Among the hundred's of Rhinoceros Auklets present in the Point No Point area
I had a flyby Horned Puffin last night at 8:00 pm. I realize this is an
unusual sighting for inside the sound especially this time of year, but I had
very good looks in my scope at 100 yards or less as the bird flew from east to
west from off PNP to in front of my house and on into Skunk Bay where it was
lost to my sight. Initially I thought it was a murre because of the sharp
demarcation between the clean white underparts and the dark upperparts; however I
quickly realized the bird had a white face and a huge yellowish beak. The
bird was a Horned Puffin not the Tufted Puffin I have been hoping to see since
there have been several reports of that species just 20 miles to the
northwest of here. The white underparts separated these 2 species nicely.

Vic Nelson
Point No Point
Kitsap County, Washington



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