As someone who birds Pt Wilson regularly, I can tell you that every day is
different. Some days there are hundreds to thousands of murres flying
southbound, or northbound, or few at all. Last week there were days with
zero Pigeon Guillemots; other days there are 50+. Same with Ancient
Murrelets. Some days inbound, other days outbound, sometimes in the water
off the point (usually out near the tidal current). The other day a pretty
1st cycle Glaucous Gull flew within 20 feet of the rocks. It's quite
unpredictable and always a surprise. In general, wind produces more birds,
though it makes it pretty rough to find a sheltered viewing spot.



On Fri, Dec 10, 2021 at 8:01 PM <byers345 at comcast.net> wrote:


> Hello Tweeters,

>

> Bill and I spent two hours trying to spy the Blue Jay in

> Port Townsend today. Many other birds showed up at the many feeders which

> the BLJA has been visiting, but not the BLJA itself. As a consolation

> prize, we went to Point Wilson in Fort Worden State Park. We were already

> cold from standing for two hours in 36 degree temps in town, so we didn't

> think we'd last long. It was probably a couple degrees warmer along the

> water, but there was a stiff breeze from the south. Nonetheless, we were

> astonished at the large number of Common Murres that were flying by Point

> Wilson. They were impossible to count-;they flew by in almost continuous

> batches of 10 0r 15 for over an hour. So I'm guessing about 2000, or maybe

> more! There were also many in the water just off the point. Additionally,

> there were murrelets, Pigeon Guillemots, mergansers, a few loons and many

> gulls. There was definitely something good to eat out there in Admiralty

> Inlet. So for a magical hour, we forgot about the cold and just watched

> and tried to take pictures (but most birds were too far away). If anyone

> cares to comment on this abundance of murres, I'd like to hear from you.

> Perhaps this is an everyday occurrence this time of year at Port Townsend.

> Happy birding, Charlotte Byers, Edmonds

> _______________________________________________

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> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

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>



--
​Steve Hampton​
Port Townsend, WA (qatáy)
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