Hello all!



I'm a novice birder who will soon be visiting your great state! I'll be
staying in Seattle to attend a conference during the last week of May. I'm
from Florida, and I've never birded anywhere as far north or as far west as
Washington. So there are easily over a hundred species that occur in your
area that would be new to me. I have a wish list of dozens of species I hope
to see while I'm in the Seattle area. At the top of my list are Harlequin
Duck, Pacific Loon, Tufted Puffin, Varied Thrush, Townsend's Warbler, and
Hermit Warbler. If I saw just a few of these species, I would consider my
trip a huge success! Unfortunately, I'll be in Seattle only briefly on
business and won't have a lot of time to dedicate to birding (either one
full day, or possibly two half days). And the timing of my trip (i.e., late
May/early June) might not be ideal for observing all of these species. So,
I had a couple questions that I was hoping birders familiar with this region
may be able to answer.



After reviewing the species checklists and birding sites described on the
Seattle Audubon website and searching the Tweeter archives (I've also
ordered the Opperman guide, but I have yet to receive it), it appears that
the "Sequim/Dungeness" area may be the best site to visit to see the variety
of species I hope to find. Would you agree? Or is there another location
that you would recommend to a visiting birding with limited time?



Another concern I have is the proximity to seabirds from viewing vantage
points on the shore (e.g., scoters and auklets, but, especially, Tufted
Puffins). It would be difficult for me to travel with a scope, so I'm
curious if some locations would offer closer viewing than others (i.e., at
least within reasonable binocular viewing range).



Finally, in the past, I have planned for trips like this one with the help
of generous birders like yourself. Typically, I use whatever resources I can
find to track down the species that I'm looking for on my own after I arrive
at a new location. However, given the extraordinary number of new species I
could potentially encounter (and the incredibly vast and diverse habitats in
your region), it would be great to accompany a local birder-even greater if
that local resident had a scope (so I wouldn't need to travel from Florida
with mine!) I was wondering if anyone was aware of any bird guides in your
area-that is, the walking and talking kind, not the paperback kind :)



Any help would be greatly appreciated!



Best,

Steve



--

Steven E. Meredith, M.S.

Graduate Assistant

Department of Psychology

University of Florida

P.O. Box 112250

Gainesville, FL 32611

Phone: 352.328.6603

Email: stevenem at ufl.edu