Tweeters:

Today's gale-force SE and then SSW winds provided great opportunity to see offshore marine birds. Winds were seemingly in the 25-40 mph range, but gusts to 50 were forecast. Yes, it was frigid, but the birding was super from the rocky overlook at Rosario Head in extreme s.w. Skagit County today, looking through the scope west to southwest.
Loons were continuously flying southbound into the teeth of the gale, some stopping to feed in the swells. Almost on arrival at 3 pm, I had a juv. YELLOW-BILLED LOON flying westward at about county line. About a half-hour later, a loon looking very PACIFIC-like landed in the swells right below me, but it was easy to see that the bird was larger than the PACIFICS nearby, no chinstrap, and--prominent white tufts were visible along the waterline on both sides. Tried for photos but the swell was heavy and the bird dove repeatedly. The bird reappeared periodically over 15 minutes, but then got spooked by a PEREGRINE that came over (apparently) from Lopez I. As the loon took off, the white extending up onto the sides of the rump was obvious, and the larger size was also impressive. This was a great last look at the bird, which I know well from the Russian Far East.
Gulls were few but the mix was newsworthy: an GLAUCOUS-WINGED X GLAUCOUS flew in to within 30 ft of the bluff overlook,and a 1st winter GLAUCOUS flew southbound with two GW later. Then even more exciting--an apparent adult VEGA came in from the southwest like the GW x Glaucous, but I only saw it fleetingly as it veered away from the bluff. Plumage looked perfect but I did not have a good view of the primaries from below. Overall count, ROSARIO HEAD SEAWATCH, 3:05-5 p.m., Feb 16, 2014Cloudy, intermittent rain, temp. 45-47 F., wind S to SSW, 25-45 mph. Com. Loon 1YELLOW-BILLED LOON 1Red-throated Loon 12ARCTIC LOON 1Pacific Loon 82loon sp 11Red-necked Grebe 1Pelagic Cormorant 67Brandt's Cormorant 12cormorant sp 12Com Goldeneye 1White-winged Scoter 9LT Duck 1Mew Gull 1Thayer's Gull 1GLAUCOUS-WINGED X GLAUCOUS GULL 1 adGLAUCOUS GULL 1 (1st winter)Glaucous-winged Gull 18Glaucous-winged x Western Gull 2gull sp 5GULL sp 1 (likely VEGA)Rhinocerous Auklet 1 And two PACIFIC WRENS on the bluff in the single bit of cover, an Ocean-Spray (Holodiscus discolor)that is just below the top viewing spot. Scott AtkinsonLake Stevensmail to: scottratkinson at hotmail.com