Chasing Fall Migrants
I finally did something I’ve wanted to do for a while: get on a boat and go chasing birds out in the Salish Sea. I had previously scheduled myself for a trip out to look for Puffins, but it got cancelled due to weather. I ended up rescheduling for a fall migration trip instead. On Saturday, I headed out to Port Townsend for a three hour tour looking for fall migrants.
These trips are run by Puget Sound Express, which primarily does Whale Watching outings out of Port Townsend, Port Angeles, and Seattle. These are done in conjunction with the Port Townsend Marine Science Center which supplies the naturalist for the trip.
The trip was about 3 hours long, leaving from Port Townsend and headed out to Protection Island (where the Puffins nest in the summer), and then out to the shore along Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. The boat we were on was the Red Head, which seats 40, and this trip had about 25 on it. The boat is quite comfortable, with a nice inside cabin with 10 four person tables in it and good outside standing areas for visibility. I sat with a couple of women who both turned out to be ex-Californians, and one was a “pandemic birder” who has really fallen in love with with the activity. They gave me a few places to check out in the Seattle area, and I talked to them about spring birding along the Oregon coast, and we had a grand time.
Total species seen was about 25. I saw 22 and spent some time helping some of the less experienced birders get onto them when I could. No lifers, but two species that are new to me in Washington: Red-Necked Phalarope and Sooty Shearwater, and about 6 year birds. All in all, had a great time around fun people, got some nice pictures (but nothing earth-shaking) and had a lot of fun. Will definitely be doing this again in the spring and summer when the puffins return.
