Click here to return to 2018 Birding Reports:  http://www.barry15.com/2018_Birding_Reports

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

 

The first of August.  A new beginning.  I didn't even look around the yard first, I just headed out, and my first stop was the Redmond Retention Ponds.  My first August bird was Canada Goose (r).  I'm going to indicate repeaters by (r) in today's report, to save a little typing.  There were also a number of Mallards (r) on the main pond, and Killdeer (r) around the edges.  Among the Mallards was one female Hooded Merganser (r) and I also found a single female Cinnamon Teal.  Here is the Cinnamon Teal.

 

She was much smaller than the Mallards and I saw her light blue wing patch as well, to confirm the identification.  The long black bill is also a confirmation of the ID.

 

Another birder urged me on to the small pond, where a Solitary Sandpiper was feeding along the edge.

 

There was a Greater Yellowlegs there, too.

 

Here's a picture that shows the Solitary Sandpiper and the Greater Yellowlegs both, making a nice size comparison.

 

Back on the main pond, I scanned the bushes at the south end of the pond and found the Wilson's Snipe that has been hanging around there lately.  That was an excellent species for this time of year.  Here is a picture of the Wilson's Snipe.

 

On the north edge of the main pond there were a couple of small shorebirds.  Here is a juvenile Spotted Sandpiper.

 

Here is a Least Sandpiper.

 

Here is a picture that shows the relative sizes of those two species.  The Least Sandpiper is the smaller one on the left.

 

I spotted a Bald Eagle (r) soaring overhead, and that was it for the Redmond Retention Ponds today.

 

I drove on over the hill into the Snoqualmie River Valley.  I picked up American Crow (r) and Great Blue Heron (r) along the way.  Going across the valley I saw three swallow species - Barn Swallow (r), Violet-green Swallow, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.  I also got American Robin (r), European Starling (r), and a single Cedar Waxwing.  Up on the road, south of Sikes Lake, I saw a Red-tailed hawk (r) being harassed by a couple of smaller birds.  I also got my first House Finch (r) of the day.  At the pond at Chinook Bend I saw some Gadwalls (r).  As I turned off the main road to go over to NE 60th St, I picked up Brewers Blackbird (r).  Along NE 60th St I came upon thirteen Turkey Vultures just standing around in a field.  I don’t know what they were all doing there.  None of them was eating, and I didn't see any carrion.  Here are the 13 Turkey Vultures.

 

Turkey Vulture isn't going to win any beauty contests.

 

There was also a Savannah Sparrow on a wire.  I went on to the house in Carnation with lots of bird feeders.  At first there wasn't much action, but I did see a few Band-tailed Pigeons (r) at the tops of some trees.

 

A few Mourning Doves (r) were around.  Here is one of them.

 

American Goldfinches were coming to the feeders and feeding on the ground.  Here is a female American Goldfinch.

 

Here are three male American goldfinches at a feeder.

 

There were two or three House Sparrows (r) around.  Here is a male House Sparrow.

 

There were a few Eurasian Collared-Doves (r) around and at least one Steller's Jay (r).  A couple of hummingbirds came to the sugar water feeder, but they were both Anna's Hummingbirds (r), not the harder to find Rufous Hummingbird that I see there sometimes.  I got one more picture, of a European Starling on the ground.

 

It was getting late by then (lunch time was fast approaching), so I headed back toward home.  On the way back across the valley, a Wood Duck (r) flew across the road.  Back here at home, I ate my lunch out on the front porch, and I picked up Dark-eyed Junco (r), Black-capped Chickadee (r), and Bewick's Wren (r) when they each came to our seed feeder.

 

I was only out there for about three hours today, and it is a half hour drive each way to my farthest point, so I'm satisfied with my count of 37 species today.  25 of those were repeaters, so I'm off to a good start on repeaters, too.  My year total stayed at 231 species.  August is underway.  Relatives are continuing to pour into town, so I don’t know how much more birding I'm going to be able to do in the next several days.

 

 

Thursday, August 2, 2018

 

Before I get into my report for Thursday, I saw a couple more species yesterday after I wrote my report in mid-afternoon.  Chestnut-backed Chickadee (r) came to the feeder, and there were a couple of Feral Pigeons (r) in the yard.  That increased my August 1 totals to 39 species and 27 repeaters, as of the end of yesterday.

 

Today I started out at Marymoor Park.  It was drizzling when I left home, but it had pretty much stopped by the time I got to Marymoor.  I walked along the slough through the off-leash dog park, hoping to find the Common Merganser with young that has been reported, but I never found it.  It started to drizzle heavier, and I turned back to the car sooner than I would have, so maybe I would have seen them without the rain.  I didn't find any Green Herons, either.  I did pick up Belted Kingfisher (r) and got a couple of pictures.

 

 

I got Common Yellowthroat for August, too.  Here are a couple of pictures of what I think are juvenile Common Yellowthroats, but maybe they are mature females.

 

 

I also saw a couple of Song Sparrows (r) there.

 

I went back to the car and drove around to the east end of the dog park.  There were dozens of Canada Geese on one of the athletic      fields.  I guess the ones that migrate are coming back from breeding in the far north.  There was also a bird nearby in the grass that I decided was a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird (r).  I was getting ready to take a picture of the cowbird when a yappy little dog ran out onto the field and chased all the birds away.  There were two teenage boys following the dog, but I couldn't tell if they were encouraging it or trying to get it back to them.  Whichever it was, the dog should not have been off-leash in that area.

 

I parked and walked up onto the so-called viewing mound at the north end of the East Meadow.  I played the song of Lazuli Bunting, and eventually I did see a couple of immature Lazuli Buntings, an excellent August bird.  Unfortunately, they flew off before I could get a picture.

 

It was threatening to start raining again, so I drove around to the north end of Lake Sammamish, to the place where I can observe some Purple Martin nest boxes from the car.  The Purple Martins were still around, so that one went onto my August list.  There was a mature Bald Eagle perched on the top of one cluster of nest boxes and an immature Bald Eagle perched on another one.  The poor little intimidated Purple Martins were sitting nearby in groups, waiting to be able to get back to their nests, where their young ones no doubt were waiting for them and wanting to be fed.

 

After that I decided to head up into the hills to Tokul Creek to try for American Dipper.  I parked and walked out onto the bridge.  I saw nothing upstream, and at first saw nothing downstream, but then I spotted an American Dipper (r) sitting on a rock.

 

I watched it for at least fifteen minutes, but it never did anything except preen a little bit from time to time.

 

I guess it was taking a break.

 

It was getting close to lunch time by then, so I headed for home.  I chose to take the long way, across the Snoqualmie River Valley.  I stopped briefly at the Carnation house with feeders, hoping to see a Rufous Hummingbird, but there was very little action there, and the only hummer I saw was a male Anna's.  At Sikes Lake I did see a distant Pied-billed Grebe (r), and that was my last bird of the day.

 

I added 9 more species to my August list, to bring it to 47 species.  Five of those were repeaters, so now I have seen 32 species in each of the first 8 months of this year.

 

Relatives continue to arrive from California for the big reunion weekend.  We had nine people for dinner on Tuesday night, 11 last night, and tonight there should be 11 again, I think, although a somewhat different 11 than last night, as some of last night's guests are off doing things in Seattle tonight.  Tomorrow night I think there are supposed to be 19 or 20 for dinner, if everyone gets here.

 

 

Friday, August 3, 2018

 

We did indeed have 11 for dinner last night, but by the time dessert had rolled around, there were 18 of us.  It was cool enough outside that we ate indoors, after eating outside the two nights previously.  Tonight we expect about 30 for dinner, and I think it will be outside, if it warms up enough.

 

This morning I stole away a couple of times for brief birding forays.  First I went over to Log Boom Park in Kenmore and found the two juvenile Green Herons that have been reported there this week.

 

That was an excellent August bird, and I wanted to get it before they move on.  Based on the wispy white feathers on their heads, I don't think they fledged very long ago.  One of them moved away and stretched its wing.

 

Then it flew a bit more and showed how it can raise its crest.

 

Here is the other one, still standing in the same place.

 

I went back home then because it was drizzling slightly and I had forgotten my flannel shirt.  I went out again, to the Brightwater water treatment facility north of Woodinville and saw one of the juvenile American Coots (r) I had seen there last month.  I would have gotten a picture, but it was drizzling harder then, so I just took a look at it from the car.

 

On my way home I stopped by the Ste. Michelle winery in south Woodinville to check out the pond there.  The scruffy looking male American Wigeon (r) I saw there last month was still there, so it went onto my August list.  That was the only American Wigeon I saw in July, and I expect it will be the only one I see in August.  By September they should be coming back for the winter.  Some of the other duck species should be coming back by late August, too.

 

He is missing quite a few feathers, and I don't know what's going on with him.  It is interesting to see the various types of feathers he has, though, I think.  Maybe this is just a normal molt, but I suspect he lost some feathers for some other reason.

 

So, I only got out for two short trips today, and I added just 3 more species to my August list, to bring it to 50.  Two of them were repeaters, so now I have 34 species in each month so far this year.  Tomorrow is the big picnic, and I doubt I'll get out for any birding.

 

PS - Here's a shot of our dinner setup for 28 people.

 

 

 

Monday, August 6, 2018

 

All the California relatives are gone now, and things are getting back to normal.  Today I went up to Fobes Road, west of the town of Snohomish.  I soon saw my main target species, Eastern Kingbird.

 

It was very quiet, with no swallows at all, and I had been hoping for Tree Swallow.  No ducks of interest, either.  I didn't even hear a Marsh Wren.  I did see a Willow Flycatcher, though, my secondary target species.

 

That was all I got, and I had an early lunch appointment down in Bellevue, so I headed south.  As I drove away I did spot a Northern Flicker (r) fly across the road, so I had three August species.

 

After lunch, Chris and I went over to Phantom Lake, as usual.  There were some birds around today, and I added Bushtit to my August list.  I also added Osprey.  One was repeatedly diving into the lake, but I never saw that it caught a fish.  Another one was fishing where we didn't see it, until it flew by with a fish.  I tried for pictures, but never got a decent one.

 

So, I managed to add 5 species to my August list, to bring it to 55 species.  Northern Flicker was a repeater, and that brings me to 35 species that I have seen every month so far this year.

 

 

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

 

Today I went on an all day trip over to Whidbey Island with my cousin, Bruse, who is visiting from Hawaii.  We caught the 10:00 ferry from Mukilteo and stopped on the island to get a sandwich.  Our first birding stop was Deer Lagoon.  I had visited the lagoon from the south side in the past, but this time we walked the trail from the north side.  There were a lot of Mallards in the west lagoon, but I spotted one smaller duck.  I decided it was a Green-winged Teal (r) when I saw a sliver of its green wing patch.  There was also a male Ruddy Duck (r) that was still in breeding plumage, way out there.  The only other bird I got for my list was a single American White Pelican, way over on the other side of the lagoon.

 

We moved on to Crockett Lake, but they were doing road construction and I couldn't stop and look at shorebirds with my scope.  There were many dozens of American White Pelicans hanging out there.  Here is a picture that is blurry because of heat haze.

 

Across the road, adjacent to the Keystone ferry terminal, there were the usual cormorants sitting on an old pier, and I was able to identify all three local cormorant species - Pelagic Cormorant (r), Brandt's Cormorant, and Double-crested Cormorant (r).  I also saw California Gull (r), Heermann's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull (r), and Pigeon Guillemot (r) there.

 

Next we drove up to Hastie Lake beach access and ate our lunch in the car.  After eating, I got out and used my scope.  It was windy, which was a problem for two reasons.  First, the wind would make my scope and tripod vibrate, and second, the waves would hide the birds for much of the time.  There were at least a couple of dozen Harlequin Ducks there, which was one I wanted for my list.  Here are three Harlequin Ducks.  I'm not sure if they are males or females, since my field guide says the males look like the females at this time of year.

 

There were lots of Surf Scoters (r) there.  I also saw a couple of Common Loons (r) and at least one Pacific Loon there.  There were also 6 or 8 Western Grebes (r), and I saw a couple of Rhinoceros Auklets (r) flying past.  Considering the wind, I was doing pretty well with the sea birds.

 

Moving on up the road to West Beach county park, I found a couple of White-winged Scoters in with the Surf Scoters.  Across the road at the lagoon or lake I added Western Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher to my August list.  There were some ducks out on the lake, and I think this next picture is a Northern Pintail, although it looks pretty plain in its eclipse plumage.

 

There were some other, smaller ducks diving, and I think they were Ruddy Ducks.  Here is a picture of a duck that I can't identify.

 

My best guess is Ruddy Duck, but it doesn’t really look right for that.

 

We stopped one more time at the north end of the lake and I looked out over the saltwater to the west.  I found a female Red-breasted Merganser, which was a great August bird.  Here is a picture of the Old Rambler, taken by Bruse with my camera.  I wasn't aware of it until I looked at my pictures tonight.  I guess I left my camera in my car, and he found it.

 

We drove on to Rosario Beach, on Fidalgo Island, and I found a single Black Oystercatcher, my target species there.  After that we headed for home.  I stopped on the way at the house on Valentine Road that has feeders, and I added Downy Woodpecker (r) to my August list.  At the time I thought it was a Hairy Woodpecker, and maybe there were two of them, actually.  The only picture that is any good is a male Downy Woodpecker, though, so that is what I am counting.

 

There were Red-breasted Nuthatches (r) at the suet feeder, too.

 

I didn't need it, but here is a picture of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

 

We stopped one more time at the Hayton Preserve, and I got this picture of a juvenile Bald Eagle, not one I needed for August.

 

That was it for today.  I added 24 more species to my August list, to bring it to 79 species.  13 of those were repeaters, and now I have 48 species that I have counted in each month this year.

 

 

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

 

Before I get into today's exciting adventures, I need to report that I missed counting two species yesterday - Caspian Tern and Mew Gull.  That makes yesterday's total 26 species, and after yesterday, I actually had 81 species on my list this month, not the 79 I reported last night.  You'll want to correct your scorecard.

 

Today I kept close to home and went down to Juanita Bay Park, which is only about two miles away.  JBP was the first place I ever birded, and it was watching Pied-billed Grebes on their floating nests that first got me interested in birding, way back in 1998.  I consider it my "local patch", although I don't go there all that often any more.

 

Today I started by the parking lot, playing the calls of Golden-crowned Kinglet and Brown Creeper, where I have seen both species in the past.  No luck this morning, so I moved on to the east boardwalk.  I played Marsh Wren calls in various places, but never got any response.  Out at the end of the boardwalk I looked around at the birds.  I saw an interesting duck on the opposite shore of the little bay, and I think it was a Green-winged Teal.  I didn't need it, but it is a good bird in the summer.  Here is a picture of what I think was a Green-wined Teal, probably a male in eclipse plumage.

 

On the same little beach there was a duckling or maybe a gosling.  It didn't seem to be attached to any of the ducks or geese in the area, and it didn't look like a Mallard duckling, which is the most common one.

 

It seemed large for a duckling, which is why I said it might have been a gosling, but it didn't really look like a baby Canada Goose, either.  I think it was odd that it seemed to be on its own.  It went into the water and swam off, but no other birds paid any attention to it.

 

On that same beach was a pair of Gadwalls and a dowitcher, which is a long-billed shorebird.  Here is a picture that shows the Gadwalls, the dowitcher, and the duckling or gosling.

 

I would have said the duckling was the offspring of that female Gadwall on the right, but the duckling swam off on its own and the Gadwall didn't pay any attention to it.

 

Here are some shots of the dowitcher.

 

 

 

I like the reflections in the last one.  There are two species of dowitcher around here, Long-billed and Short-billed.  Because of the bill length, the curvature of the lower back, and the placement of the eye in the head, I'm calling this a Short-billed Dowitcher, which just happens to be the one I still needed for August.

 

Meanwhile, while I was taking those pictures, a Virginia Rail called loudly from very near by.  I never did see it, but it called repeatedly, so it went onto my August list.  It was a repeater.  There was also a river otter on the same beach as the dowitcher and the duckling.

 

I didn't see or hear anything else out on the boardwalk that I needed, but I took some more pictures.  Here are a couple of American Coots, which are uncommon here in the summer.

 

Here is a juvenile Wood Duck.

 

Finally, here is a Pied-billed Grebe, the species I watched when I first got interested in birds.

 

The day was warming up by then, so I headed for home.  Back at the parking lot, I tried once more for Golden-crowned Kinglet, and this time I got two or three of them to respond and fly in to check me out.  They flitted around a lot and kept landing in places with little light, which made it difficult for my camera to get focused on them, but finally I got a couple of decent pictures of Golden-crowned Kinglets.

 

 

On my way home I stopped at the fire station road, in the east part of the park.  I played the calls of Hairy Woodpecker, but I didn't manage to attract one.  I did spot a woodpecker high in a dead tree, though.  It turned out to be a Red-breasted Sapsucker, which was an excellent bird.  It was far away and the lighting was absolutely terrible, but here are two heavily processed pictures of it anyway.

 

 

I only got four more species for my August list today, and only one was a repeater.  That gives me 85 species for August and 49 repeaters this month.  That is, I have seen those 49 species in each month this year so far.

 

It was up around 90 degrees again today, for the 3rd or 4th day in a row.  Tomorrow is supposed to be our last 90 degree day, and then we get some relief.  By Saturday they are saying there will be thundershowers and a high of only 72.  Bring it on!  We really need the rain, and 72 sounds wonderful to me.

 

 

Thursday, August 9, 2018

 

My plan today was to go over to the Kitsap Peninsula, to Point No Point.  That meant I had to catch a ferry at Edmonds.  I ran into two or three traffic delays on the way, and I just missed the 9:40 ferry, so I went to the Edmonds Marsh to see if I could see anything there, planning to catch the 10:30 ferry.  I saw some Western Sandpipers and some Least Sandpipers, but I didn't need either of those species for August.  I was playing Marsh Wren songs when I noticed a hawk sitting on a bird house.  It turned out to be a Cooper's Hawk, an excellent August bird.

 

It sat there looking around while I went around behind it and got more pictures.

 

That was a nice surprise, and after that I caught the 10:30 ferry to Kingston.  I picked up a tuna sandwich at Subway and proceeded to Point No Point.  I soon found a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls, which was a repeater and one of my main targets for the day.  Bonaparte's Gulls are small gulls that have a black hood in breeding season.  In the winter they retain only a small black spot behind the eye.  The ones I saw today were in the process of changing to non-breeding plumage, and there was a whole range of different amounts of black on their heads.  Here are a couple of pictures showing the various amounts of black on the head.

 

 

I saw a few Rhinoceros Auklets, which I didn't need for August, but here is a picture of one.

 

More importantly, I saw two Common Murres, and that was another one I was especially looking for today.  I also saw one White-crowned Sparrow, which was not only an August bird, it was a repeater.

 

I ate my lunch there, after walking around playing the calls of California Scrub-Jay and getting no responses.  There were some swallows flying around and landing on wires, so I took a good look at them.  I thought some might be Cliff Swallows, which I need for August, but they turned out to all be Barn Swallows, which I didn't need.  Here are a couple of pictures of Barn Swallows.

 

 

On my way back to the ferry, I stopped at Driftwood Key.  Red-necked Grebes had been reported there this week, and I managed to see at least three of them in the distance.  That was another excellent August bird.  They will be very common for the rest of the year, but I might not see them again until September.  They have been off somewhere breeding, and now they are starting to come back, it seems.

 

I saw some Purple Martins there, but I already had that one for August.  There were also a lot of little "peeps", and they all seemed to be Western Sandpipers.  Here are three pictures of Western Sandpipers.

 

 

 

I caught the 3:10 ferry for home.  From the ferry I got this picture of a cormorant.

 

At the time I thought it was a Pelagic Cormorant, but after looking at the picture, I think it was a Brandt's Cormorant, due to the brown patch at the base of the bill and the shape of the forehead.  I didn't need any of the three local cormorant species, since I had seen them all on Whidbey Island earlier in the week, but I saw all three of them today, too.

 

I got 5 more species for my August list today, which gives me 90 species for August now.  Two of them were repeaters, so now I have 51 species that I have seen in each month this year.

 

One of the reasons I went over to the Kitsap Peninsula today was to beat the heat, and that worked out great.  The temperatures by the water were in the 70's, and I dodged the 90 degrees we had over here in town.  It is supposed to be 85 here tomorrow, which is still too hot for me, but 85 is better than 90, anyway.  Saturday is supposed to be in the low 70's with showers.  Bring it on!

 

 

Friday, August 10, 2018

 

This morning I started at Marymoor Park.  I was looking for the Common Merganser family that has been reported there for the last week or two.  I walked along the slough through the dog park, but I never saw the mergansers.

 

I did see a male Black-headed Grosbeak, which was a good August bird and a repeater.  It was on my list of birds to try to see before they left on migration.  Later I saw a Spotted Towhee, an easy bird that I hadn't yet seen this month.  I was almost back to my car when I spotted a bird on a fence across the slough.  I thought it might be a crow, but it seemed too small.  It tuned out to be a male California Quail, a species I hadn't ever seen at Marymoor before.

 

Seeing it today will save me a trip or two over to Richmond Beach, where I see California Quail about 50% of the times I go there.  It was even a repeater, a species I have seen in each month this year.

 

There was another bird in a dead tree across the slough, and it turned out to be a male Northern Flicker, one I didn't need for August.

 

Then I saw some small birds flying around, seemingly chasing each other.  They turned out to be two juvenile American Goldfinches and one adult.  The youngsters were begging for food, I guess, because I got some distant pictures of the parent feeding one of the young ones.

 

 

I didn't need American Goldfinch, but I thought the pictures were interesting.

 

Before I left Marymoor I drove along the north side of the community gardens, looking for Rufous Hummingbird, which had been reported there yesterday.  I surprised myself and actually found one, an excellent August bird and another one that I wanted to see before they migrate south.  The summer birds are leaving now, making it difficult to find them as their numbers decrease.

 

Next I drove to the Redmond Retention Ponds.  I was looking for a shorebird that I hadn't seen yet this year, but which had been reported there recently.  While I was looking around for shorebirds, I got this picture of a female Hooded Merganser, a good August species that I already had this month.

 

There was a dowitcher there, but I already had both local species of dowitcher this month.  I think it was a Long-billed Dowitcher.  There was also a Greater Yellowlegs, another species I already had seen this month.  Here are a couple of pictures of the Greater Yellowlegs.

 

 

Here is a size comparison of the Greater Yellowlegs and the Long-billed Dowitcher.

 

Seeing the Greater Yellowlegs near the dowitcher was nice because the other shorebird I was looking for is about the same size as the dowitcher, and Greater Yellowlegs is somewhat larger.

 

I did find the one I was looking for, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, my first one of the year.  Here is a picture of the Lesser Yellowlegs, which looks very much like a smaller version of Greater Yellowlegs.

 

In addition to being smaller than Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs has a shorter bill, compared to the length of its head.  Just to make it conclusive that it was a Lesser Yellowlegs, not a Greater, I got a couple of pictures of the Lesser Yellowlegs and the dowitcher.  They are about the same size, while the Greater Yellowlegs was significantly larger than the dowitcher.

 

 

That was it for today.  I added 5 more species to my August list, to bring it to 95 species.  Two of them were repeaters, to give me 53 repeaters now.  The Lesser Yellowlegs was a new year-bird, to give me 232 species for the year.

 

It was noticeably cooler today, but still too hot for me (low 80's).  Tomorrow is supposed to be 73 with a chance of thunderstorms.  We could really use some rain, but I'm not expecting much.  It sure will be nice to have the temperature in the 70's again.

 

 

Saturday, August 11, 2018

 

Today I decided to go looking for four recently reported species that I needed for August.  None was very likely, but I thought I would gamble.  My first stop was the JB sod fields in Woodinville, looking for the Snow Goose that has been seen there in the last week a couple of times.  I didn't get it.  0 for 1.

 

Next I drove up to Tulalip Bay, to look for Black-bellied Plovers.  I knew the tide was too low to have much of a chance, and that's exactly how it worked out.  No shorebirds at all, and the tide was lower than I have ever seen it there before.  0 for 2.

 

After that I drove down to the Everett waterfront.  There were a lot of Ospreys around, and at least 5 nests.  I stopped first at the north parking area to look for the Great Egret that had been reported there yesterday, but I didn't see it.  0 for 3.  I didn't see any shorebirds, either, and the other species I was looking for there was Semipalmated Plover, a very small shorebird.

 

I stopped at the south parking area, and then went on to the boat launch area.  I still didn't see anything at all interesting except Ospreys and Caspian Terns, neither of which I needed.  There was one Osprey nest that was not too distant, although it wasn't close, by any means.  There seemed to be a couple of juvenile Ospreys in the nest, and a couple of adults nearby.  One of the adults seemed to have a fish, and when it took off and flew towards the nest, I got ready, and I managed to snap this picture of the adult Osprey bringing a fish to the youngsters in the nest.

 

Here is a picture of the two juvenile Ospreys in the nest, after they had eaten their meal.

 

About that time I spotted a large group of little "peeps" way out on the mud.  I set up my scope, although I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to tell the different species apart.  I was looking for Semipalmated Plover, and they are distinctive in appearance.  I was just barely able to tell that I couldn't find any in the group of hundreds of little shorebirds.  I think they were Western Sandpipers, but I can't be sure that some of them weren't Least Sandpipers.  No Semipalmated Plovers, though.  0 for 4.  Four species I wanted, and I got none of them.

 

I thought I might be able to get a better look at the peeps from one of the parking areas along the road, so went to the south one and I did find the shorebirds, and they were indeed a little closer.  I scanned them all again, but still couldn’t find any Semipalmated Plovers.  I was still 0 for 4.

 

I was ready to head for home, but I took one more look around and darned if I didn’t see the Great Egret in the far distance!  I went to the north parking area, to get closer, and I found it from there.  It was ridiculously far away for pictures, but I tried anyway.  The bird kept preening for about 15 minutes, while I kept trying to get a distant picture.  I finally got one that is at least good enough to identify the bird, although it was still preening.

 

Considering the distance, that picture is better than I expected to get.  I tried something new, to try to stabilize my camera.  I took my scope off the tripod and set the camera on top of the tripod, holding it with both hands.  It seemed to help keep the camera steady.  I also switched the exposure to manual, set a faster shutter speed, and I got two more pictures after the bird finally quit preening.

 

 

Great Egret is quite uncommon around this area - enough so that eBird lists it on its notable sightings list, which is where I found out about it.  I ended up going 1 for 4 when all was said and done.  That one species today brings me to 96 species for August.

 

 

Monday, August 13, 2018

 

I had a lunch appointment in Bellevue today, but I stopped at Marymoor Park on my way there.  First I walked to the weir on the slough, trying for the Common Merganser that others have seen there.  I saw nothing interesting.

 

Next I went over to the east side of the dog park and walked on the trail down to the lake.  It was completely quiet.  I didn't see anything and I didn't hear anything until I got close enough to the lake to hear the Purple Martins around the nest gourds chattering.  I took some pictures of the Purple Martins.  Here is a male Purple Martin.

 

Here's a female Purple Martin.

 

Here are two Purple Martin chicks looking out from a nest gourd.

 

A pair of Purple Martins sat on the top of the gourds and posed for me.

 

One of the adults flew past the chicks, and they responded by begging, with their mouths wide open.

 

At one point a third chick joined its siblings in the nest hole.

 

Four adults posed for me, with chicks showing in both nest holes.

 

I headed back to my car, continuing to play the calls of several species, but I never got any responses.  When I was most of the way back to the car, though, I saw a bird fly into a tree, and it turned out to be a Western Wood-Pewee, an August bird.  I played its call in an attempt to get it to come back, and another bird flew in and looked at me.  I eventually decided it was an Orange-crowned Warbler, another good August bird.  It seemed too brown, but I couldn't think of anything else it could have been.

 

After lunch we went to Phantom Lake, as usual.  I didn't see anything else I needed, but there was a Great Blue Heron in the lily pads, hunting.  It didn't seem like a place the bird could catch a fish, but it did catch a crawdad.  Here is a series of pictures showing the Great Blue Heron getting the crawdad ready for swallowing.

 

 

 

 

The bird swallowed the crawdad whole and resumed its hunting for more food.

 

So, I got two more species for my August list today, to bring it to 98 species now.  I still have 53 repeaters and 232 species for the year.

 

 

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

 

Today I took an all day trip up to Skagit county, which is about an hour north of home.  My first stop was Wylie Slough, but before I even got there, I got my first August bird of the day, and it was a repeater as well.  A Northern Harrier (r) flew across the road right in front of me.

 

I parked near the boat ramp and got out.  I saw a Swainson's Thrush, another August bird, and I got a couple of pictures.

 

 

 

I heard a bird calling, and played the song of Yellow Warbler because I thought that might be what it was.  A Yellow Warbler actually flew in and I got a good look at it, a great August bird.  The light was all wrong for pictures, though.  It was very hazy today, due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, and the light was poor all day long.

 

I had read that there was a family of Eastern Kingbirds there, with recently fledged young, and I saw 2 or 3 Eastern Kingbirds around.  I already had that one this month, but it is an excellent bird in that area.  Here is a picture of one on a wire.

 

I looked for the Black Phoebe that has been hanging out there for months, but I couldn’t find it.  I parked in the western parking lot and walked out along the dike.  The tide was in and the water was much too high for shorebirds, so that eliminated Pectoral Sandpiper, which I had hoped to see.  I played the songs of Marsh Wren, but never could get any response from one.  At the birding blind I saw a couple of female Northern Shovelers, which was an excellent bird for August.  Here is a female Northern Shoveler, showing her odd bill, with a reflection as well.

 

That's all I saw there, and I moved on to Hayton Reserve.  The tide was wrong for that location, too, for shorebirds, but I did see some gulls, including a distant Ring-billed Gull (r).  That was the last of the six local gull species for August for me.

 

I drove to the house on Valentine Road that has feeders, and as I drove up I saw the bird I was looking for there, Hairy Woodpecker (r).  Here is a male Hairy Woodpecker at the suet feeder.

 

There was also a male Downy Woodpecker there.

 

Hairy Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker look very much alike, but they are quite different sizes.  When you see just one of them, you have to look closely to tell which one it is, but today they were both on the feeder at the same time, so it was very easy to tell the difference.  The smaller Downy Woodpecker is on the left, with the larger Hairy Woodpecker on the right.

 

A Bushtit came to the suet, too.

 

I can't understand why the tail is so short on that Bushtit.  Here is another picture of what I thought was the same bird, although maybe one flew off and another one came in.

 

It can't possibly be the same bird, I guess, since the tail is so much longer in the second picture.  Here is a third picture, and in this one you can see that it is a female Bushtit because the eye is light colored.

 

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee flew in, too.

 

I sat there in my car for maybe a half hour, eating my Subway tuna sandwich and taking pictures, and I didn't see another Hairy Woodpecker.  Timing is everything.  I drove up at just the right time.  A female Downy Woodpecker did come in, though.

 

Even without another bird for size comparison, Downy Woodpecker can be distinguished by the short little bill, compared to Hairy Woodpecker.

 

I had six August birds at that point, which was way better than I had expected to do today, but I had time, so I drove north to the Skagit Flats, looking for some birds that I needed that are fairly common up there.  First I saw a couple of Common Ravens (r) for my August list.  Soon after that I saw an American Kestrel (r) on a pole.  Unfortunately, it flew off before I could get a picture.  I did get a picture of one of the several Red-tailed Hawks I saw today, though.

 

I drove through the tiny town of Edison, looking for the Merlin that I've seen there in the past, but I didn't see it today.  Some Merlins migrate, and I think the Edison Merlin is a migrating one.  I see it in the winter sometimes, and I'm not usually up there in the summer.

 

I headed for home, but I had time, so I stopped at Wiley Slough again.  I hoped that the tide had gone out, and it had, but not enough to provide enough mud for shorebirds to show up.  I took some pictures of the Cinnamon Teals that were around.  Here is a female Cinnamon Teal, a very plain duck that I already had for August.

 

I think this next picture is a male Cinnamon Teal in eclipse (non-breeding) plumage.

 

The eye is red and there are still a few red feathers on its tail.

 

I had seen a Cooper's Hawk earlier, but my pictures were terrible because the light was so poor.  On my second visit I saw one again, probably the same bird, and this time I got a distant picture that is okay.  I already had that one for August.

 

I also saw a Belted Kingfisher and got a very distant picture of it.

 

When I was almost back to my car I looked around one last time for the Black Phoebe that I figured was somewhere around, and I found it, to the west of where I have seen it in the past.  That was an excellent August bird, a rarity for this area.

 

I added 9 more species to my August list today, which was about twice as many as I had expected to see today.  Now I have 107 species in August.  Four of them were repeaters, to give me 58 species I have seen in each month this year so far.

 

 

Thursday, August 16, 2018

 

Today's report is pretty simple and pretty short.  I set out to find a California Scrub-Jay at the location near the University of Washington where I have seen them several times.  They are quite uncommon in this county, but there is a family of them at this particular site.  On the way I stopped at Magnuson Park in the hopes of seeing a Cliff Swallow, but I think all the locally-breeding Cliff Swallows have migrated south now.  The only swallows around now are Barn Swallows, although it would be theoretically possible to see another species that bred farther north, on its way south.  I still need Tree Swallow and Cliff Swallow for August, and they are both possible but unlikely now.

 

I went on to my scrub-jay site and parked in a loading zone.  I walked up and down the street, playing the call of California Scrub-Jay, but I got no responses.  I was almost back to my car when I spotted a California Scrub-Jay near the top of a tree.  I played the call some more, and it responded with the identical call back to me.  I got a couple of pictures, neither one very good, but they both show the bird, despite the terrible lighting.

 

I'm not sure why it looks so scruffy.  The wind was blowing, but not all that hard.  Maybe it had just had a bath.

 

Anyway, scruffy or not, I had my August bird, and it was a repeater as well.  On my way home I stopped at Log Boom Park in Kenmore, but I saw nothing interesting there.

 

California Scrub-Jay added one more to my August list to give me a total of 108 species for August now.  It was a repeater, so now I have seen 59 species in each month this year.

 

 

Friday, August 17, 2018

 

Today I started at Marymoor Park.  I walked along the slough, looking for Common Merganser, which has been reported there a number of times lately.  I had tried two or three times before this month, but today I finally found them.  It was a female with three young.  The young ones are pretty big now, almost adult sized, but they are still hanging around together.  Here are the Common Mergansers, a repeater.

 

I walked a little farther and heard a bird calling repeatedly.  It turned out to be a Western Wood-Pewee at the top of a dead tree.  I didn't need it for August, but I got a picture.

 

Next I went around to the west side of the slough, to the pond near the rowing club.  There were three female Hooded Mergansers and a female Wood Duck there, so I took pictures, even though I didn't need either species for August.  Here are two female Hooded Mergansers.

 

Here's a closer picture of one of them.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the female Wood Duck.

 

 

Here is the female Wood Duck and the third female Hooded Merganser.

 

From there I drove through the park and then to Evans Creek Natural Area.  There were some swallows on wires along the way, and I determined that they were Barn Swallows and Violet-green Swallows.  I didn't need either one of them, but I got pictures.  Here is a juvenile Barn Swallow.

 

Here's a Violet-green Swallow.

 

I moved on to the Redmond Retention Ponds.  I didn't expect to get anything I needed, but I wanted to try for pictures and also to see what I could find there.  At the south end of the main pond there were a couple of shorebirds, a Greater Yellowlegs and a Lesser Yellowlegs.  Here is the Greater Yellowlegs.

 

Here is the Lesser Yellowlegs, with its shorter bill and smaller size.

 

Their plumage is different, too, but that's only because they are at different stages of changing from breeding plumage to non-breeding plumage.  The size of the bird and the length of the bill with respect to the length of the head are the identifying characteristics.

 

Here are two more pictures of the Greater Yellowlegs, with its longer bill.

 

 

Here are two more pictures of the Lesser Yellowlegs.

 

 

A close inspection of the ducks on the main pond showed that several of them were teals of some kind.  There are three species of teal around here - Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, and Blue-winged Teal.  Green-winged Teal is fairly easy to identify, but the females of the other two species are very similar.  Here is a female Green-winged Teal, showing the greenish patch on her wing.

 

A couple of the other ones showed blue patches on their wings.

 

 

You can only see a sliver of the blue patch, but it shows that the birds are either Cinnamon Teal or Blue-winged Teal.  Here is one more picture.

 

Based on the markings on their faces and the shapes of their bills, I'm calling them female Blue-winged Teal, which is the teal species I still needed for August.

 

There was a juvenile Spotted Sandpiper foraging on the far side of the pond, too.

 

I was almost ready to leave when a Long-billed Dowitcher showed up as well.

 

So, I ended up adding two more species to my August list - Common Merganser and Blue-winged Teal.  That gives me 110 species now for August.  Common Merganser was a repeater, and now I have 60 species that I have seen in all 8 months of this year so far.

 

 

Saturday, August 18, 2018

 

Today I went birding with a second cousin, Bill, and his wife, Linda.  They are visiting this area from Colorado.  Our first stop was the Redmond Retention Ponds.  We quickly saw shorebirds there - Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Solitary Sandpiper.  Another birder who was already there said there was at least one Least Sandpiper around, too, as well as at least one Greater Yellowlegs, but I never saw either one of those.  I paid particular attention to the ducks, and I spotted at least three female Blue-winged Teals.  Here is a female Blue-winged Teal, I think.

 

That was a lot of "good" birds, but I didn’t actually need any of them for August.

 

Next we went over the hill into the Snoqualmie River Valley, where we spent the rest of our birding day.  We saw swallows at a lot of places, but the only species I felt confident identifying was Barn Swallow.  I know some were not Barn Swallows, but I couldn't positively identify any other species today.  No, I take that back.  At one point I could identify a Violet-green Swallow, but I didn't need that one for August.

 

We walked on the trail at the Stillwater Unit of the Snoqualmie Valley Wildlife Area.  My main targets there were Brown Creeper and Marsh Wren.  I played the songs of both, at various places, but I never saw or heard either species today.  We saw various other species, but not really very many.  August is definitely a slow time for birding around here.  We did see Wood Ducks at two or three points, and I got these two pictures of a female Wood Duck.

 

 

We heard a bird calling repeatedly at one point, and it wasn't until we saw it that I realized it was Spotted Towhee.  The light was poor, but here is a picture of a male Spotted Towhee.

 

I did get lucky and spot an American Bittern as it flew in to a landing.  That was an excellent August bird, but it would have been nice to get a better view and to have been able to show it to Bill and Linda.

 

Eventually we moved on and stopped in Duvall to get sandwiches at Subway.  We ate at McCormick Park in Duvall and went on to W. Snoqualmie River Road NE.  We saw a female Black-headed Grosbeak there, but not anything I needed.  There were a few birds, at least, including a lot of swallows, which were all Barn Swallows as far as I could tell.  We did see a Cedar Waxwing, which I always enjoy seeing.

 

We next went on to the Cherry Valley Conservation Area, north of Duvall, and got out and walked again.  There were some swallows, and while looking at them, I realized that at least a couple of them weren't swallows at all, but were swifts.  We got good binocular looks at them, and we jointly decided that they were my first BLACK SWIFTS of the year.  Outstanding!

 

We saw a Mourning Dove on a wire in the distance, and then an immature Bald Eagle flew over and I got this picture.

 

We saw Red-tailed Hawks at least a couple of times and a soaring Turkey Vulture once, somewhere along the way today.  After Cherry Valley we drove past the old Monroe Prison Farm site and drove around the Tualco Loop.  There were more swallows, but again I couldn't identify anything I needed.  At a dairy farm there were a lot of crows on the ground, and I spotted a Cooper's Hawk among them.

 

The hawk flew up onto a wooden structure and I took more pictures.  Here it is looking up at something.

 

Here are two more pictures of the Cooper's Hawk.

 

 

That was it for the day.  We stopped at Crescent Lake, but didn't see anything but a distant Cedar Waxwing.

 

I didn't see either of the two species I was most looking for today (Marsh Wren and Brown Creeper), but I got a year bird (Black Swift) and another excellent August bird (American Bittern).  That gives me 112 species for August and 233 species for the year.  I still have 60 repeaters, and I'll have to look some more to try to find a Marsh Wren and a Brown Creeper, which are the two remaining repeaters that I have any hope of seeing this month.  I don't expect to see Bufflehead or Greater Scaup, which are the other two repeaters I could theoretically find.  The summer breeders are leaving now, and the fall returnees aren't back yet.  September will bring about some changes, and it will be interesting to see if there are more birds around in general, compared to the doldrums of July and August.

 

 

Sunday, August 19, 2018

 

Today I decided to stay close to home and to try for the 4th or 5th time this month to get Brown Creeper and Marsh Wren.  I thought those two repeaters would be fairly easy, but they are being very elusive this month.

 

First I drove over to the Sammamish Valley to look for a Snow Goose that has been seen with Canada Geese at a sod farm over there.  There weren't any geese at the north end of the farm, near the Ste. Michelle winery, so I drove around to the south end, along NE 124th St.  I saw a fairly large flock of geese in the distance, and I was able to pick out the white Snow Goose.  I drove around to the west side of the sod farm and was able to get a somewhat closer look, although I was still pretty far away.  Here's a distant picture that shows the Snow Goose with some Canada Geese.

 

Snow Geese are supposed to be far up north now, finishing up their breeding season, but this one seems to have joined up with this particular bunch of Canada Geese.  It was an excellent bird to get for August.

 

After that little detour, I went down to Juanita Bay Park, which is only about 2 or 3 miles from home.  I stopped at the fire station road first, and played the song of Warbling Vireo.  I didn't expect to get it, but a guy who sees huge numbers of species wherever he goes had reported a couple of Warbling Vireos at that location a day or two ago.  To my great surprise, a small bird flew in, but it turned out to be a Hutton's Vireo, an even more unlikely bird at that location.  The guy who sees so much had also reported Hutton's Vireo there, and I had planned to play that song, too.  Then, another little bird showed up and chased the Hutton's Vireo.  It turned out to be a Warbling Vireo!  I couldn't believe it.  I had both Hutton's Vireo and Warbling Vireo, and both were species I don't see very often at all.  I hadn't ever seen either species at Juanita Bay Park in the 20 years I have been birding there.  Now I have 98 species on my JBP list.

 

I didn't get a picture of the Hutton's Vireo, but I got some of the Warbling Vireo.

 

 

 

I also got this picture of a juvenile American Robin.

 

Next I went over to the main part of the park and walked up the steps from the parking lot.  I played Brown Creeper songs, but never got a sniff of one.  I walked out onto the east boardwalk and played Marsh Wren songs, but never got a sniff of a Marsh Wren, either.  The only picture I got there was this one of two female House Finches.

 

I went over to the west boardwalk, but I didn’t get anything interesting there, either.  I did take this picture of a Great Blue Heron, though.

 

On my way back to my car I continued to play Brown Creeper and Marsh Wren songs in suitable habitat, but I missed them both again today.

 

Back at home I sat out on the front porch and read.  I kept an eye on the bird feeder and bird bath, and I took some pictures.  None of my pictures of birds at the feeder came out any good.  I think that's because not much light gets through the foliage to where the birds sit at the feeder.  I did get some pictures of birds at the bird bath, though, and at flowers in the whiskey barrel near the bird bath.  The bird bath and the whiskey barrel are about 40 feet away from where I was sitting, so keep that in mind as you look at these pictures, which aren't all that great.  First, here are a couple of female Anna's Hummingbirds at the flowers.

 

Here is one of the female Anna's Hummingbirds.

 

Here is another shot from somewhat later, after I had eaten my lunch.

 

Here is a little sequence of a Dark-eyed Junco taking a bath in the bird bath.

 

 

 

When there wasn't any bird action, I watched the bees around the flowers along the walkway to the front porch.  These next two pictures were taken from about 8 or 10 feet away, as I sat on the porch in my chair.  Here is a yellowjacket wasp.

 

 

Back at the lilac bush next to the bird feeder, I spotted an unusual bird for our yard.  It didn't go to the feeder, but it was sitting where birds usually sit just before they do go to the feeder.  It turned out to be a flycatcher, of all things, and I got a couple of quick shots before it took off, never to be seen again.

 

 

It was a member of the empid flycatcher family, and they are notoriously difficult to identify, at least for me.  In this case, I feel pretty confident that it was a Pacific Slope Flycatcher, which is a great August bird for my list.  The shape of the white eye ring behind the eye, the two yellowish bars on the wing, and the overall greenish cast to the plumage indicates that it was a Pacific-slope Flycatcher.  It certainly wasn't one I was expecting to see while sitting on my front porch.  I have been looking for them everywhere all summer, because people report them all the time, but it is the first one I have seen in Washington State this year.

 

Here's a picture of a female House Sparrow, or maybe it is a juvenile.

 

Here is a Black-capped Chickadee that came in for a drink of water.

 

Finally, here is a picture of a Dark-eyed Junco and a Black-capped Chickadee together.

 

So, that was my exciting birding day today.  I added 4 more species to my August list, despite missing both fairly easy repeaters I was looking for.  That gives me 116 for August now, which is pretty respectable considering it is the doldrums of the birding year and I haven't even taken any overnight trips yet this month.  I only had 114 in July.  It's only the 19th, too, so I will most likely get more this month, even if I don't do an overnight trip out of the area.

 

It's supposed to be around 90 degrees the next three days, with lots of smoke in the air from wildfires.  I might go out in the mornings for a while, but I expect to spend most of those three days at home.

 

 

Monday, August 20, 2018

 

It was supposed to be 90 degrees here today, but there was good news and bad news on that front.  The good news was that it only got up to about 80.  The bad news was that the reason the temperature didn't get higher is because there was so much smoke in the air.  My eyes are swollen and sore.

 

I went up to Edmonds today.  My first stop was the Edmonds Marsh, where I hoped to get Marsh Wren or maybe a good shorebird.  There were no good shorebirds and I couldn't call up a Marsh Wren.  I did see a coyote, though, out in the marsh.

 

 

I stopped along Sunset Avenue and looked out over the water, but the best I could do was a couple of Rhinoceros Auklets and a couple of Pigeon Guillemots, neither of which I needed.  Nothing at Ocean Avenue either.  I moved on to Yost Park, to try for Brown Creeper or some other goodie.  I played Brown Creeper songs all along the main trail, but never saw anything.  At one point I played Pileated Woodpecker calls because I have seen them there, and to my surprise, soon after that a male Pileated Woodpecker showed up.  Getting pictures was tough because of the foliage, and my first picture was a peek-a-boo one through the leaves.

 

The bird kept flying back and forth over the trail, as I played its calls some more.  I finally got some pictures of it out in the open.

 

 

 

That was a great August bird, and I was pleased to get it.  I spotted a Downy Woodpecker, which I didn't need, but I tried for a picture.  While I was doing that a woman came along, walking three little dogs.  We talked and she said she had just seen an owl.  She tried to give me directions to where she saw it, but she didn't have a good sense of direction and couldn't really tell me.  She offered to take me to where she had seen it, and I gladly accepted.  We ended up taking a circuitous route that was about 3 or 4 times as far as the shortest route, and involved about twice as much uphill walking, but eventually we got there.  The owl had moved slightly, but there were a couple of people there looking at it, and I was able to add BARRED OWL to my year list.

 

The owl was in a difficult place for pictures  because of vegetation, and there was little light under the trees.  I managed some pictures, but they aren't really very sharp because of the adverse conditions.  Here is the Barred Owl from this morning.

 

 

Owls are interesting because they can look back over their shoulders, rotating their heads almost all the way around.

 

Here is a close up of its face.

 

I was worn out from the fast walk, downhill and uphill, to where the owl was, but I managed to make my way back across the valley (down and up again, but a much shorter route, and much more slowly) to my car.  I added two birds to my August list, despite not getting either Marsh Wren or Brown Creeper still again.  That gives me 118 for August.  I'll keep trying for Marsh Wren and Brown Creeper; it has become a challenge now.  The Barred Owl gives me 234 for the year now.

 

The smoky air is supposed to last for a couple more days, and it is supposed to be hot as well.  Maybe I'll just stay home, or maybe I'll venture out.

 

 

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

 

Well, I ventured out today into the heat and the smoky haze.  I drove up the freeway to Hayton Reserve, in south Skagit county.  I was looking for a couple of duck species that had been reported there yesterday, and I found them - a male Redhead and two Canvasbacks.  They were very distant, but I took this terrible picture because it shows the characteristic shape of the two Canvasbacks, which are the two ducks on the right.

 

Both Redhead and Canvasback are very uncommon in the summer in this area, which is why I knew about them  They had been on the eBird list of notable sightings yesterday.

 

I also saw a single Semipalmated Plover at Haton Reserve, and I got this picture.  That was a good August bird.

 

All my pictures today are poor, due to the distances, the light, and the smoke in the air.  They are good enough for identification, though, and that's my main goal on a day like today.

 

Having gotten three species there, I went back to Wylie Slough to see what I could get there.  I was hoping that the tide would be right, and it was.  I saw a raptor in a tree, in terrible light, and I had hopes it was a Peregrine Falcon because they have been reported there recently.  Unfortunately it was a female Northern Harrier, which I didn't need.  Here she is, though, terrible light and all.

 

I had stopped on my way into the reserve to play the song of Brown Creeper, in a place I have seen them before, but I didn't see one today.  I also played Marsh Wren in several likely places, but I never got any response from a Marsh Wren either.  Those two repeater species are really turning out to be difficult for me this month.

 

As I said, the tide was good and there were a lot of shorebirds feeding in the shallow water.  Unfortunately, at Wylie Slough the water is south of the dike trail, so you are looking right into the sun.  With all the smoke in the air, the conditions were absolutely terrible for pictures today.  Both dowitcher species and both yellowlegs species were there today.  Here are a couple of pictures of Lesser Yellowlegs.

 

 

I mostly didn't bother taking pictures of birds I didn't need today, due to the poor lighting conditions.  I saw a small shorebird that was different, and I figured out it was a phalarope, a species I definitely needed.  At the time I thought it must be a Red-necked Phalarope, since they had been seen there this week.  Later when I saw my pictures I realized that it was actually a Wilson's Phalarope, probably a juvenile.  There turned out to be at least two of them, and I took some pictures.  Wilson's Phalarope - juveniles, I think.

 

 

 

 

I spotted another shorebird that was different.  It was very light colored, and I couldn't figure out what it was.  I thought maybe Sanderling, but it didn't seem quite right for that.  I didn't figure it out until I got home and looked at my pictures.  I decided it was a juvenile Red Knot, another species that has been reported there more than once within the last week.  Here are a couple of pictures of what I think was a juvenile Red Knot.

 

 

Here is a size comparison picture of a Lesser Yellowlegs and the Red Knot.

 

I headed back to my car after that, and on the way I saw another birder.  We exchanged info, and he told me he had seen a bird that would be a year-bird for me, so I went to where he said he had seen it and looked.  I couldn't find it, and it was past my lunch time, so I sat in the car with the engine running and the a/c on and ate my Subway tuna sandwich.  Having fed myself and cooled down, I went back out and looked for the potential year-bird again.  This time I found it, and I even got pictures.  Here is my first PECTORAL SANDPIPER of the year.

 

 

 

I had been very successful with migrating shorebirds there, but I wanted to stop one more place on the way home.  I ran into a closed road and had to backtrack, but eventually I found my way to Tulalip Bay.  It was later than I had planned, and the tide was higher than ideal.  I was looking for Black-bellied Plovers, and they were there, but with the high tide, they were very far away.  The smoke in the air made distant viewing tough, and to make it still worse, I was looking into the sun.  I did see the plovers, but I could just barely make them out through the haze with my scope.  I drove around to the other side of the bay, but you couldn't see them from there.  They were just barely countable, but I probably wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't expected them to be there.  That was still another August shorebird for my list.

 

So, when it was all over, I had had another amazing birding day.  It was hot and it was smoky, but I saw some birds.  I added a whopping 7 species to my August list, to bring me to 125 species.  Pectoral Sandpiper was new for the year, which gives me 235 species for the year now.  I also added 9 species to my Skagit county list, to bring that one to 117 species.

 

 

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

 

Today's report is short and doesn't have any pictures.  I went over to Totem Lake, a small lake about a mile from home, and looked for Marsh Wren.  After playing Marsh Wren songs for a few minutes, I got a brief look at one.  It flew off before I could get a picture, though, and I couldn't lure it out again.

 

Then I went down to Juanita Bay Park and played Brown Creeper songs at a couple of places.  I got no responses.

 

So, I managed to add one more to my August list, to bring me to 126.  Marsh Wren was also a repeater, so now I there are 61 species that I have seen in each month this year.

 

It was somewhat less smoky today, but it was hot again - 87 degrees, which was a record for this date.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot less smoky and the high temperature is supposed to be only 71.  Bring it on!

 

 

Friday, August 24, 2018

 

It was a little hazy today, but not smoky.  It was also blessedly cool.  My first stop was Edmond's Marsh, looking for the Baird's Sandpipers that were reported there yesterday.  I didn't find them.  I tried Sunset Avenue, hoping for Marbled Murrelet or Red-throated Loon, but saw almost nothing.

 

I decided to drive down to Kayu Kayu Park in Richmond Beach to look for those same sea birds, but I stopped at Edmonds City Park on the way to play Brown Creeper songs.  It looked like good creeper habitat, but I couldn't call one up.  I got back on the road and as I drove through the exclusive town of Woodway I saw a little park that I had never stopped at.  It looked like excellent creeper habitat, so I parked and played Brown Creeper songs again.  This time I finally attracted one!  It was the second of the two nemesis repeaters I had been looking for all month, the other one being Marsh Wren, which I got on Wednesday.  It was pretty dark in the thick woods, and the bird wouldn't stay still.  I finally got one marginal picture of the Brown Creeper.

 

I went on to Kayu Kayu Ac Park, but saw nothing I needed there.  I did get this blurry picture of a Caspian Tern out over the water, though.

 

I also saw an Osprey dive and catch a fish.  This was the best picture I could get, unfortunately.

 

I stopped at Wallace Swamp Creek Park on the way home, but I didn't find anything there or get any pictures.

 

Back at home, I sat on our front porch and ate my lunch and read.  I looked up one time and saw a Steller's Jay at the birdbath, so I took this picture.

 

That was it for today.  I added one repeater, Brown Creeper (finally!), to give me 127 species for August and 62 repeaters.  I never expected to get over 120 species for August, since birding has been so slow.  I also lost birding time with our big family reunion week at the beginning of the month, and we also had extreme heat and very smoky skies for several days.  127 species surprises me very much.  I plan to go up to Skagit county again tomorrow in search of two more migrating shorebirds.  They are quite uncommon, though, and I probably won't get either one.

 

 

Saturday, August 25, 2018

 

I had a great birding day today, but I don't have much time tonight to write my report because I'm trying to get ready to take off tomorrow for an overnight trip down to Ocean Shores on the Washington coast.

 

This morning I went back up to Skagit county and my first stop was Wylie Slough.  The tide was too high for shorebirds, but I did see a couple of dozen swallows flying around overhead.  I decided they were Tree Swallows, which was a great August bird that I had just about given up on, since they are all migrating south now.

 

I stopped at Hayton Reserve, but the tide was too far out there.  Too high at Wylie Slough, but too low at Hayton Reserve, just down the road.  Wylie Slough takes a long time to fill and a long time to drain, so the timing is thrown off.  I didn't get anything at Hayton Reserve.

 

I moved on to Channel Drive, where the tide was just right.  There were a lot of shorebirds at the end of the road on the right.  Unfortunately, this year there is a Keep Out Private Property sign on the dirt road that leads up to the edge of where the birds are.  I honored the sign and set up my scope up on the ridge for distant views.  Among the various shorebirds that I didn't need, I thought I saw a couple of Baird's Sandpipers, which would have been a year bird for me.  Here is a very distant picture of one of them, with a smaller peep for size comparison.

 

I think the one on the right is a Baird's Sandpiper, but it was so far away that I ended up not counting it.  I moved on to the end of the road and got this picture of a yellowlegs on the west side of the road.  It seems to have a little fish in its bill.

 

In these next two pictures, you can see the bird swallowing the fish.

 

 

Back at the first spot, I got this picture of a couple of American Goldfinches in the forbidden road that leads to better viewing.

 

I kept watching the dozens of shorebirds in the distance, and realized at one point that I had something different.  I decided they were STILT SANDPIPERS, which was one of the uncommon birds I was looking for today (the other one was Baird's Sandpiper, the one I had decided not to count).  Here are three very distant pictures of what I believe were Stilt Sandpipers.

 

The four tall shorebirds in the middle are the Stilt Sandpipers.  You can see a couple of swallows swooping through, too, along with a few of the small peeps.

 

 

You can just make out the drooping bill of the larger bird in the middle of the picture that is moving to the right.  That's one of the Stilt Sandpipers.

 

It had been drizzling off and on, which hadn't helped the visibility any.  I left there and ate my sandwich as I drove back to Wylie Slough.  Back at Wylie the tide had gone out and shorebirds were coming in.  There were the usual dowitchers and both yellowlegs species, along with Western and Least Sandpipers.  I didn't need any of those, but then I spotted three little birds that suddenly just appeared quite close by.  They were juvenile RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, a very uncommon bird that only shows up here when migrating through.  These next three pictures are juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes.

 

 

 

Other birders had shown up, and we were helping each other find and identify birds.  Someone identified a Semipalmated Sandpiper.  I never got a picture, but I got good scope views two or three times, and I believe that's what it was, so I'm counting it.  It was another excellent bird.  It wasn't a year-bird because I had found one in July.

 

There was also a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER around, so that one went on my year list.  I got a couple of pictures.  In this first one, it was preening and you can see that the wings extend back beyond the tail, which is one mark of a Baird's Sandpiper.

 

It went near some of the little peeps, which helped the identification because it was larger than them.  Here is one more picture of the Baird's Sandpiper.

 

There were at least two Pectoral Sandpipers that kept moving around, too.  I didn’t need that one because I had seen one earlier this week there, but it was still a great bird.  There were two of them near each other at one point, and some of the birders thought they were two different species because of the size difference.  I ended up thinking that they were both Pectoral Sandpipers, but one was a lot larger than the other.  Here is a picture that shows both of them.  The one on the right is much larger than the one on the left, but I think they were both Pectoral Sandpipers.

 

Here's a closer crop of the larger one on the right.

 

About that time a Peregrine Falcon flew through and spooked all the birds.  It landed in a distant tree, and I got a good scope look at it.  That was an excellent August bird for me.  On the way back to the car a Cliff Swallow flew over, too, another good August bird.

 

When it was all done, I had added 7 more species to my August list, to bring it to 134 species.  That is actually the most I have see locally (basically, Washington State) in any month except May, when I had 150.  May was so high because the winter birds were mostly still around and the summer ones were showing up.  Three of the species today were year-birds, to give me 238 species for 2018 so far.  No repeaters today, and I'm not likely to get any more this month.  The only two species that I had for the first 7 months (through July) that I don't have in August are two ducks - Bufflehead and Greater Scaup.  Neither one is likely to show up until late September or even October.

 

As I mentioned at the start, I plan to head down to the coast tomorrow, returning on Monday afternoon.  I hope to add another 5 or 6 species to my August list on the trip.

 

 

Sunday, August 26, 2018

 

As planned, I headed down to Ocean Shores today, on the Washington Coast.  It turned out to not be a great plan because the weather didn’t cooperate much at all.

 

I picked up a sandwich at Subway as I went through Aberdeen and moved on to Westport, my first birding stop.  I parked at the end of the road at the marina and walked out on the docks and walkways, looking for birds.  In the winter when I had been there, there were lots of interesting birds, but today there was almost nothing.  I did pick up the two “gimme’s” of the trip, Western Gull and Brown Pelican, but nothing else.  I went up on the lookout platform with my scope and looked out over the channel.  There were many Common Murres out there, a good bird, but one I had seen at Point No Point earlier this month.  I saw a couple of Pigeon Guillemots and some cormorants, and one pair of birds that stumped me.  One was black and white and one was brown, but they were obviously a pair.  I thought of Marbled Murrelet, but I thought the bills looked too large.  Later I looked in my field guide, and the bill was fine for Marbled Murrelet, so I counted it for August.  That was a good one, anyway.  One of them was still in breeding plumage (the brown one) and the other one had transitioned to winter plumage already.

 

The water was pretty choppy and I didn’t see anything else.  I headed back toward home, planning to take the turn off to Ocean Shores in Aberdeen.  After Aberdeen, I stopped at the Hoquiam Sewage Treatment Plant (STP in birder-speak).  There were some ducks there and some Caspian Terns, but nothing I needed.  I did see a Northern Shoveler, which is a good bird in August, but I already had it this month.  I saw an interesting gull out on the water and took these two pictures of it.

 

 

I guess it was a Bonaparte’s Gull, which is a good bird, but one I had seen already this month.  It doesn’t look quite right for Bonaparte’s Gull - the head shape looks wrong – but I can’t think of anything else it could have been.

 

I had been eating my sandwich and veggies as I drove, and soon after I left the Hoquiam STP it started to drizzle.  The weather forecast had said 50% chance of showers, and I had pictured some rain squalls with sun or at least dryness in between.  What I got, though, was nonstop drizzle, with a good stiff wind to blow it around, for the rest of the day.  I visited several birding spots in Ocean Shores, but with the wind and wet, birding was pretty much impossible.  I didn’t mind getting wet, but the drizzle immediately spattered the lenses on my scope, my binoculars, and my camera, and it was impossible to see anything, except from inside the car.  I did walk out to the base of Pt. Brown jetty, hoping to see some “rockpipers” on the rocks, but I didn’t see anything.  There were too many people around, for one thing. 

 

I stopped a few other places, but the drizzle and wind made birding impossible.  You can drive on the beach here, and I drove out at 4 or 5 access points, hoping to see Sanderlings or some other shorebirds.  Since it was Sunday, on the last weekend of summer, it was way too crowded.  Two of the spots had huge horse rental places set up, too, with people and cars and horses around.  Not conducive to birds.  Eventually I did find Sanderlings at a couple of less populated access points.  I was very cautious about driving on the sand when it got soft, and the drizzle kept coming though my open window when I took pictures, but I did get some Sanderling pictures from the car.  That was a good August bird, although it was one I expected to get easily.

 

 

 

 

In the summer Sanderlings are more colorful than these, and in the winter they are just very plain gray and white, but these birds today were in the midst of their annual change from summer plumage to winter plumage.  They breed in the arctic and winter on the beaches in California and Latin America.  I’m used to seeing them in California when they are very plain and light-colored.

 

I drove around, hoping the drizzle would stop, but it never did.  I visited Grays Harbor State Park and drove through the camping areas, because I have seen both Fox Sparrows and Varied Thrushes there in the past, but it is just a few weeks early for both of those species.  The many campers looked fairly miserable in the wind and drizzle, but they did seem to be trying to make the best of it.  The weather had been dry until this afternoon, and tomorrow is supposed to be dry, but this afternoon was wet.

 

I gave it up about 4:30 and went back to my humble motel.  I had actually checked in when I got here at about 1:30, but at 4:30 I moved in for the night.  Ironically, the drizzle seemed to let up about 5:30 for a while, although I don’t think it ever stopped entirely.

 

So, from a birding standpoint, today was pretty much a bust.  I got three easy species plus the very welcome Marbled Murrelet.  That brings me to 138 species for the month of August.  None were repeaters or year-birds.  I’m hoping that I can pick up a few more species in the morning, when it is supposed to be dry, anyway.  I have to hit the road pretty early in the afternoon tomorrow if I want to beat the afternoon rush hour, which can be horrendous between here and home, but maybe I’ll just stick around here all day and do the drive home after the worst of the rush hour.  I’ll see how the birding is going tomorrow and what I feel like at noon.

 

 

Monday, August 27, 2018

 

At least today was dry.  It was foggy in the morning, but I went down to Point Brown jetty anyway, hoping to see some rock shorebirds.  There were four potential August species I could see, in a perfect world.  I walked out onto the beach and set up my scope, but the combination of the fog and the spray from the waves on the rocks made viewing very difficult.  I did manage to see three Black Turnstones, which was an August bird, anyway.  There were Sanderlings on the beach, but I had gotten them yesterday.  I looked at some gulls, hoping for a Herring Gull, but that identification is tough, and I ended up not counting Herring Gull today.

 

Instead of clearing, the fog only got worse, so I left.  I decided not to even try any other Ocean Shores sites because I wanted to get to Bottle Beach State Park, around the other side of Grays Harbor bay, for the rising tide.  I stopped on my way around at Hoquiam STP and drove around on three sides of it, but I didn’t see anything new there for my August list.  I did see some Killdeer and some Barn Swallows, which I needed for my Grays Harbor county list.  More on that later.

 

I wasn't real hopeful for Bottle Beach, but I had never stopped there before, and I was interested to see what it looked like.  It is about a half mile walk to the beach from the parking lot, and once at the beach, I found the tide to still be very far out.  I had timed my visit according to a post on Tweeters that suggested being there when the tide was rising, between 4 feet and 6 feet.  After being there today, I don't buy that.  I would say that 6 feet to 8 feet is the best bet.  Basically, though, you still have to be lucky.  Today was kind of an average late August day there for shorebirds, I would say.  When I planned the trip, I had just seen the report of an outstanding day in early August, and I thought it was always, or at least usually, like that.  Today I had a couple of dozen Black-bellied Plovers, six dowitchers, and some little peeps way too far out to identify.  I thought I saw a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers when I first got there, but later when I was closer, I couldn't find them, so maybe I was wrong.  They could have been dowitchers, I guess, although I shouldn't have made that mistake.  It didn't really matter because I already had Pectoral Sandpiper this month and also in Grays Harbor county.  I didn't see any of the 3 or 4 species I was hoping for, anyway.

 

I took some pictures of the Black-bellied Plovers, though, because I think their plumage change is interesting.  In this first picture, there is one that is pretty much still in breeding plumage (with the black front and belly) and two that are pretty much in their drab winter plumage.

 

Here is another picture of a breeding plumaged one and a winter plumaged one.

 

Here on the west coast, we mostly see them in their winter plumage, and it when you haven't seen the breeding plumage, it is kind of a mystery how the species got its name.  In the summer, though, they do indeed have a black belly.  It always amazes me when I see how drastically the appearance of a bird can change with the seasons.  I don’t know how long it takes a particular bird to change, but it must be pretty fast, like a matter of a week or two, maybe three, based on what I have observed.

 

There were half a dozen dowitchers there, too.  I assumed they were the more common Short-billed Dowitchers that are reported there, but when I saw my pictures, I decided that at least two of them were Long-billed Dowitchers.  Here is a picture of those two.

 

I'm basing the identification on the position of the eye in the head and the angle it makes with the bill.  The differences between Short-billed Dowitcher and Long-billed Dowitcher are subtle and hard to detect.  I didn't need either one for August, but I needed both for my Grays Harbor list, so I wanted to try to identify the species.  I'm going with Long-billed Dowitcher, even though Short-billed Dowitchers are reported mush more often at Bottle Beach in August.

 

I don't think I mentioned it yesterday, but despite the lousy weather, I still picked up 7 species for my Grays Harbor county list, to bring it to 78.  Today I added 5 more, so now I have 83 species in Grays Harbor county.  My Black Turnstone this morning brings me to 139 species for August now.  I still have 62 repeaters (species seen in every month so far this year) and 238 species for the year.  I don't know if I'll get any more this month or not.  I don't really know what to look for, although there has been a Ruddy Turnstone reported in West Seattle for the last 3 days, so maybe I'll go over there and see if it sticks around for a 4th day.

 

 

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

 

As I had planned, this morning I went over to West Seattle to look for the rarity that had been there for the last four days.  I found my way to a part of the shore I had never been to before, on the southwest-facing coast on the south side of Alki Point.  I stopped and started my search at the south end of the Charles Richey Sr Viewpoint park, where the bird had been reported most recently.  I didn't see any shorebirds except Killdeer, so I moved up the shore.  At the third or fourth place I stopped to look, I spotted some shorebirds along the water, and I had my Ruddy Turnstone.  Here is a picture.

 

It sure does blend in to its environment, doesn't it, except for the orange legs?  Here is another shot of it.

 

As some observers had reported, there was a juvenile Ruddy Turnstone there, too.  Here is the juvenile.

 

Here is the juvenile again, with the adult taking off.

 

It was a true rarity.  According to my Washington county spreadsheet, there had been fewer than five records of Ruddy Turnstone in King county - ever.  It wasn't even a year-bird for me, because I had seen one up at Tulalip Bay in February, in Snohomish county, where it isn't quite as rare.  I sometimes see them in San Diego, but I didn't see one this year down there.

 

That was it for my birding today, but after lunch I sat on my porch and read.  I picked up my camera from time to time and took pictures of the birds and flying insects I could see from my chair on the porch.  Here is the view I get from my chair, looking out at the birdbath and the feeder right behind it in the greenery, in the center of the picture.

 

There are flowers along both sides of the walkway to the porch, in what we call the Avenue of Flowers.

 

Here is a Black-capped Chickadee at the birdbath, getting a drink.

 

I didn't see any birds bathing today, but several species came in for a drink.  Here is a female Dark-eyed Junco.

 

Here's a female American Goldfinch.

 

Later a male American Goldfinch came in.

 

A House Sparrow came in, either a female or a juvenile.

 

Later a male House Sparrow showed up.

 

Here is a female House Finch and a female House Sparrow at the birdbath.

 

Birds were going to the feeder, too, of course, but it is a little farther away and it's in the shade, both of which make pictures not as good.  A juvenile Spotted Towhee deserved a picture, though, I thought.

 

Meanwhile, various kinds of flying insects kept visiting the flowers in the Avenue of Flowers.  Here is what I think is a little moth.

 

Here is a bumblebee.

 

A wasp dropped by, too.

 

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of delicate-looking damselflies, maybe the same one.

 

 

That was it for today.  Ruddy Turnstone brings August to 140 species, which is far more than I expected in August.  I did really well with migrating shorebirds this month, much better than I ever would have expected.  Ruddy Turnstone also raised my King county total to 178 species.  There is very little else I need that I can actually go looking for, but I realized last night that I haven't seen a Pacific Wren in August, so my goal now is to get Pacific Wren by Friday.  Most of them go up into the foothills of the mountains to breed each year, and they should just be starting to come back now.  A few stay over the summer in the lowlands, which enabled me to get one in July.

 

 

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

 

Success!  I set out today to get a Pacific Wren, and I ended up getting two of them - with pictures.  I first went down to Juanita Bay Park, to the fire station road, where I have seen them before.  There was a woman walking a couple of dogs off-leash, right where I have seen the wren, so I gave up on that idea and moved on.  I was heading for Yost Park in Edmonds, which is where I got Pacific Wren in July, and I think in June as well.  I had to go right by St. Edwards State Park, though, and although I have never really birded there very much, I thought the habitat was perfect for Pacific Wren, so I stopped there.  I parked in the farthest parking lot and walked down the trail into the woods.  Within a few minutes, I had a Pacific Wren responding to playback.  There was very little light in the thick forest, and getting pictures was a challenge.  Not only was there not much light for the shot, there wasn't even enough to get my camera to focus much of the time.  Pacific Wrens don't sit still for long, either.  I kept at it, though, and the bird hung around, as long as I kept playing its song.  I got some pictures, and eventually a second Pacific Wren joined the party, too.  Here are some Pacific Wren pictures from this morning, some with flash.

 

 

 

 

That was satisfying, but I still had a lot of time, so I stopped by Wallace Swamp Creek Park on the way home.  I was mainly just looking for a pleasant place to spend a beautiful morning, but I hoped for some pictures, too.  I had a nice walk around the park, and I sat on a bench for a while.  I got these next two pictures of a Song Sparrow that was eating blackberries.  I don’t recall seeing that before.

 

 

When I was almost back to the parking lot, a small flock of Black-capped Chickadees were feeding in the trees nearby.  I never could get set up for a picture, but then I heard another bird calling repeatedly.  I finally traced it to a Bewick's Wren, and I took pictures of it.

 

 

 

That was it for today.  I got my Pacific Wren, to bring me to 141 species for August, and I got some pictures.  I also had a nice morning out in nature.

 

There are two more days left in August, and I seriously doubt I will get any more for my August list.  I might not even go out birding.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a 50% chance of showers all day, and maybe I'll just stay home.  I'm looking forward to September, when it all starts again, with a new list.

 

 

Friday, August 31, 2018

 

This was the last day of the month, and I decided to go over to West Seattle again, in search of a rare (for Western Washington) sparrow that had been hanging around for several days.  When I got to the short street where it had last been seen, I noticed a birder walking on the sidewalk, but he was looking - obviously not "on" the bird.  I parked around the corner and came in from the back way, since the bird had been seen this morning behind an apartment complex.  I didn't find it there, so I went through to the street.  Now the birder I had originally seen was obviously on the sparrow, taking pictures.  I joined him and added Lark Sparrow to my August list.  It was the first time I had seen a Lark Sparrow in Western Washington (there were fewer than five records in King County before this one showed up), and only the second time I had seen one in Washington State, although they are supposedly fairly common in Eastern Washington.  The bird was very cooperative; when it would get flushed by someone coming by or a car, it would come right back to the street or sidewalk.  Here are some pictures of the rare Lark Sparrow.

 

It was a juvenile bird, hatched this year, presumably in Eastern Washington.  It should be making its way to California, Arizona or Mexico now, but somehow it got across the Cascade Range.  The streaks on the breast mark it as a juvenile.

 

 

 

Before I moved on, I looked out over the water in search of jaegers, which are sea birds sort of like gulls.  I saw some dark birds that I wasn't sure about, but I'm guessing they were just dark juvenile gulls.  I got this one picture that's interesting, but I can't make the call of jaeger on it.

 

I don't know what gull species it might be, but it doesn't look quite right for Parasitic Jaeger.

 

I moved on to Alki Beach, stopping 6 or 7 times to look for Surfbirds.  I never found any;  They have been seen there recently, but today they were elsewhere.  No Black Turnstones, either.  I took a picture of an immature gull with an interesting pattern, but I can't figure out what species it is.  I'd guess Glaucous-winged Gull or a hybrid, but it might be a Herring Gull.

 

That was it for my actual birding today.  I ate my lunch out on our front porch, though, and read from time to time.  I watched for birds at the feeder and the birdbath when I thought of it.  Here is a male Spotted Towhee.

 

The towhee approached the birdbath, but it never actually got a drink or bathed, that I saw.

 

Today turned out to be bath day.  Some birds came in for a drink, but several of them took baths.  Here is a Black-capped Chickadee taking a bath.

 

Here is a picture of a wet Black-capped Chickadee and a Dark-eyed Junco at the birdbath.

 

A Steller's Jay came in and bathed, too.  Here it is when it first came to the birdbath.

 

It waded into the water.

 

It got itself all wet, splashing around.

 

 

Here's the wet Steller's Jay, after its bath.

 

Two or three female House Sparrows also came in for baths.  Here is a female House Sparrow on the side of the birdbath.

 

She did bathe.

 

Here is another female House Sparrows bathing.

 

She attracted an audience, another female House Sparrow.

 

Here is a female House Finch splashing around.

 

This is a recently fledged juvenile Dark-eyed Junco that wanted to bathe, I think, but a House Sparrow chased it away.

 

Now for something completely different.  A wasp on a dahlia.

 

So, that was it for today, and that's all for August this year.  The rare Lark Sparrow brings me to 142 species for August.  I have 62 repeaters now - species I have seen in each month this year.  My year total is 238 species.  The Lark Sparrow increased my King county list to 179 species, too.

 

Tomorrow is a new month, and I can count every species I see tomorrow for September.

[Correction - due to an error I made on June 18, my 2018 total is understated here by 50 species.  I actually had 288 for 2018 at the end of August.]