Greetings Tweets,

So far our Pacific NW trip has been quite successful. After dipping on the Slaty-backed Gull at Renton, we continued on to Ocean Shores. Highlights from Ocean Shores on 2/19 include AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, ROCK SANDPIPER, SURFBIRD, and SNOWY OWLS (6). The next day we went into the Olympic NP, where we scored RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER, FOX SPARROW, VARIED THRUSH, and a very bold WINTER WREN that stood on the gutter of a building and yelled at us. The next day we left the forest and headed up to Port Angeles and Sequim, where we found BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, all 3 SPECIES OF SCOTER, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, and GREATER SCAUP, as well as the regular inshore seabird fare (grebes, loons, etc.). At Sequim, we didn't find much, although we did get LONG-TAILED DUCK, and both Kinglets. Today we headed out early on the MV Coho, and we managed to get 1 pair of ANCIENT MURRELETS, as well as tons of COMMON MURRES. After several hours of searching at different sites, we managed to get 8+ SKY LARKS at the Vantreight bulb fields. They were seen singing and towering, putting on quite a show. Good stuff.

More updates as the trip continues,
Alex Lin-Moore
Houston, TX (from Victoria BC)
moorelin at mindspring.com