Hello, Tweeters,

I've received most tally sheets from our Clallam Co Birdathon, held last Saturday, May 12, but not quite all, so these results are still preliminary. Our tradition here is to tally birds in Clallam Co on International Migratory Bird Day, along with trying to raise funds for Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society and Dungeness River Audubon Center.

It was one of those days where everything came together, with perfect weather and lots of birds. At this point I've received reports from 31 field parties and our total species count for the day is 199 species. I have yet to receive reports from a few other field parties, so I don't have final numbers of individuals or species. This is six more species than our previous record of 193 set in 1999. We had extraordinary counters throughout the county, including by boat out of La Push, at Lake Ozette and Neah Bay, in the Olympic Mtns, along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around Sequim and Port Angeles.

Some highlight species for this count:
Canvasback
Black-footed Albatross
Pink-footed Shearwater
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel
White Pelican
Brown Pelican
N. Goshawk
Red-necked Phalarope
Pectoral Sandpiper
Heermann's Gull
Glaucous Gull
Sabine's Gull
Ancient Murrelet
Black Swift - early birds along the cliffs at Cape Flattery
Calliope Hummingbird
Western Kingbird
W. Scrub-Jay
Mountain Bluebird
N Mockingbird
Nashville Warbler
Pine Grosbeak

Plus count week birds not counted in the tally - they couldn't be found on count day, but they were reported within three days of the count.
Northern Fulmar
Am. Bittern
Sandhill Crane
Red Phalarope
Spotted Owl

Species we frequently get but totally missed this year:
Ring-necked Duck
Barrow's Goldeneye
Horned Lark
Townsend's Solitaire
W. Meadowlark

After I've received all the tally sheets I'll try to update this report, and post the results in the OPAS newsletter and website. And many, many thanks to everyone who helped with the count!

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim