Hello All
My family and I went out to the Olympic Peninsula this week (20-23 August).
We camped at Hobuck Beach campground each night. On 22 August I did a
seawatch from the end of the trail at Cape Flattery. The road to Cape
Flattery is closed while road construction takes place, but we took the free
shuttle from the museum in Neah Bay. Conditions were a bit cloudy/hazy, but
it was still possible to view birds a large distance from shore.

CAPE FLATTERY (1040-1330hrs):
American Wigeon (1)
Surf Scoter (150)
White-winged Scoter (30)
Red-throated Loon (12)
Pacific Loon (25)
Western Grebe (10)
NORTHERN FULMAR (4)
Pink-footed Shearwater (1)
Sooty Shearwater (5000)
MANX-type SHEARWATER (1)
Brown Pelican (45)
Brandt's Cormorant (20)
Double-crested Cormorant (200)
Pelagic Cormorant (300)
Great Blue Heron (5)
Bald Eagle (6)
Peregrine Falcon (2)
Black Oystercatcher (14)
Spotted Sandpiper (18): migrant flock flew in, landed on the rocks.
Least Sandpiper (20)
Red-necked Phalarope (200)
POMARINE JAEGER (2ad.)
Heermann's Gull (60)
California Gull (100)
Glaucous-winged Gull (5000)
Common Murre (1500)
Pigeon Guillemot (300)
XANTUS'S MURRELET (1): flew behind Tatoosh I. and out to the west.
Marbled Murrelet (2)
Cassin's Auklet (20)
Rhinoceros Auklet (100)
Tufted Puffin (25)
Black Swift (16)
Belted Kingfisher (1)
Yellow Warbler (1)
Red Crossbill (20)
--
Steller's Sea Lion (40)
Orca (1): very large bull hanging out on the surface for a minute due west
of lookout.
Harbor Porpoise (25)

On 21 August I birded Hobuck Beach for shorebirds:
Semipalmated Plover (40)
Killdeer (2)
Spotted Sandpiper (1)
Greater Yellowlegs (5)
Lesser Yellowlegs (3)
Whimbrel (1)
Sanderling (20)
Baird's Sandpiper (1)
Least Sandpiper (350): all peeps were juv.
Semipalmated Sandpiper (6)
Western Sandpiper (600)
Long-billed Dowitcher (2)
Red-necked Phalarope (60)

Also during the weekend, I had a juvenile RED KNOT with Black Turnstones on
the rocks in Neah Bay 22 August, and a very bleached, flightless LONG-TAILED
DUCK from the jetty at Neah Bay 23 August. There were also unusually large
numbers of Brown Pelicans at Hobuck Beach and Neah Bay, with flocks of
hundreds where I normally only see very small numbers.

Cheers!
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington