Hello Tweets,

This afternoon we enjoyed a waterfront drive between Gorst and South Colby in Kitsap Co. via S.R.166(Beach Drive East) that covers along Sinclair Inlet,Rich Passage,Clam Bay and Yukon Harbor. It was fairly rewarding afternoon with several highlights of note eventhough many wintering waterbird species remained absent. We began during incoming tide at the Gorst Estuary(accessed along S.R.16/S.R.3)at Gorst,where a thorough scoping of the available shoreline produced the following species of note:

55+ Green-winged Teal
5 Northern Pintail
4 Northern Shovelers
2 male Eurasian Wigeon
50 Am.Wigeon
18 White-winged Scoters(with 80+ Surf Scoters at Sinclair Inlet)
5 Greater Yellowlegs
3 Long-billed Dowitchers
1 Heermann's Gull(observed along the immediate shoreline at the mouth of Gorst Creek with good numbers of Mew Gulls,which represented our personal first record for this location)
1 Purple Finch

Next,we traveled along S.R.166 from Gorst along the Port Orchard waterfront by checking several vantage points that offered ample viewing,which extended through the city of Port Orchard to Waterman Point. Most noteworthy sightings along this route included the following:

8 Northern Shovelers
320+ Am.Wigeon
2 Eurasian Wigeon(along with 1 Eurasian/Am.Wigeon intergrade)
1 Black Scoter
150+ Surf Scoters
45+ White-winged Scoters
5 Bufflehead
147 Pacific Loons(primarily adults in remaining breeding plumage with a few duller winter plumaged birds)
12 Red-necked Grebes
1 Clark's Grebe(amongst a flock of 32 Western Grebes in Sinclair Inlet along the eastern portion of S.R.166)
380+ Western Grebes
1 Osprey(observed flying overhead from Waterman Point towards East Bremerton)
1 Peregrine Falcon(observed flying from S.R. 166 over Sinclair Inlet towards the Naval Shipyard at Bremerton)
1 Hutton's Vireo

Continuing onward we made a short visit to Manchester State Park,which yielded our only Red-throated Loon of the afternoon along with an additional 48 Pacific Loons,which were all observed from the beach access/picnic area. Perhaps there is a good movement of Pacific Loons currently in central Puget Sound,but it is a species we have encountered in good numbers in past years along the route,primarily during the winter months.

Our final stop of the day was made from 2 vantage points along the shores of Yukon Harbor just west of the town of South Colby. It is here we encountered a large concentration of "rockbirds" that rested along a large wooden dock,as well as a portion of the flock observed foraging on the immediate rocky shoreline. The main viewing of these "rockbirds" was made along Yukon Harbor Rd. SE,as well as a small side road called Anderson Rd. SE(accessed off of S.R.160/SE Southworth Drive). From both these vantage points we were able to get a count of the shorebirds that consisted of the following species and numbers:

178 Black Turnstones
34 Surfbirds
42 Sanderlings
1 Dunlin

Lastly,a thorough scoping through a large flock of Am.Wigeon along S.R.160 yielded up to 7 Eurasian Wigeon(including 4 males and 3 females). Our last species of the day was a single Merlin observed flying over S.R.160(SE Sedgwick Rd.)near the town of Bethel. Our day began with some business made at Gig Harbor in Pierce Co.,where a single Cooper's Hawk and a Western Scrub Jay were observed at separate locations along Soundview Drive.



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit at worldnet.att.net