Hi all -
Today I spent a chilly day mostly on Whidbey Island - a bit of
sleet/snow kept me chilled throughout most of the day, but there were
some nice birds to be seen.

Crockett Lake: [Delorme p. 94 C-3, WA ABA p. 81]
Red-necked, Western & Horned Grebe - around the ferry dock
Eurasian Wigeon - 1 drake, among the many American Wigeons
Lesser & Greater Scaup
Harlequin Ducks - out on the open water nearby
Greater Yellowlegs - 4 in 2 pairs
Dunlin - small flock [~ 50]
Pigeon Guillemot - several [here and throughout the day, the most
numerous alcid]
Rhino Auklet - 1
Lincolns Sparrow - 1

Coupeville - [Delorme p. 94 C-3 , WA ABA p. 83]
no luck looking for last week's Tropical Kingbird

boat launch at end of Hastie Lake Rd. [Delorme p. 94 B/C-2/3, WA ABA p. 86 ]
Harlequin Duck - most numerous here - 10+
Long-tailed Duck

Dugualla Bay - [Delorme p. 94 B-4 , WA ABA p. 87]
Canvasbacks - numerous here,
but no Swans present
[plenty of Canada Goose decoys present too]

Deception Pass SP [Delorme p. 94 A/B-3, WA ABA p. 88 ]
Black Oystercatcher - 2

Around 3:00, I headed across the bridge in steady sleet/snow and
checked out Rosario Head:
[Delorme p. 94 A-3, WA ABA p.89 ]
Common, Pacific & Red-throated Loons [RTLO most numerous]
Ancient Murrelet - 2 - yay. I'd been hoping for a look at these all day.
Black Oystercatcher - 2 more here.
Red Crossbill - ~6

Finally, as the light faded, I stopped at West-90 [Delorme p. 109
D-5, WA ABA p. 120 ]
and found the Gyrfalcon. It was mostly sitting low, north of the
West-90 parking lot. Best views were from a bit further north on the
road, right where it begins to curve west, where the crumbling old
barn is.

A cold, but good day,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA


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