Hi Tweets...I am house/dog-sitting for former neighbors right on Duck Lake
in Ocean Shores and have been keeping a list of birds seen each day since I
began on Thursday, 5/17.

My biggest surprises were a Spotted Sandpiper on the 17th, teetering out on
the dock, and a peregrine and osprey circling up on a thermal and around
each other...both calling...also on the 17th.

On a raptor survey Friday the 18th, out on the beach north of the Ocean City
access, we found a second-year peregrine missing at least two of its
tailfeathers. It came in to our lure but was bumped by a pair of adult bald
eagles. We had to drive them off and the falcon left too. (It seemed to fly
ok, no visible injuries.)

Then on Sunday the 20th, a peregrine flew across the lake right at me, then
up and over the house. It was an adult. Later that evening, just before
dusk, the sun shone through the clouds and a Red-throated Loon in breeding
plumage slowly paddled by, allowing good views of the stripes on the back of
its neck and the beautiful burgundy red on its throat.

Dianna Moore
Ocean Shores, Wa.
dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com