Tweeters,

I took my now annual trek (9 miles round trip) out Dungeness Spit and back
to check on the tern nesting- colony there.
Great weather!! For the 18th of June I had a pretty good assortment of
shorebirds:


Killdeer 6 Jimmy Comelately Creek in Blyn
Spotted Sand 3 Jimmy Comelately Creek iln Blyn
Whimbrel 2 Dungeness
Sanderling 2 Dungeness
Dunlin 1 Dungeness (exhausted bird that expired on the beach, I
have specimen. Molting bird about 2/3 into alternate
Black Oystercatcher 3 at nest site at MP #4

There was one pair of Arctic Terns gamely defending, from a horde of
Glaucous-winged Gulls, what I took to be a nest site on the bay side at MP #4.
There were a few Caspian Terns in the vicinity, but NO sign of ANY nesting
activity. A far cry from the 1500 nests two years ago, and the 800 or so
from last year. I had heard that the Bald Eagles and coyotes were a real
problem, so I guess the Caspians have been forced, once again, to move...
Does anyone know if and where they are nesting this year?

Also:

Red-throated Loon 1 in partial alternate (off Dungeness Spit)
Pacific Loon 4 in high alternate (off Dungeness Spit)
Rhinos 100s
Marbleld Murrelet 2
Common Murre 2
Also 1 Tufted Puffin seen from Diamond Point coursing in front of the
bluffs on Protection Island.

George Gerdts, Bainbridge Island
_geopandion at aol.com_ (mailto:geopandion at aol.com)
206-842-8138