The Whidbey count set a record for Western Grebes finding well over 3,000
individuals. Surf Scoter numbers were way down as they apparently "short
stopped" up north. By the end of December several hundred more had drifted
south to Penn Cove. White-winged Scoters are still falling off rapidly and
ALL hunting of them should cease immediately. Harlequin and Long-tailed
Ducks are doing well.
It's harder to get a handle on the alcids. We didn't have a single Common
Murre this year after a few years where the population seemed to be bumping
up a bit. Pigeon Guillemots had a disastrous breeding year on Whidbey. This
summer I was only able to locate 2 juveniles- 1 in Penn Cove and the other
off of Ft. Ebey St. Park. Most Rhino Auklets winter out of binocular range
of Whidbey and the Ancient Murrelets prefer to be on the Port Townsend side
of the water. We only had a handful of Marbled Murrlets after a couple of
good years.
Steve Ellis
Coupeville, Wa
sellis at coup.wednet.edu