This morning at around 11 AM I birded the seawall just south of Duwamish Head, headed in the direction of Alki Beach. With my scope I saw a loon that closely resembled the Yellow Billed adult nonbreeding drawing in Sibley's Guide to the Birds. He was near an orange float out quite a ways. The bill was distinctly yellow. He dove now and then, preened and did that loon thing where they sit up in the water and flap their wings. Yellow billed loons not being reported as plentiful around here, I wonder if anyone else saw this, or if it is mistaken identity.

Other birds seen under sunny conditions, tide about 2 feet below max on the rocks:

Surfbirds: 6 or more, on the rocks below the seawall
Black Turnstone: at least 6, one I observed eating out the innards of large barnacles with such gusto, he hade a white foamy ring around his bill
Red Breasted Merganser: 2
Surf Scoter: about 15
Barrow's Goldeneye: around 12
Eared Grebe: 2
Bufflehead: around 10
Mew Gull: many
Glaucous Winged Gull: many

On Tuesday, from the seawall south of Alki Point Lighthouse, similar conditions at about 3PM:

Harlequin Duck: 1
Black Scoter: 8
Barrow's Goldeneye: 4
Bufflehead: 4
Black Turnstone: 4
Sanderling: 25, on the rocks; amongst them was a bird the same size and shape with a solid brown back, not feathery like a Sanderling, and a longer thinner bill, which I took to be a Western Sandpiper
Mew Gull: several
Glaucous Winged Gull: several

Best,
Marv Hoekstra