Yesterday at 5 p.m., while westbound on the Bainbridge Ferry from Seattle to
Winslow, I rather hastily (with binocs) sighted two, or possibly three,
jaegers that appeared suddenly and briefly alongside the boat as we passed
through a group of terns near the outer entrance to Eagle Harbor. Their
tails were obviously pointed and somewhat longish and their backs darkish,
with underparts contrastingly whitish--and they were not Heerman's gulls,
which I know well. After checking all manner of books later at home I'm
rather confident they were Parasitic Jaegers, due in particular to the
inland, nearshore location. But, beyond that, their tails also seemed too
short for a Long-tailed Jaeger, which I've seen well in the Arctic, and they
didn't seem chunky enough for a Pomarine, which I observed earlier this
month on a Westport seabird trip.

Bruce Moorhead
Port Angeles, WA
bruceb at olypen.com