Dear Tweets,

I too went to see the King Eider on Friday and, I too, stopped at
Brown's Point Lighthouse and was one of those "whalers" (birders,
whalers, get it?) that Lonnie reported about at the lighthouse. I went
to Brown's Point to look for the reported Clark's Grebe, which I didn't
find, but was delighted by the surprise orca show. While at Brown's
Point I came across a group of Northern Flickers, one of which, a
female, had distinctly yellow tail-feather shafts. Initially, I thought
it was a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker but when I got home, from
memory and with help from eBird, I decided the bird was an intergrade.
If you run across that bird, I'd appreciate your thoughts and especially
any photos. For more help with the ID I suggest going to:
http://ebird.org/content/nw/news/northern-flicker-red-shafted-yellow-shafted-intergrades-which-do-you-have/
and checking the images, especially the female re-shafted, at:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/id

Good birding all,

Chazz Hesselein
Port Orchard, WA

On 11/7/2015 12:00 PM, tweeters-request at mailman1.u.washington.edu wrote:
> Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2015 19:37:23 +0000
> From: "Somer, Lonnie"<lsomer at highline.edu>
> Subject: [Tweeters] King Eider and Orcas
> To: tweeters<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Message-ID:
> <BY1PR08MB148380AAB6C31A3029E8C504AA170 at BY1PR08MB1483.namprd08.prod.outlook.com>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Tweeters,
>
>
> I was one of the many birders who visited with the King Eider in Tacoma yesterday. Afterward, I birded my way back north, stopping at various spots with views of the Sound. I ran into a whale watcher at Dash Point SP around 1:50. She told me that there is an Orca watching website that tracks the movements of the various Puget Sound pods and that one was apparently heading our way, working south. After waiting for them for a few minutes, she checked her i-phone and told me that they were being spotted at Brown's Point Lighthouse Park, just a few minutes south of Dash Point. I drove down there and quickly spotted a small group of whale watchers. I joined them and was immediately onto the pod, which was followed by a small boat with a researcher or two on board. I watched the Orcas for about an hour, and they were still in sight when I left. They put on quite a show (as did the whale watchers, who have their own jargon; they reminded me of birders). They told me that t!
> his was a common routine of the Orcas this time of year. So if your heading to see the King Eider, it might be worth checking out the location of the Orcas (I don't know the URL for the website, but I'm sure that it's easy to find). A scope would be helpful, but not necessary. The researchers boat, if they are following them again, has two small flags, one red and one yellow. The Orcas will be in front of them.
>
>
> Good birding (and whaling),
>
>
> Lonnie Somer
>
> Seattle