Far across the inlet at the end of the day I spotted a large number of
birds, mostly in groups of 30-50, probably 250 in all. They were far away
and back-lit, so even with my scope they were difficult to identify. To me,
they looked like Loons, either Common or Pacific. Do Loons gather in large
numbers like this? Maybe they were following a fish run? They were mostly
bunched up in a long group, but other groups were strung out more sparsely.
It's possible the entire 250 birds were not all the same bird, but they
certainly looked similar (but being so far they all looked like black and
white dots).

What I could see was a white neck and body, dark head, dark back of neck,
and dark body (as far as I could tell). Many of them were rising up to flap
their wings so I could see their white bellies. It was hard to distinguish
size being so far away, but I don't think they were cormorants because they
weren't swimming down in the water. I did spot some Marbled Murrelets,
Pigeon Guillemots, a Common Loon closer into shore, close enough to
identify, so these birds are around our area at this time.

Thoughts? I'm new to birding on the Puget sound so I'm still learning what
to expect. I'd appreciate any help.

Sarah G.
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