Hi,
For the record, this is the birdlist. I was surprised to see Arctic Tern and
the Ancient Murrelet, which just goes to show how out of touch I am! Also
note that at Dungeness Landing and the three-crabs area on the 16th there
were 2 Marbled Godwits, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 3
Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper, 1 Purple
Martin, Gadwall, Common Merganser etc. (Thanks to Bob Norton and Judy for
some of the above).

I'm hoping that some birders will bird during peak migration season. There
are two apartments there waiting to be finished: Perhaps a spectacular site
for a Bird Observatory...

I walked about 2 mi of beach every day: 1 dead Rhinoceros Auklet, 1 dying
(?) Common Murre.


Cheers,

Nigel Ball
Bainbridge Island
nigelball at bainbridge.net



BIRDS while lighthouse keeping, Dungeness Spit, 9th-16th July 2005

Red-throated Loon ? singles, one in alt. plumage
Pacific Loon ? max 24 (14th ), some with very pale/faded heads.
Common Loon ? odd singles
Double-crested Cormorant ? mostly south and east of the spit, especially
towards the mainland. Max c.50.
Pelagic Cormorant
Brandt?s Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose ? seen only close to the mainland, some 2.2 miles away
Mallard ? 1 female (9th )
Harlequin Duck ? max c.30
Surf Scoter ? up to 6
White-winged Scoter ? 3 (9th )
Red-breasted Merganser ? 2 (9th )
Bald Eagle ? max c25
American Kestrel ? 1 female to the 13th
Black-bellied Plover ? max c.70 (9th)
Semipalmated Plover ? max 9 (13th). Several with ?nonbreeding? bills
(largely dark).
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher ? max 20+; some with young
Greater Yellowlegs ? max 4 (12th)
Lesser Yellowlegs ? 1 (12th, 13th)
Whimbrel ? max c. 15 (9th)
Marbled Godwit ? 3 (10th, 11th); 3+2 (12th), not thereafter
Ruddy Turnstone ? max 3 (14th)
Black Turnstone ? 2 (16th)
Red Knot ? 3 (10th), 5 (11th), 4 (12th), not thereafter
Sanderling ? numbers rose during the week to 50+
Western Sandpiper ? max c. 1500 (14th)
Semipalmated Sandpiper ? (14th-15th), max 3
Least Sandpiper -- numbers rose during the week to 20+
Long-billed Dowitcher ? clearly not common. Two possible (13th), one calling
well (14th).
Short-billed Dowitcher ? max c. 300
Red-necked Phalarope ? 14th on; max c. 50
Mew Gull -- 1 ad (13th); 1 ad (16th)
Ring-billed Gull ? max 2 ads 3 birds of the year
California Gull ? max c. 100 including all ages
Glaucous-winged Gull ? one non-colonial nest with eggs
Western Gull ? up to 3 with enough characteristics for me to call as Western
Heermann?s Gull -- numbers rose during the week to 20+
Caspian Tern ? large colony
Arctic Tern ? the researchers say a few pairs; fish and wildlife c20 pairs.
I saw somewhere between 5 and 25 birds.
Common Murre ? max 100+. Feeds on both sides of the spit
Pigeon Guillemot
Ancient Murrelet ? 1 (15th) close to north shore
Marbled Murrelet ? max c. 50 (9th)
Rhinoceros Auklet ? hundreds, difficult to count
Tufted Puffin ? almost every day; both shores; no more than 1 at a time
Hummingbird sp. ? 1 at a time, zipped through (west), (10th, 12th, 13th,
15th)
Crow sp ? seen on mainland c2.2 miles away
Violet-green Swallow ? <10; one pair breeding
Cliff Swallow ? max c. 5
Barn Swallow ? max 12
American Pipit ? 1 overhead (13th)
Savannah Sparrow -- <15 incl. birds of the year
Song Sparrow ? c8, incl. one nest w/ young