Tweeters,
This afternoon I located (more like stumbled into) a BLACK THROATED SPARROW
just south of Ruby Beach in Jefferson County. The bird was located at the
fenced coastal overlook at the un-named gravel parking lot (turn-in from
Highway 101) just north of the "Big Cedar Tree" and 2.1 to 2.2 miles north
of the Beach 4 turn in. I was able to obtain several digital photos of this
very cooperative adult. The bird was observed between 1:00 and 1:20 this
afternoon.

Also of note was the shear number of water birds just off shore,
concentrated in the zone between Destruction Island and the beach. There
were thousands of Rhinoceros Auklets and Sooty Shearwaters (possibly 10's of
thousands) in particular. Among the crowds were numerous Marbled Murrelets
and many Pacific and Red-throated Loons and Common Murres in flocks
scattered up and down the coast from this vantage point. Gulls included
several Black-legged Kittiwakes, but mostly Glaucous-winged and California
Gulls. I was able to pick out a couple of TUFTED PUFFINS as well but alas
not the much sought cousin. There were lots of birds here and I was only
able to spend a relatively short time so I could have easily missed any
number of things. It is a good place to visit right now and I heartily
recommend the trip.

Cheers and good birding
Bill Shelmerdine
Olympia
mailto: georn1 at hotmail.com

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