Last weekend I was at Indian Island and Mystery Bay and Fort Flagler with
Sam Woods; I had wanted to see long tailed ducks, one of my favorite ducks.
We saw some of what was previously reported by the Black Hills Audubon
group, but also had a merlin at the south end of Mystery Bay, and 8 hungry
river otters in a feeding frenzy under the bridge that leads from Hadlock to
Indian Island. The otters were swimming against a brisk incoming tide and
were easy to see close-up from the small park on Indian Island. They were
close enough so that we could hear them crunching on their prey, which
included crabs and sculpins. We watched them for about 30 minutes at dusk.
Highlights for us included the otters, the Fort Flagler gray crowned rosy
finch, harlequins, and about a dozen long tailed ducks. The small pond near
Marrowstone Point had several green winged teal. And the weather was
spectacular for the season, calm and often sunny.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA
kdli at msn.com