Hello Tweets,

Today Jim Pruske and my mother and I birded the Port Orchard waterfront in Kitsap Co. extending our searches to the Southworth Ferry Terminal south of the town of Manchester. We had great weather all day with partly sunny skies that turned mostly cloudy by mid to late afternoon. We encountered a total of 78 species of which our main highlight was a winter plumaged YELLOW-BILLED LOON observed in Sinclair Inlet from a pull-off along S.R.166 1 mile north of the Kitsap Marina. We observed the bird two times from this location,where a wide spot along the shoulder and a portable toilet exist and from there you can walk down a short ways to scope Sinclair Inlet. We first observed the bird at 11:30am when Jim spotted the bird with his binoculars,then quickly putting our spotting scopes on the bird revealed the bird's true identity. The bird was more than half way across the inlet,but at the time looked more closer to the other side as we looked to the west in the direction of the Naval Shipyard. The bird remained in the area and during the first observation we drove over and around to the other side of Sinclair Inlet hoping to get a closer view and photos of the bird. We did see the bird from the other side,but the lighting and distance were still a major downfall since the bird was even further offshore than we had anticipated.

We drove back over to the other side to the original location and easily located the Yellow-billed Loon at 1pm,as it swam around slowly near a lone Destroyer ship showing off it's ivory-colored,upturned bill,bulky size and overall brownish plumage with a noticeable dark spot behind the ear. We left the bird and returned to this location at 4:45pm and observed the bird further north and closer to the old ships in the Naval shipyard and at a longer distance of viewing. The bird swam and dove readily near the ships and seemed comfortable in it's surroundings so perhaps it may stay around for other birders seeking it. Throughout all observations it was the only loon present,except during our evening visit when we located our only Pacific Loon of the day. It was definitely an unexpected bird for us to see and no doubt a great highlight!

We began our nice day in Kitsap Co. from the Gorst waterfront checking a few location south to the Gorst Estuary before driving north towards Port Orchard. After spending time watching the Yellow-billed Loon we continued our way to and past Port Orchard towards the Manchester waterfront by making many stops along the way whenever viewing was possible. During this time we encounter good numbers of waterbirds including Western Grebes,both White-winged and Surf Scoters,Common Goldeneyes,and Am.Wigeon with less than common species located with a finer search in and amongst the flocks. From Manchester we drove to Yukon Harbor and slowly worked our way to the Southworth Ferry Terminal,where we "pished" a large bramble patch that produced a few good species that basically ended our day. We then drove back to see the Yellow-billed Loon one last time at Sinclair Inlet before driving home. During the day we encountered extremely few alcids with 7 Pigeon Guillemots observed from scattered locations between Sinclair Inlet to Port Orchard and our only Rhinoceros Auklet of the day observed from the Manchester waterfront.

A list of additional notable species encountered during our day included the following:

Red-throated Loon
6 birds a Yukon Harbor
4 birds flying north over the Southworth Ferry Terminal

Eared Grebe
1 bird at Gorst
1 bird at Sinclair Inlet
1 bird along the Port Orchard waterfront

Eurasian Wigeon
10 males observed from various locations from the Port Orchard waterfront to Yukon Harbor

Harlequin Duck
5 birds along Beach Drive East just south of Waterman Point
10 birds at South Colby at Yukon Harbor

Black Scoter
4 birds at Gorst
10 birds at Yukon Harbor

Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 immature bird at Gorst

Greater Yellowlegs
1 bird at the Gorst Estuary

Black Turnstone
4 birds along S.R.166 just south of Port Orchard
14 birds along the Port Orchard waterfront
5 birds along Beach Drive East just south of Waterman Point
10 birds at Yukon Harbor

Sanderling
125 birds(with 75 Dunlin)at Yukon Harbor

Herring Gull
1 adult bird near South Colby at Yukon Harbor

Thayer's Gull
1 adult bird(with Mew,California and Bonaparte's Gulls)at Yukon Harbor

Anna's Hummingbird
1 bird at Harper

Hutton's Vireo
1 calling bird at South Colby
1 bird(with an Orange-crowned Warbler)at the Southworth Ferry Terminal

Yellow-rumped Warbler
3 birds at the South Colby waterfront

Lincoln's Sparrow
1 bird at South Colby

Purple Finch
1 bird at the Southworth Ferry Terminal



Good birding,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com