1. Glaucous Gull: While biking around P.A. harbor along Marine Drive today at midday, I turned-in behind the two large yacht construction buildings just north of the truck bypass and Tumwater Street jcts., and happened upon Rick Klewitter scoping a subadult Glaucous Gull he'd spotted at 12:15pm, at the same location where the Common Eider was found in August 2004. He mentioned someone else had also reported one hereabouts to Bob Boekelheide recently, and was taking photos of this bird while I was there. It was large and notably all-white, with a long, straight bill with the basal two-thirds pink and distal third black. The mantle was entirely white, and when I got home and compared it with the subadult Glaucous Gull photos in Olsen and Larsson's new gull identification book it seemed like it could be either a first or second-winter bird, but--given the greater amount of white all over, especially on the mantle--seemed more likely to be a second-winter bird (as Rick had suspected also).

2. Snow Bunting: As I continued around the harbor, I also observed two Snow Buntings at 1:30pm along outer Ediz Hook in the gravel parking area on the south side of the road, about 0.1 mile east of the radio tower near the 20mph speed-limit sign. Their prominent flashing white wing-patches were first noted in flight; and also, when on ground with their wings folded, the white on the outermost primaries and their rufous markings on the head and back.

Bruce Moorhead
Port Angeles, WA
bruceb at olypen.com