Hello, Tweets,

I've received reports of some noteworthy birds in Clallam Co. during
the last few days:

First, Dave and Julie Jackson and two visiting birding friends report
seeing a likely Red-faced Cormorant in Port Angeles Harbor last week
(Tuesday, I believe). They observed the bird close to shore with
scopes and binos, as it roosted on a floating log with a Pelagic
Cormorant. The bird was in alternate plumage with white flank patches.
They reported that it had significantly more red in the face than the
nearby Pelagics, including red across the forehead above the bill.
They also clearly saw the yellowish pale bill, and one of them remarked
about seeing blue at the base of the bill. Some other local birders
and I tried to find the bird in the following days, but it hasn't been
seen since. The Jacksons are writing a description for submission to
the WBRC. Of interest, the other Red-faced Cormorant sighting(s) in
Clallam Co. was (were) also in the spring.

Curiously, I've also received not just one, but two recent reports of
male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, both from very credible observers. Wed.,
2 June, one appeared at a feeder in the foothills southwest of Port
Angeles, and Fri., 4 June, one visited a yard on the east side of Bell
Hill southeast of Sequim. In both cases the birds apparently only
visited for a brief time. These two sites are about 20 miles from each
other, so either we have two different birds or one very nomadic
grosbeak. It's hard to mistake a male Rose-breasted, but you might
take a second look and listen just in case we have more around. Do two
birds make an invasion?

On 4 June Judy Mullally reported a Rock Wren singing at the mouth of
Bagley Creek, which flows into the Strait between PA and Sequim. There
are very few records of Rock Wrens on the north Olympic Peninsula.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim