Today I finally had a Monday without a commitment and was able to get out with Ken in Kitsap. Heather Voboril and Ken had already planned to go to Bainbridge so Heather could see the Townsend’s solitaire and White-throated sparrow that have been being seen there, and I had a chance at 3 new FOY WA birds. It was a cool (41 degrees) intermittently rainy day and we got to our first stop at South Beach Drive where I promptly got all three of the likely available FOY WA species. Townsend’s solitaire popped right up on a wire for is almost immediately.

Within a couple of minutes Heather found a Hermit thrush who uncharacteristically sat on a branch for photos.

As soon as I got a scope up on the massive (est 2200) Surf scoters near the fish pens the first bird I focused on was a Black scoter, one of 45 we found in the gigantic flock.

We spent an hour or so pouring through the massive flock of ducks, finding Long-billed duck, Harlequin duck, good numbers of grebes, loons, alcids, gulls, and cormorants. eBird list here
We made several more stops on Bainbridge, including at 9620 NE Watch Hill Drive where I was finally able to see the White-throated sparrow after both Ken and Heather got looks more easily. The owner, Sally Swanson, was very gracious, showing us around her many feeders and her yard, and I agreed to send her our list for the day for her to use for the Great Backyard Bird Count today.
Overall a great day with friends. On the way home I stopped at Purdy, and was able to help an E WA birder
Also thanks to getting to many parts of WA so quickly in the year it puts me transiently in a rare (for me) place on the WA eBirder year leaderboard.