Tweeters,

Want to thank Bob Morse, Steve Nord?, and ???(sorry) the other guy from
Olympia for getting us on the Black-tailed Gull Monday. Someday I will have
enough talent and pride to want to find my own birds, but I don't expect that
to happen any time soon. Magnificent discovery Charlie Wright! Might this
Larus spend it's winter at North Cove.?

Tuesday AM found us at the Cape Flattery observation platform that Ned is
talking about. Hal Opperman gives details on page 47 of his "A Birder's Guide
To Washington".
It's a long way over there, but this is a singular, truly spectacular spot.
Here you are, as Northwest as you can get in the contiguous USA , hanging out
over the Pacific, and for us it was non stop birding action. Lots of TUFTED
PUFFINS(50?) and 8 BLACK SWIFTS. I would guess they nest in the huge sandstone
caves there.

About 2 PM we found Ruth Sullivan "sitting" on the Eider. We hope she got some
great photos. Not many birds can escape a Goshawk. (her license plate)

Good birding,

Larry Schwitters

Issaquah


Ned McGarry wrote:

> 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