New species for the day: Varied Thrush & Pacific Wren

The view from Hurricane Ridge towards Mount Olympic – before the weather closed in

We were up early this morning for our excursion to Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park – 5,242 feet above sea level. Within ten minutes of arriving at the top, we were ticking-up on our first additional species for the trip – Varied Thrush. What a bird – despite the difficult viewing conditions! The supporting cast on the  nearby alpine meadows included American Pipit – which we’d not seen since Big Bend, Horned Lark and Gray Jay.  As the weather  closed in we descended to Port Angeles and spent the afternoon visiting Mary Mere Falls and Elwha River estuary. At the former site we added another trip-tick – Pacific Wren and had better views of American Dipper, which we’d last seen in Yosemite NP. At the estuary we had a flock of Harlequin Duck off-shore and several migrating Cedar Waxwing. Tomorrow we’re in the Holbuck Beach resort at Neah Bay, with limited internet, so it may be a few days before my next post.

Record shot of Varied Thrush – what a stunner

At Mary Mere Falls we added another trip tick – Pacific Wren