Today I led a Seattle Audubon field trip to several spots along the
Puget Sound in South King county. Until the end of the trip, weather
was great, with sun and not much wind.

We started at the Des Moines Marina, where the first of several
scoter flocks was a highlight. We got great views there of Surf &
White-winged Scoters, and a couple Black Scoters flew by. Also
present were Harlequin Ducks, Horned, Red-necked & Western Grebes,
Rhino Auklets & Pigeon Guillemots, Red-breasted Mergansers, both
goldeneyes, a couple Pelagic Cormorants along with the many
Double-crested Cormorants. Waay across the sound, along the shore of
Vashon Island, I claimed to see a flock of Sanderling , and a perched
Bald Eagle was visible.

Next stop was the staircase 'park' a little south of Des Moines ,
reached by taking S 240th off of Marine View Dr.

Our best bird of the day was from here, a LONG-TAILED DUCK. This is
presumably one of the LTDU from Redondo -- I'm still not sure whether
there have been one or two LTDU in the area -- The first day Randy
photographed the Redondo LTDU, it didn't appear to have any long
tail. On day two, a long tail was very visible. And today, no long
tail, despite great looks. The duck was moving north, and I wouldn't
be surprised if it joined forces with the scoter flock at the Des
Moines Marina next.

In addition to the Long-tailed Duck, we had great looks at Black,
White-winged & Surf Scoters up close, many of the same birds as at
the marina and a fly-by Common Murre.

A stop at Saltwater State Park produced more of the same, along with
a few Red-throated Loons & a couple Common Loons.

At Redondo, we had great close-up looks at a Common Murre right off
the fishing pier. In addition, more scoters, close looks at grebes &
Pigeon Guillemots were all appreciated. We also had a single Dunlin
perched on a floating log out in the water. The wintering flock of
Yellow-rumped Warblers was fun to see again, around the paid parking
lot across from the Redondo pier.

Dumas Bay Community Park was pretty darned quiet, and the wind & rain
kicked up here. We made an uneventful stop at Dash Point State Park,
then headed down to Commencement Bay [Pierce Co] for our final stop.
Viewing from the overlook just east of Tyee Marina, we saw Black
Turnstones on the logbooms, Brandts Cormorants in close on a buoy,
and a flock of Dunlin on the logs.

All in all, it was a very fun & birdy day around the Sound.

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA