Hi Tweets,

I didn't get enough of rain, snow, and flooding in Canada this weekend
so I just had to check out the Edmonds waterfront this morning. What
was just going to be a few minutes turned into about three hours, as
happens on birding time. There was a gray Sound, a gray cloud cover,
but a break along the peaks of the Olympics, with the white snow
glistening in light from a sun that I could not see. Later in the
morning the sun came out for a while and sparkled on all of the
whites, blacks, grays, and browns of the seabirds. It made the
occasional specks of pink, red, and yellow all that more intense in
saturation. There were lots of species out this morning.

There were over 100 BRANTS. Ducks included SURF SCOTERS in close to
the public pier and the ferry dock, a fly-by of three WHITE-WINGED
SCOTERS, and 8 BLACK SCOTERS north of the dive park (seen with a scope
from Sunset Avenue). There were RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS on the water
and a southbound fly-over of 8 COMMON MERGANSERS. Both BARROW'S and
COMMON GOLDENEYES were about, as were BUFFLEHEADS.

There were about 20 PACIFIC LOONS spread along the waterfront. The one
COMMON LOON, missed on CBC count day, swam in fairly close to the pier
this morning, just in time to make it into count week. Several RED-
THROATED LOONS flew by in the distance. Far out on the Sound, in the
company of the Brants, were about 20 WESTERN GREBES. RED-NECKED and
HORNED GREBES were closer in to shore. Both DOUBLE-CRESTED and PELAGIC
CORMORANTS were present. I thought I noted one Brandt's Cormorant but
wasn't certain of the ID from a distance.

The most abundant gulls right now are MEW GULLS. There were a few
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS and late in the morning one BONAPARTE'S GULL
dropped onto the water to make it into count week. Several large
flocks of DUNLIN were swirling around the dive park and the marine
breakwater.

This was a four alcid morning. As the PIGEON GUILLEMOTS came in for
their landings, their red feet added a seasonal touch to the day. Lots
of COMMON MURRES were on the water and flying in both directions. They
were the most abundant alcid today. A much lower number of RHINOCEROS
AUKLETS were out. And finally late in the morning two ANCIENT
MURRELETS settled in among some Brants that had come in closer. The
bright sun almost made the gray of their backs sparkle. They, too,
arrived in time for count week as they were not seen in Edmonds on
count day. And in Ancient Murrelet fashion, they quickly disappeared.

Season's Greetings,

Carol Riddell