Hi Tweets -
I spent the morning down at the lighthouse at West Point, in
Discovery Park [Seattle]. Despite the chilly wind, it was a good day
for watching the birds blow by.

Best bird of the day was a male LONG-TAILED DUCK (LTDU) -- it flew in
from the south just before 11:00am, stayed about 5 minutes , then
flew off to the north. Around noon, what I'm guessing to be the same
LTDU reappeared from the south, sticking around for a few minutes
before flying back south towards West Seattle.

Other sightings:
3 River Otters, hanging out by the point, catching pretty good sized fish.

BRANT - Wednesday was the first day I've seen them back in the Sound,
and today I had one or two flocks flying by out away from shore quite
a ways.

N.PINTAIL - 2-3 smaller [10-15] flocks moving around the Sound.

COMMON MURRE - a couple every 10 minutes or so, mostly moving north.

PIGEON GUILLEMOTS & RHINO AUKLETS in smaller numbers

Loons seemed a little thin - 2-3 Red-throated, a couple Common, and a
couple 'maybe' Pacific glimpses.

5 Sanderling tucked in at the point were my only shorebirds for the morning.

Add a couple glimpses of 'tantalizing unidentified alcid'(TUAL)
cruising by to keep dreams of Xantu alive, and all in all it was a
good morning.

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA