took three days, December 26-28,
with the intent of driving the loop around the Olympic Peninsula; snowy
weather to the north limited our visit to the coastal area from the
Quinault rain forest to Ruby Beach, but we found plenty to see. We are
casual birders, only occasionally getting serious, and this was not a
serious birding trip. But we did enjoy some fine birding moments.

The Quinault River was hosting a major salmon run; in one spot we
counted over 20 salmon resting in a cluster along the bank, with an
American Dipper exploring the shallows nearby. With all the salmon,
there were numerous Bald Eagles; in fact, from one viewpoint along the
road on the north side of the Quinault, we counted 12 eagles at once.
We wondered just how many eagles could be along the river and if they
have ever been seriously counted as they are along the Skagit. The
river passes through NPS, USFS, and tribal lands, so it struck me that
a coordinated yearly count may not be done.

From an overlook along Route 101 just south of Ruby Beach, we counted
four Sea Otters diving and feeding in the surf. We had previously
observed Sea Otters at Point of Arches and the Ozette loop, but never
this far south. If you ever take out-of-town guests on a birding tour
of the Olympic Peninsula, be sure to keep this possibility in mind.

At Fourth Beach, the rocks and sea stacks at the point are a reliable
place to see Black Oystercatchers, and we saw four. We also reliably
see a large group of Surfbirds feeding at low tide on these rocks; this
time we were able to observe and photograph them from about 15 feet
away. We also watched a determined Western Gull feeding on California
Mussels as the tide was coming in. The bird clung to the side of a low
rock, pecking at the mussels and occasionally coming up with one;
whenever a wave crashed over the rock, the gull would fly up just above
the spray and would then float back down to the rock--usually, but not
always, safe from a drenching. We watched it do this perhaps 25 times,
until another gull thought it would get in on the action and attempted
to displace the first one.

Bald Eagles sailed over Fourth Beach; Double-crested Cormorants and
Surf Scoters dove just offshore. In our Kalaloch Beach campsite, a
pair of Winter Wrens, a Spotted Towhee, and Hermit Thrushes explored
nearby. Crows and jays hung around, hoping to dash to our picnic table
during an unprotected moment.

We slept in our cargo van, with rain squalls and hail drumming on the
roof each night.

On the trip home we saw a Common Raven against the snowy Olympics, and
four swans a-flying near Elma.

Lee Rentz
Shelton, WA