This halcyon day with azure skies and warm(er) temperatures lured me
further afield from my normal local Sequim birding routine. I tried going
to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic N.P. but the powers that be said I needed
tire chains even though the road up the mountain was clear of snow and ice.
Now what does a recent Florida transplant know about snow tires and tire
chains? One word: "nothing". Consequently, I scrapped that plan and headed
for the mouth of the Elwha River west of Port Angeles. There was a nice
assortment of gulls at the mouth including several California Gulls, many
Thayer's, some with pale eyes, Ring-billed, Glaucous & Western Gulls as
well as hybrids, Mew, and a few Herring Gulls. A pod of perhaps 25+
porpoises were out in the Strait along with Harbor Seals. Other birds seen
were Common, Hooded & Red-breasted Merganser, Gadwall, American Wigeon,
Bufflehead, Mallard, Surf & White-winged Scoter, Lesser Scaup, Harlequin
Duck, and Long-tailed Duck plus American Coot. A few Brandt's Cormorants
were seen as well as the more common Pelagic Cormorants. Red-throated,
Pacific and Common Loons were there as were Marbled Murrelet, Common Murre,
Pigeon Guillemot, Western, Red-necked & Horned Grebes, Great Blue Heron,
Bald Eagle, Bushtit and presumably Northwestern Crow or just "crow". At
Ediz Hook, I found the continuing Thick-billed Murre along with the more
common "Commons" plus the other "usual" ducks, cormorants, grebes and
alcids, etc. The Rock Sandpiper along with 2 Ruddy Turnstones and 15+ Black
Turnstones, Black-bellied Plover & Dunlin were on the logs on the harbor
side of the Hook. All in all, it was a beautiful day to be out looking at
birds in the great Pacific Northwest!

--
Vincent Lucas
Sequim, WA
vincentlucas5 at gmail.com
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