[Hiker Mama]

The past week there has been an exceedingly rare bird hanging out in Puget Sound. The swallow-tailed gull is normally a pelagic bird of South America, and breeds in the Galapagos. This is only the 3rd time one has been spotted in North America. Birders are going crazy for this little guy. He's been seen at Carkeek, the Everett Marina, Richmond Beach, Point Wells, the Nude Beach north of Point Wells, and yesterday it was hanging out on the breakwater of the Edmonds Marina and was visible from the fishing pier. It's the world's only nocturnal gull, so it is kind of boring during the day, as it snoozes among groups of other gulls. That makes it good to watch, though, as it camps out for hours in one spot so folks have time to drive to see it. I've been keeping tabs of it on Tweeters and the Western Washington Birders FB page. Our first attempt to see it on the weekend failed, as someone spooked it and it flew out of view. But yesterday I was able to go down to the Edmonds Marina and see it with a bunch of other ecstatic birders.

[AlpineRose]

That is really exciting! I wonder if I went to the Edmonds marina if someone would be around to show me where it was.

[Kim Brown]

Hiker Mama; why is this little guy here now? How exciting to see it, finally. How many trips have you taken before seeing it!

[Hiker Mama]

Kim, I only made 2 trips. I tried last weekend when it was at Point Wells, but it wasn't viewable from the road, you had to go down to the beach, and we weren't prepared for that. It's currently at Point Wells again, and has been for the last 2 days. Not the easiest place to get to, but folks are going down there. Alpine Rose, wherever the bird is, you will see birders with scopes and binoculars and giant cameras, and I bet someone will let you look through their scope. When we were at the pier, 2 people offered to let us look through their scopes before we even asked. It helps to have a cute kid along.

[grannyhiker]

[Hiker Mama]

It seems to be gone now, people haven't seen it in several days. I'm so glad it stuck around as long as it did. In the meantime, i started following a FB page with rare bird alerts. There are other rare birds around, I sure wish I had the freedom to chase them!