For the first time I did the Tahoma Audubon CBC from the luxury of a boat. I was able to join Bruce Labar, Charlie & Linnaea, Peter Wimberger, and others on the Sea Scout 72′ boat on a clear, nearly windless cruise of the Puget Sound waters in the CBC circle.
Before the boat Bruce, Peter and I joined Ken Brown, Ryan Weise, Heather Voboril, and Bryon Hanson at Point Defiance so Peter could lead us to the Saw Whet Owl he located there on his early morning walks. We drove right to the area and in short order heard initially a faint tooting call, then a very nearby screech call, then persistant and nearby tooting. Really cool. Two distant GHOW were also calling in the same area.
After that we headed for the boat, and boarded right at 7:30. Bruce was pleasantly surprised to see Charlie and Linnaea there as they are leading the first Neah Bay CBC on tomorrow, and it’s a long drive there. Still they added a big + in finding good birds, as Charlie was all over distane birds, including several Cassin’s Aucklet sightings, and finding the first Ancient Murrelets. Surprises were seeing exactly ONE Boneparte’s Gull, missing the 2-3000 that have been seen recently, and overall relatively few alcids. Still a good day and a warm, easy way to do the TAS CBC.