Finished up our week at the New Dungeness lighthouse yesterday.
Had a good blow with hard rain on our last night there, but the morning
was clear, cool, breezy and beautiful. The coast line itself was socked
in, so we had few hikers. Coolest sightings were a flock of 90 plus
dunlin that were feeding on the lawn, marching across the grass
drilling and aerating it. Of course, that lawn is on sand, so after a rain
it must have lots of dunlin feed near surface. Also black bellied
plovers, two picnic table glaucous winged gulls, constant eagle traffic,
and a feeding frenzy between eagles and ravens. Nightly traffic from
coyotes.

Flock of about 30 black brant came on bayside shore each evening.
one group of 10 harlequins, several groups of red breasted
mergansers acting spring-silly.

The color banded loon showed up again, and this time in good light we
could see silver on right leg. Also, yesterday, first sighting of two
pacific loons.

small pod of orcas with one adult male yesterday, also harbor
porpoises on bay side. Received a call from fish and wildlife to scope
from the lighthouse tower to look for a grey whale in distress, but didn't
see it.

Very busy shipping lane with all sorts of container ships, three coast
guard cutters, one destroyer looking grey thing, one aircraft carrier,
number 74, and two submarine sightings for the week.

I think we had .30 inches of rain all week - and that was pretty much all
on Thursday night/early am. we saw on the news it rained in Seattle
but it was dry out on the spit - not always sunny but often it cleared off
in the afternoons . Clarice Clark
Puyallup, WA. 98371
mailto:jbroadus at seanet.com