Matt Dufort and I made the drive up to Abbotsford from Seattle this
morning and were greeted within minutes by the Ivory Gull around the
original location at Page & Sims Roads. We were surprised to not find
any other birders. We had it in flight several times as well as on
the ground, though several times when it landed it was out of sight,
hidden just behind the ridges. When it was out in the open it was
obvious even without binoculars from across the field. Unfortunately
it took flight heading to the south just as other birders were
beginning to arrive, sometime around 8:40 I believe. We stuck around
the area until noon without refinding it. Nearby on Sims Road there
was a flock of about a hundred Cackling Geese (appeared to be mostly
Taverner's with some minima) that included a Greater White-fronted
Goose and an immature Snow Goose.

Back on the Washington side of the border we looked through the birds
in and around Drayton Harbor in Blaine. Birds here included 10 Eared
Grebes, 65 Black Scoters, 1325 Ruddy Ducks, and an adult Western Gull.

Good Birding,
Ryan Merrill
Kirkland, WA