Subject: [Tweeters] Black Hills Audubon Society boat cruise 10-23-05
Date: Oct 23 19:16:41 2005
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweets,

Today 9 of us enjoyed a rewarding,but wet day on a Black Hills Audubon Society boat cruise chartered by Sandy and Ted Kluh(and his wife)on their split level cabin cruiser named the "Kuh Maru". We encountered a total of 51 species,as Sandy navigated us from the Olympia Yacht Club north along Budd Inlet,then east along Dana Passage to Drayton Passage,as we straddled northward along the west side of Anderson Island. We continued east along Balch Passage,as we passed the relatively remote Eagle Island State Park,then cruised along the southern edge of McNeil Island before heading southward by checking several sheltered coves along the east side of Anderson Island. After enjoying an excellent Chili lunch we slowly worked our way back by trudging along the Nisqually Reach to Johnson Point then continuing onto Dover Point and returning into Budd Inlet. It was our personal first time on this great boat cruise and although weather conditions weren't the most favorable we did encounter a good diversity of waterbird species. It was a pleasure to see parts of Thurston,Mason and Pierce Cos. that we have never seen before and by boat! Most of us retired to the top level of the boat for best,possible viewing eventhough conditions were quite wet and a return visit to the warm,dry cabin helped alot for several of us!

Most noteworthy species in abundance were Red-necked Grebes,Pigeon Guillemots, and Surf Scoters,but other species such as Common Loon and Brandt's Cormorant were in good numbers,especially along the entire length of Budd Inlet. Other alcid species remained in relatively good numbers,but from certain locations such as Rhinoceros Auklets that were primarily observed only in Budd Inlet and Common Murres noted primarily along Dana Passage between Dover Point to Henderson Inlet. We encountered relatively few Bonaparte's Gulls,which seemed very surprising considering our route.Our main highlights of the trip included the following:

95 Pacific Loons observed from two separate locations beginning with our first group of the day noted in Drayton Passage,as we headed northward towards McNeil Island with a total of 60 birds,then a group of 35 birds observed during the afternoon on a return visit to Dana Passage just west of Johnson Point. Both adult birds in remaining breeding plumage,as well as winter adult and juvenile birds were noted.

51 Eared Grebes from two separate locations including 3 birds noted along he eastern side of Anderson Island(with 1 observed alone off Cole Point and 2 birds observed together in nearby Oro Bay). The additional birds were all noted west of Luhr Beach in the Nisqually Reach as single birds or multiple groups of 2-8 birds. It was our personal highest count of this species for this general location,as well as others on the boat and it seems this species has really increased locally in numbers! Many of the birds within the Nisqually Reach allowed somewhat close views and knowing the identification field marks really helped out for everyone on the boat.

1 Red-necked Phalarope observed alone at close range during a fairly heavy downpour west of Nisqually Head within the Nisqually Reach. This sighting seemed quite late for the location and for Puget Sound,but maybe other lingering birds will be reported.

1 light-morph Parasitic Jaeger along Budd Inlet just south of Boston Harbor,then during our return visit to Budd Inlet an unidentified dark-morph jaeger was briefly observed flying off Dover Point with a few Mew Gulls,but could never be tracked down to be certain of species. It was clearly a different bird than our previous bird,but was most likely a Parasitic Jaeger. It was neat to see the first Parasitic Jaeger during the morning,as it made a brief,but good fly-by alone as it continued southward into Budd Inlet.

3 Heermann's Gulls observed a separate locations beginning with our first bird observed in Dana Passage just east of Dover Point in both Mason and Thurston Cos. with our second bird of the day noted within the Nisqually Reach southeast of Johnson Point. Both of these birds were uniformly dark overall and appeared to be either 1st or 2nd year birds. The third bird of the day as observed as we traveled southward along Dana Passage and east of Boston Harbor,which was clearly an adult bird due to the red-orange bill and paler head contrasting to the dark mantle and black primaries. It was nice to see a few birds of this species still lingering in south Puget Sound!

1 Marbled Murrelet observed upon a return visit to Budd Inlet just north of Gull Harbor.


Other noteworthy species for the day included the following:

200+ Cackling Geese observed from 2 separate flocks flying fairly high overhead along the west side of Budd Inlet.
3 Red-throated Loons all observed within Budd Inlet
increasing numbers of returning Buffleheads
6 Bald Eagles noted from various locations including a pair at a nestsite at Lyle Point(southern tip of Anderson Island)
4 Peregrine Falcons noted from various locations
2 Greater Yellowlegs in a sheltered cove at the southern end of Budd Inlet near the Olympia Yacht Club(our last species of the day)
3 separate groups of Dunlin including a flock of 60-70 birds observed flying towards the Nisqually Delta over the Nisqually Reach and 2 other similar sized groups flying towards Capital Lake over the Port of Olympia.
75+ Band-tailed Pigeons noted flying over the north tip of Anderson Island followed by a few much smaller groups noted from other locations.

Our marine mammals of the day included numerous Harbor Seals,up to 2 Harbor Porpoises noted along Dana Passage and 5-6 California Sea Lions within the Nisqually Reach.


On our way home after the boast cruise we made a visit to Luhr Beach during outgoing tide between 3:30pm-4:30pm,which was very calm. With increased amounts of mudflats we carefully scoped the Nisqually Delta for shorebirds that included up to 120+ Dunlin with at least 2 Western and Least Sandpipers noted amongst the flock. Up to 5 Black-bellied Plovers were also present and flew around the Nisqually Delta with the roaming Dunlin flock. Our main highlight at this location was single flyover Canvasback followed by a single Merlin observed perched atop a dead snag near the Nisqually Reach Audubon Center.



Good birding,

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