Hey tweets, My husband John and I drove down to Westport at 4 a.m. today to
see what the wind might blow in. We had a terrific day birding the ocean,
the shore and the woods.

Our most intriguing spot was a possible Arctic Loon, which we saw around 9
a.m. in the cove. The bird was molting from winter plumage and did not show
much in the way of alternate plumage. However, it exhibited prominent white
patches on the flanks. These white patches rode high above the waterline as
the bird paddled toward the shore.

We got great looks and tried to photograph the loon using a digital camera
and shooting through our scope. We have posted our fuzzy and unsatisfactory
pictures on John's website: http://faculty.washington.edu/~sidles/Loon/

Please let us know what you think. I am fairly certain that we had an Arctic
Loon, not only because of the white patches but because it jizzed like an
Arctic. It gave an overall heavier appearance than a Pacific loon, and
although it tilted its head up quite often, it did not look like it had an
uptilted bill, if that makes any sense.

Also seen:
Glaucous Gull (at the marina)
2 Wandering Tattlers (also at the marina)
Pacific Slope Flycatcher (several calling and catching bugs in Twin Harbors
SP)
tons of Brown Pelicans
all 3 Cormorants
lovely Purple Finches at Grayland - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com