Hi,
Several people responded privately to explain that we must have seen river otters, not sea otters---thanks for setting us straight. In any case, they were adorable!
Paula Crockett
Redmond, WA

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Paula Crockett/Martin Gibbins <binary_star85 at yahoo.com>
> Date: March 9, 2011 5:04:38 PM PST
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: 3/6 - Kitsap/Jefferson Counties; YBLO at Fort Flagler
>

> Hi, Tweets,
> On Sun., 3/6, Jim Owens, Phyllis Moss, Amy Shumann, and I birded Kitsap and Jefferson Counties. At the Edmond ferry terminal and enroute to Kingston, we kicked off the day with 14 species:
> - Horned Grebe
> - Red-necked Grebe
> - Pelagic Cormorant
> - Double-crested Cormorant
> - Canada Goose
> - Surf Scoter
> - Common Goldeneye
> - Barrow?s Goldeneye
> - Bufflehead
> - Mew Gull
> - Glaucous-winged Gull
> - Pigeon Guillemot (basic and alternate plumage)
> - Rock Pigeon
> - American Crow
> Our Kitsap County sightings began at Point No Point, where we added 13:
> - Brandt?s Cormorant (juv)
> - Brant
> - Red-breasted Merganser
> - Rhinoceros Auklet
> - Mourning Dove
> - Steller?s Jay
> - American Robin
> - European Starling
> - Song Sparrow
> - Dark-eyed Junco
> - White-crowned Sparrow
> - Red-winged Blackbird
> - House Finch
> Next, we hit Foulweather Bluff, adding 10:
> - Common Loon (basic and alternate plumage)
> - American Wigeon
> - Mallard
> - Northern Pintail
> - White-winged Scoter
> - Red-tailed Hawk
> - Bald Eagle
> - Black-bellied Plover
> - Dunlin
> - Spotted Towhee
> A brief stop at Port Gamble yielded 4 more:
> - Red-throated Loon (group of 10-12)
> - Western Grebe
> - Scaup (unsure which)
> - House Sparrow
> Our last stop in Kitsap County was Salsbury Point County Park, where we added Killdeer.
> We headed across the Hood Canal Bridge into Jefferson County. On Route 19, a small flock of Trumpeter Swans foraged in the Chimacum Valley farm fields. At Port Hadlock, we saw a pair of Belted Kingfishers.
> We hit several small parks and added a few more species to our list:
> Oak Bay County Park:
> - Black Oystercatcher
> - American Goldfinch (heard)
> Upper Oak Bay Campground:
> - Downy Woodpecker
> - Golden-crowned Kinglet
> - Ruby-crowned Kinglet
> - Pine Siskin
> Indian Island County Park:
> - Northern Flicker
> - Common Raven
> - Brown Creeper (heard)
> At Fort Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island, we added 5 more:
> - Yellow-billed Loon (great scope views of this rare winter visitor)
> - Eared Grebe
> - Great Blue Heron
> - Harlequin Duck
> - Long-tailed Duck
> Along the isthmus between Marrowstone and Indian Island:
> - Green-winged Teal
> - Greater Yellowlegs
> - Long-billed Dowitcher
> Our final stop in Jefferson County was Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, where we had distant, but clear scope views of several Ancient Murrelets and Marbled Murrelets in flight. (Ancient was a life bird for me).
> Our total for the day was 62 species. We also saw several mammals. At Fort Warden, two impossibly cute sea otters popped out for a drink from a hollow in a big rock just six feet away! Throughout the day, we also saw sea lions, harbor seals, and deer.
> It was a great day to be out in the sun exploring Puget Sound!
> Paula Crockett
> Redmond, WA
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20110310/eff64ded/attachment.htm