Subject: [Tweeters] 40-plus Black Turnstones along Ruston Way in Tacoma
Date: Apr 7 16:53:34 2007
From: Robert McNair-Huff - rob at whiterabbits.com
I had to stop near the end of a 10-mile run this afternoon along Ruston Way
in Tacoma when I heard an unfamiliar peeping coming from the rocky shoreline
just a few feet below me. It only took a moment to realize the "rocks" were
moving along the shore and that they were in fact 40-50 Black Turnstones.
Natalie and I returned to the area about 20 minutes later and again found
the turnstones bathing in a creek that flows into Commencement Bay near the
old Asarco plant at the end of Ruston Way.
Black Turnstones can be found yearly in this area along Commencement Bay,
but this is the first time I have seen them in these kinds of numbers.
Other sightings during our short time birding included:
2 Black Scoter
6 Surf Scoter
7 Horned Grebe
2 Pelagic Cormorant
5 Double-crested Cormorant
1 Bald Eagle
6 Barrow's Goldeneye
2 Common Goldeneye
1 Pigeon Guillemot
2 Bewick's Wrens calling
Happy birding!
Rob McNair-Huff
Tacoma, Washington
rob at whiterabbits.com