Hi Tweeters,



This morning, I hiked about 3 miles out along Dungeness Spit.? There were 20+ PIGEON GUILLEMOT in the water where the woodland trail meets the beach trail.? Some were flying back and forth from their cliff burrows to the water, and most were vocalizing with their squeaky calls.? A few were paired off on the water and displaying to one another.? The inside of their bills are as richly red as their legs.? Early in the morning, several RHINOCEROS AUKLETS were close to shore with numerous others flying by farther out.? Very pretty in their breeding plumage.? By 10:30, most of these were far offshore and hard to see, even with a scope.? There were lots of CASPIAN TERN about and 15 or so HEERMANN'S GULL in breeding plumage mixed in with the other gulls.? There were also 2 PACIFIC LOONS working their way north along the spit.



On the way home, I drove to the parking area on Mt. Walker off of Hwy 101.? It was all fogged in with a steady drizzle.? In the north parking area, 2 GRAY JAYS were begging for bread from a couple of hikers.? There were also 2?singing HERMIT WARBLERS at the northern view point, one of which briefly appeared before dropping back out of sight.? If you haven't seen any yet this year, this would seem to be a reliable spot for them at present.



Good birding,



Lonnie Somer

Olympia, WA

wheelermombi at comcast.net