Is Sequim 'for the birds'?

Loads of new things to discover about living in Northwest Washington state. Nothing surprised me more than how birds, that I consider to be 'common', i.e. easy to find, are not quite as easy to find here as they were in California. Yes, it is likely just a matter of learning the new territory, but still, I have yet to find such 'common' species here, such as the Western Meadowlarks, and such. Where the heck are they? 

On the other side of the coin, there are birds here in Washington that were harder for me to locate in California, but are very nearly 'trash birds' here. For example, there is a Peregrine Falcon that I know to look for in Downtown Port Angeles. The large bird likes to sit atop a tall tree on top of a tree, easily visible from many spots. The proud fowl seems to be enjoying the easy life, living off the numerous downtown pigeons. 

Not that the falcon is always in its spot on the tree top, but it's nice to know it is sometimes there. 

Another bird is easy to find fall & winter, Trumpeter Swans. They seem to enjoy their time gleaning whatever-the-hell-it-is-they-eat, in fields that farmers have harvested. I see large flocks of Trumpeters, their heads a little dirty from digging in vacant corn fields and other harvested crops. 

Foraging Trumpeters in vacant corn field 

Happy gleaners

A spot where aquatic birds of many sort are often found is Ediz Hook in nearby Port Angeles. I was lolling there, in my car waiting for something interesting to fly in, and instead I watched something swim by. Is that a River OTTER?! It was

I got out the car so fast you would have thought it was on fire. I looked around and after a while I spotted the otter again, not to far away, eating a fish it caught. It laid on driftwood and debris just across from where I stood.

I don't know when it is going to be automatic for me to use video instead of still photos. But I took stills, and so how large that fish was, and come to that, what kind of fish it was isn't known. 

The otter seemed a little shy with me watching it, because it climbed down into the water. Then after a couple of minutes it swam over to me, stunning me to the point where I couldn't operate my camera (I was using my android phone). It stared at me for a half a minute or so, then disappeared back from where ever it came.  

Oh well. For all my fussing about birds I have yet to find up here, I have to say, while it took me twenty something years to get my California Yard bird list up to 48, it only taken a few months to get my Washington bird yard list up into the forties.  AND my WA yard list includes Bald Eagles galore, Townsends Solitaire, California Quail and a delightful host of others. 

Hooded Mergansers hard to find in Sacramento, but abundant in Sequim