Sherry and I ventured up to Port Angeles today hoping this would be the day we would get to see the Thick-billed Murre, but luck was not on our side. The water was like glass, with no wind in the AM, but picked up just a little by early afternoon. The scoping conditions were great. We scoped out 18 COMMON MURRES in all different plumages, but none had clean white sides, or looked darker, or had shorter blunt bills compared to the Commons. However, we did get to see a bunch of birds including the SNOW BUNTINGS just east of the communications tower in a parking area. The 2 RUDDY TURNSTONES were also seen on the Hook associating with other shorebirds. The LONG-TAILED DUCKS, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, and MARBLED MURRELETS are always a treat to see. We had all three scoter species and we had three Loon species. The following is list of all the species seen.

Brant 7
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Lesser Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter 1
Black Scoter 1 (Female)
Long-tailed Duck 12
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon 1
Pacific Loon 2
Common Loon 6
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron 2
Bald Eagle 1
Black Oystercatcher 2
Black-bellied Plover 20
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Black Turnstone 6
Sanderling
Dunlin
Common Murre 18
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet 2
Mew Gull 2
Western Gull 1
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Belted Kingfisher 2
American Crow
European Starling 2
Snow Bunting 2
Song Sparrow 1
House Sparrow

Dave Hayden
dtvhm AT nwrain.com
Centralia, WA