Hi Tweets,

Yesterday Barb and I caught the 6:30am Kingston Ferry and drove straight to
Clallam County. We found mixed weather, but managed to skirt most of the
rain showers. Temperatures ranged from 45 degrees at Heart o' the Hills
Campground to 57 degrees at Sequim.

Our first stop was West Sequim Bay State Park where the birding was good
despite lots of traffic noise from U.S. 101. Highlights here were 2 Marbled
Murrelets in the bay seen from the boat launch area, and a sharp-looking
Hairy Woodpecker on the old railroad grade trail.

Our next stop was the Dungeness River Audubon Center where we found nearby a
Merlin perched in a snag on Hendrickson Rd. We quickly found about two dozen
species at this beautiful place. Highlights for us were several
Orange-crowned Warblers singing, Savannah Sparrows displaying, and a Fox
Sparrow wooing a mate with a lovely song, The Audubon Center itself was
closed for the day. Perhaps the retirement community at nearby Sequim has a
few knowledgable volunteers who could help keep the Center open when the
staff is called away.

We drove next up to Heart o' the Hills Campground in Olympic National Park
and added Gray Jays and Varied Thrushes to our list. As rain started we
drove over to Lake Dawn adjacent to the park highway. This lake appears to
be entirely within the national park, but we found no public access for
viewing the lake. At least we were able to spot Bufflehead and Ring-necked
Ducks from the road looking through the trees.

We drove through Port Angeles to Ediz Hook where we looked back at the black
storm clouds over the Olympics. Birding along the spit gave us up-close
looks at Harlequin Ducks, and good scope views of Horned, Red-necked, and
Western Grebes, Common Loons, and assorted bay ducks. We had hoped for a few
early migrant shorebirds like yellowlegs and dowitchers, but didn't spot
any. We did have good looks at Dunlin and Sanderlings, though. Spring
arrivals included an Osprey over the harbor, and a lone Turkey Vulture over
Kitchen-Dick Road.

We finished our birding on 3 Crabs Road, finding a Northern Harrier perched
on a post, a Caspian Tern foraging over Dungeness Bay, and an American
Kestrel and a half-dozen Mourning Doves near road's end.

Our list for the day totaled 83 species, 79 of which were in Clallam County.

Species seen:

Brant
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon (2 in the surf in Dungeness Bay)
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
California Quail
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Brandt's Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
American Coot
Killdeer
Sanderling
Dunlin
Bonaparte's Gull -- near Winslow ferry terminal
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Caspian Tern
Pigeon Guillemot (Sequim Bay, Ediz Hook)
Marbled Murrelet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher -- at Kingston ferry terminal
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Gray Jay
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper (4 seen in different locations)
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
House Finch -- one at Winslow ferry terminal
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch -- one at Winslow terminal
House Sparrow

Good Birding!

Paul Webster
Seatte
paul.websterATcomcast.net
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