February 28 - Norh Point, Olympia

In the afternoon, I was downtown and stopped at North Point to see what was in the salt chuck.  I walked from the Olympia Area Rowing club house, to the Hearthfire restaurant, and looped back. It was mostly cloudy, with a south breeze at 5 knots and 47° F.  The most exciting thing I saw on the mudflats at the Superfund site was an adult Western Gull.

There are a lot of Glaucous-winged Gulls and hybrid Western X Glaucous-winged Olympic gulls in this Part of Puget Sound, but this bird looked pretty good for a "pure" Western.

Dark gray mantle, black primary tips, clean white head suggest Western Gull

North Point eBird Checklist is Here

January 10 - North Point

I was downtown, so I went over to the Port of Olympia’s North Point parking lot

An Olympic Gull waited for me at the foot of the steps

and walked the path past the old KGY studio to the Hearthfire restaurant, scanning for birds.  My only ‘new bird’ for the year were some distant Pelagic Cormorants, bringing my year total to 106 species.

A Song Sparrow was feeding on the seeds of the American Dune Grass, but I didn't get a shot of the bird, just of the grass

American Dune Grass Leymus mollis

I did have the chance to sort through the gulls

Mew Gull

"Olympic" Gull - Glaucous-winged X Western Hybrid

Glaucous-winged Gull

finding this nice adult Western Gull.

Western Gull towering over the smaller Mew Gull

There was also a flock of Dunlin

Dunlin go everywhere in a hurry . . .

on the Cascade Pole Superfund site.

"Cleanup" of the Creosote-contaminated site has been merely capping it with clay . . .

As I was leaving, I saw a Glaucous-winged Gull that I’d seen in the area last week, seemingly unable to fly.  It looks somewhat “oiled”, and by the appearance of its plumage is certainly in poor physical shape.  I hope it makes it through the Winter.

"Oiled" Glaucous-winged Gull

North Point eBird Checklist is Here