Hi All,

I birded the north end of the Kitsap Peninsula today, spending most of
my time in the Point no Point area. Heavy off an on showers made for a
good deal of time spent in the car, but there is plenty of birds to keep
it interesting. The waterbird activity off of Point no Pointis
incredible at this time. There is no shortage of loons, cormorants,
gulls (mostly bonies), and alcids and such. Common Murre numbers are
impressive. There are also some late lingering Heermann's Gulls in the
area. Having them stick around into December is a fairly new phenomenon
in recent years.

The biggest highlight for me this morning was a flock of about a dozen
BOHEMIAN WAXWINGSobserved at the farm area above and to the south of
Hansville. I saw them for a brief moment perched near starlings and
Red-winged Blackbirds in an alder tree in the pasture just south of the
old farm house. Their comparable size to the blackbirds and Starling was
readily apparent and mademy eyes light up,but I don't think I realized
until I saw the white wing patch in flight that they were indeed BOWA's.
They then flew right over my head and then continued east over Gust
Halvor Road and beyond. I could not relocate them on my drive down Gust
Halvor Road. Looks like Bohemian Waxwing is a overdue new addition to
the Kitsap County List.

Cheers and good birding,
Brad Waggoner
Bainbridge Island, Washington
mailto:wagtail at sounddsl.com