Spent a couple of days birding on the Peninsula Saturday and Sunday. Hit 3
Crabs Saturday morning between 8-9 (nothing you don't already know about, in
fact quite a bit less than you do), then over to Port Angeles for the slam
dunk Eider, then to Cape Flattery for the afternoon -- which was my main
goal for Puffins. I was the only one there from what I could tell who was
interested in birds beyond a casual glance.

I readily saw several TUFTED PUFFIN though the later afternoon light was
better on north and east sides and they were a bit closer there than looking
out to the west. The east side was the most fun as you can look down and
see them "flying" in the water after fish. Of interest on the rocks to the
east I also saw a few HEERMANN'S GULLS, 6-7 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS (arguing
quite a bit about who gets to set next to whom), and 3 juvenile BLACK
TURNSTONE which actually looked very brown and had lighter orange legs than
I would have expected compared to Sibley (not really drab brown-orange).
No, they were not Ruddys. Light and some fog made any ocean watching
futile.

Anyway, not a bad weekend. Got a couple of lifers . . . some more shots
with the digiscope . . . covered some new ground . . . and cussed out my
cell phone to death (hence the need for a new plan).

______________________________________

Ned McGarry
Sammamish, WA