The home where I stayed last night in Everett, WA is only about a mile form Puget Sound. Yesterday evening I biked down to Mukilteo Lighthouse to do a bit of birding, but it was fairly quiet. I had scheduled a short ride into Seattle today, so I had a bit of time to do some additional birding in the Everett area this morning. I headed to Howarth Park just down the hill from my hosts' house. There was a fair amount of chop on the water this morning, but it surprisingly settled down by around 8am. Once this happened I was able to pick out 3 Marbled murrelets floating around for year bird #526! Turning my new scope on the shore I located 2 Mew gulls for #527! This was a very strong morning indeed! These birds might have been a bit tougher had I hit the coast further south (say, Northern California), so I am glad to have knocked both of them out in a single hour. The murrelets were a good distance out, but I am very happy with the looks I had. This is a bird that is often only glimpsed before they dive not to be seen again. The birds today were just floating around and hanging out - nice! I got my scope back today so that is a big help.
Digiscoped Marbled murrelet for #526
Digiscoped Mew gull for #527
After the early morning successes, I returned home to pack up and hit the road. One giant problem: I managed to leave my cell phone on the kitchen sink when I filled my water bottles. The door clicked shut behind me, and that was it. Locked out. I could see the phone through the window. I used the laptop to snap a photo of my self-created situation! I looked around the house for an open door or a hide-a-key. No luck. UGH - I had to wait until they got home around 3pm. After I got my phone I moved to the north edge of Seattle (24 miles) from where I will tomorrow access downtown and its numerous bicycle repair shops. I didn't have much slated for today but to reach Seattle, so the phone issue didn't cost me too much on any front.
My plans for the next few days are starting to take shape nicely. Once I get these totally ironed out I will pass the along to you.
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