Hi Tweets,

On Saturday Barbara and I started a foggy day on Whidbey Island at Crockett
Lake and the adjacent Keystone Ferry terminal. We birded north as far as Oak
Harbor and Joseph Whidbey State Park, then worked back hoping for fog-free
views along the west side of the island, but had only limited visibility
until we reached South Whidbey State Park where bright sunshine reached all
the way to the shoreline.

We didn't wade out into the marsh around Crockett Lake, figuring that we'd
frighten any shorebirds away before we recognized them in the fog, so the
number of shorebirds identified was low. Our best find was three SANDHILL
CRANES at Crockett Lake. 500+ Surf Scoters in bright sunlight at Penn Cove
made for a wonderful afternoon view, as they did synchronized swimming in
groups of up to 75 individuals. On Sunday morning the large numbers of
black-clad motorcyclists (many with white helmets) coming off the ferry at
Clinton rather reminded us of the scoters.

One short note of praise for the section on Whidbey Island authored by Kraig
Kemper in the Opperman "Birder's Guide to Washington." It's a well-written,
nicely-organized section, very helpful to those of us who don't know the
island all that well.

66 total species seen:

Pacific Loon (3 at Ebey's Landing)
Common Loon (10+ at Penn Cove, Ebey's Landing, Keystone terminal)
Red-necked Grebe (3 at Ebey's Landing)
Horned Grebe (10+ at Keystone terminal and Jos Whidbey SP)
Eared Grebe (2 at Jos Whidbey SP)
Western Grebe (30+ at Evey's Landing & Penn Cove)
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Brandt's Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (2 in fog at Crockett Lake)
Harlequin Duck (5 at Keystone terminal & Ebey's Landing)
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter (4 in Penn Cove)
Hooded Merganser (5 in Kennedy Lagoon)
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin (1 in hot pursuit of sparrows near Crockett Lake)
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover (2 in marsh at Crockett Lake)
Killdeer (3 in CL marsh)
Dowitcher sp. (3 seen in CL marsh, presumably Long-billed)
Greater Yellowlegs (c 12 at CL marsh)
Least Sandpiper (4 at CL marsh)
Heermann's Gull (several at Keystone terminal and Jos Whidbey SP)
Mew Gull (8 in salicornia at Penn Cove)
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Thayer's Gull (1 near Keystone terminal)
Bonaparte's Gull
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinoceros Auklet (2 taking flight at Clinton)
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove (2 on Coles Rd, 2 at Jos Whidbey SP)
Belted Kingfisher (12+ seen)
Downey Woodpecker (1 male at South Whidbey SP)
Hairy Woodpecker (1 male at SWSP)
Northern Flicker
Barn Swallow (c 50 over fields near Ebey's Landing)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (2 at South Whidbey SP)
Bewick's Wren (1 at SWSP)
Winter Wren (2 at SWSP)
Marsh Wren (1 at Jos Whidbey SP)
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee (SWSP)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (SWSP)
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper (SWSP)
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
European Starling
Spotted Towhee (SWSP)
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird (4 near Starbucks in Oak Harbor Shopping Center)
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch (100+ seen around the island)
House Sparrow

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.websterATcomcast.net