Yesterday I birded Whidbey Island with my sister and brother-in-law.

On Cranberry Lake at Deception Pass State Park , we had 5 adult TRUMPETER SWANS among the more common ducks expected at that location. We also saw one beaver. On the saltwater were hundreds of RED-THROATED LOONS. We saw one pair of MARBLED MURRELETS. Just off shore were 8 river otters moving quickly by.

At Dugualla Bay we saw 5 TUNDRA SWANS; 2 adults and 3 juvs. Across the road were 51 TRUMPETER SWANS. I thought swans could be difficult to find on Whidbey, but not yesterday. There was an enormous flock that included BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, but no rustys or yellow-heads to be found.

Swantown did not disappoint. LONG-TAILED DUCKS and HARLEQUIN DUCKS in the saltwater and quite a few RUDDY DUCKS on the pond.

We stopped along Monroe Landing Road and spotted a flock of CANADA GEESE grazing in the distance. Scope views revealed a single TAVERNER'S CACKLING GOOSE and 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE.

There was a huge gathering of SURF SCOTERS with 2 or 3 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS at Penn Cove. Perched on the mussel rafts were numbers of DUNLIN and BLACK TURNSTONES as well as 2 BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS and a SANDERLING.

It was cold and windy at times, but very little rain.

Marv Breece
Seattle, WA
mbreece at earthlink.net