Hello all,

John Bower and I censused the waters around San Juan and Lopez Island
yesterday as part of John's ongoing marine bird study. Luckily, our schedule
allowed us to take some time to go birding on the islands, and we ended up
with a few highlights.

At American Camp on San Juan Island, we spotted a LONG-BILLED CURLEW in the
grassy fields above the beach. I think this sighting is extra noteworthy
because LBCU is not listed on the annotated checklist in the Birding in the
San Juans book. Does anyone have any up to date info on the status of this
bird on the island?

Our other main highlight of the day was a very large group of 42 MARBLED
MURRELETS, seen in the waters off of Agate Beach on south Lopez Island. I
personally have never encountered a group of MAMUs this large, and at one
point, I had 12 MAMUs in my scope view. Pretty cool!

Other highlights of the day included large numbers of passerines at British
Camp which included a singing HOUSE WREN and singing TOWSEND'S WARBLERS. We
also saw a very attractive DUNLIN in False Bay, PURPLE MARTINS at the
Anacortes Ferry Dock, and we got good looks at a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER
waiting in line at the Lopez Island Ferry Dock...We ended up with 85 species
for the day, and with the beautiful weather and mounds of data we collected,
all in all, I'd have to say, it was a pretty good day.

Good Migrations,

Houston Flores
Bellingham, Wa
houstonflores AT hotmail.com