Many thanks to those who replied with info about the "By-the-Wind Sailors" - great name for them!

Another exciting sighting for me (a person who has spent 93.9 % of her life inland..I calculated it...smiles) this morning was a Rhinoceros Auklet up close. I stopped at the Mukilteo Lighthouse Park beach before work this morning and noted a small dark bird out in the sound a ways. But soon the gulls all flocked to a spot near the boat ramp where they formed a raft. The little dark bird dove and soon popped up in the midst of the gulls, so nice and close to shore. I was able to see it perfectly with my bins... definitely an RA! One of the gulls nabbed a long, thin, dark something and swallowed it quickly. Whatever was passing throught the area, the auklets must have been after also.

There are 6 or more Western Grebes still in the sound and one Red-necked Grebe.

JT
--
Judy Rowe Taylor
Mukilteo, WA
Art is a voice of the heart, a song of the soul.
judyrowetaylor at comcast.net
www.enduringibis.com