Pomarine Jaeger in Mount Rainier National Park
Pomarine Jaeger in Mount Rainier National Park.-On the morning of September 1,1960, visibility was 40 to 50 miles in the Cascade Range of northwestern Washington with a heavy stratus cloud overcast at 14,000 to 15,000 feet. There had been rain and fog but no marked storms along the Washington coast in the preceding week and the winds were light and variable. About two inches of snow fell later in the day at 6500 feet on the east slope of the mountain.
At 9:30 a.m. at Panorama Point 6800 feet above sea level on the south slope of Mount Rainier, I watched a seabird skimming along the mountainside toward me several hundred yards to the northeast. As the bird approached, it was seen to be a large jaeger pursuing a steady course southwestward at about 6860 feet above sea level. It seemed to evince a sort of friendly curiosity by circling me once at a distance of about 50 feet. As it soared at right angles to my line of vision it was immediately recognizable by its elongated, round-tipped central tail feathers as a Pomarine Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) in dark phase.
Park Naturalist V. R. Bender states that this is the first record of the Pomarine Jaeger in Mount Rainier National Park. This species has been considered accidental on inland waters of the Pacific States-JAMES A. BRUCE, Wooster, Ohio, December 3, 1960.
