Hi Tweeters -
This morning I spent a few hours at Seattle's Discovery Park, watching the birds flying in the Sound off West Point.

At 7:30, I was surprised by 3 POMARINE JAEGERS, all in very dark plumage.
One of the 3 had the classic long & twisted central tail feathers - another was pale enough to show the splotchy breast 'band' patterning. All three were bulky looking and roughly comparable in size to some nearby GWGUs. Their flight was strong & not at all buoyant -- they made one swing past the point, then headed off to the northwest. I didn't get good looks at the face patterning or see anything useful on the wings.

A bit later, around 8:30, a long PARASITIC JAEGER also flew by the point, heading north.

In between, there were several small groups of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES present, some of them kind enough to sit on the water nearby.

I was there for mostly high and out-going tide. By 9:30 or so, things seemed to have quieted down. Other birds present included a few HEERMANS GULLS, 2-3 RHINO AUKLETS, 1-2 COMMON MURRE, 1 PIGEON GUILLEMOT, a few SURF SCOTERS, Caspian Terms, and Mew, California & GWGulls.

Across the Sound, over on the Kitsap side, I also saw what I took to be a cloud of Common Terns floating around. I imagine they might have had something to do with the jaegers' presence today, though none of the flock opted to come over to the King Co side while I was there.

Not too bad a way to start a Friday!

Matt