At 4 p.m. today while walking (near the radio tower) on the outer Ediz Hook road along Port Angeles harbor on a windy day, I noticed a largish, thicker-billed dark black cormorant about 100 ft from me in the water near the shoreline, with a smaller and obviously finer-billed Pelagic Cormorant nearby about 30 ft from it. White was also obvious on the flanks and back of the larger bird, which didn't seem like a Brandt's (which are common here), so I put my binocs on it and to my surprise could see red coloring obvious around the base of the bill. The white markings were in rather dorsally prominent, ragged streaks along the back and flanks; guide book illustrations (in Sibley and Harrison) indicate only more delimited patches of white on the flanks, similar to those on Pelagic Cormorants.

Didn't one of you Bob's see a Red-faced Cormorant here too recently? What's the past history of them being around here; this is the first one I've seen one in all my years here.

Bruce Moorhead
Port Angeles, WA