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Saturday, December 1, 2018
A new month begins, with a new list, and all birds are new again. Bruse had an all day class again, so I started the day at Kapiolani Park, to try to find the same birds I had seen on Friday there. My first stop was the White Tern nest tree, and the chick and an adult were still there. When I got there, they were both snoozing, sitting together.
While I watched, they woke up and I got that first picture. The adult moved away a little, and I took this picture.
Here’s a shot of the White Tern chick flapping its little wings.
Next I drove to the Diamond Head end of the park and got out and walked around. I soon added common species, like Feral Pigeon, Common Myna, Zebra Dove, House Sparrow, Red-vented Bulbul, and Red-crested Cardinal. I discovered that Japanese White-eyes will respond to playback, and I called in 2 or 3 of them and tried for pictures. It was tough because they don’t sit still for long and mostly stayed up high in the trees but here are a couple of pictures of Japanese White-eye.
There were a lot of Java Sparrows in the grass, and I got this picture of an adult and a couple of juveniles.
The juvies were following the adult around begging to be fed, but I never saw them get anything, so maybe this is the stage where they have to start fending for themselves.
There were Yellow-fronted Canaries around, as usual there.
A lot of Common Waxbills were also feeding in the grass, and I got this picture of one that shows the fine lines on the body.
I saw one Saffron Finch, perched briefly at the very top of a tree in the sun. I was also able to call up a White-rumped Shama for my December list. There were Pacific Golden-Plovers around, of course, and Mallards by the water feature. I had been looking for Rose-ringed Parakeets, but hadn’t seen any. On my way out of the park, I heard what I thought was the call of the bird, so I parked and got out. I heard it again, repeatedly, and I played the call on my phone to verify it. That was it, and I was ready to count it as a “heard only” species, but a couple of the birds finally flew out of the tree they had been in, and I got visual confirmation. I was at the park for about an hour and a half, and I got 16 species. That’s pretty good for a busy city park, I think.
Next I headed up into the hills. On the way there were three Cattle Egrets flying off into the distance, so that one went on my list. I hadn’t seen any Spotted Doves in the park, but saw some while driving up into the hills. I drove up Tantalus Drive, stopping several places to try for the two species I had seen up there on Friday. I never was able to attract an Oahu Amakihi, but I did manage to hear Red-billed Leiothrix where I had seen them on Friday. That went down as a “heard only” species, since I couldn’t lure one out.
I took some pictures as I drove around up in the hills. Here is a picture of Diamond Head.
Here’s a shot of a Zebra Dove that I thought was interesting.
There were Common Waxbills feeding on the grass seeds of long grasses in several places, and I got these next two pictures of that species.
Here’s another shot of Diamond Head, from a different view point.
Here’s a picture that shows how built up Waikiki is these days.
I ended up with 19 species for December.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
I have a short report today, with only a few pictures. I went out to the Honouliuli Unit of the Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and walked to the overlook platform. On my way to the platform, I got a brief but definitive scope view of a CHESTNUT MUNIA, a year bird. At the viewing platform, I soon added Hawaiian Coot to my December list. Here is a picture of a Hawaiian Coot that shows its silly feet.
There were a couple of Common Gallinules around, and I got this picture of one.
Here is a picture of a different Common Gallinule that actually landed in some reeds. It was flapping to retain its balance when I took this picture.
There were half a dozen Black-necked Stilts around, and about the same number of Ruddy Turnstones, so those two went onto my list. I spotted a Wandering Tattler, too, which was an excellent one I hadn’t expected to get there today. It flew toward me at one point and landed briefly on the railing of the walkway for the lookout platform, and I shot off this one picture quickly before it flew on. Wandering Tattler.
That was it until I was walking back to the car, when I spotted two little birds perched on a fence. I got a brief binocular look at them, and I decided they must have been Scaly-breasted Munias, a new for my Hawaiian trip, but one I saw in San Diego in April, so it wasn’t a year bird.
That was it for my birding today. I added 7 species to my December list to bring it to 26 species. One (Chestnut Munia) was a new one for the year, so now I have 264 species for the year. I have one more day in Hawaii, and I don’t know if I’ll get any more species for December or not.
Monday, December 3, 2018
Today Bruse and I started off with a drive up to the Nuuani Pali Lookout, which is located up in the mountains that separate Honolulu from the area around the town of Kaneohe. It was quite windy up there, but here is a view of Kaneohe from there.
We next drove down to Hoomaluhia Botanical Park. It is a huge, lovely park, and we drove through it looking at the scenery and also looking for birds. There were very few birds, and nothing I needed, but it was still a nice park and we enjoyed seeing it.
After that we decided to drive around the north end of the island, which was the long way back to Bruse’s place. It was slow driving because they were small roads with lots of local traffic, but we plugged along. At one state park I spotted a couple of Chestnut Munias, a species I had seen yesterday, but I had a better look today. No pictures, though.
We had lunch at a McD’s and then visited the golf course in Kahuku where I had seen a Bristle-thighed Curlew last week. I didn’t want to walk very far, and it started to rain lightly when we got there, but we looked out over the golf course. Almost right away I spotted this Bristle-thighed Curlew.
When I processed the picture, I noticed the leg tag with the number 87 on it. Someone tagged this bird at some point, with the intention of tracking it. I’ve seen tagged birds before, and I’ve been able to look them up on the internet to see who tagged them, and where and when. In this case, I couldn’t find anything out. It turned out that there were three or four Bristle-thighed Curlews in the same area, and here is a picture of three of them.
It was great to get one more December bird, and we moved on up the coast. North of Kahuku, we pulled in to the road leading to the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is closed to the public, but we looked for birds along the entry road. There were some little finches, and some of them were Scaly-breasted Munias (formerly known as Nutmeg Manikins, or more familiarly as “spice finches”). I saw that species yesterday, too, but it was a very brief look and today’s looks “insured” that one for December, in my parlance. I even got some distant pictures of Scaly-breasted Munias today.
Back on the main highway, we drove past the shrimp ponds of Kahuku, and I saw some Black-crowned Night-Herons at one of the almost-dry ponds. That was an excellent December bird, and a new one for this Hawaii trip. Here is a picture of a Black-crowned Night-Heron.
Here is what I think was a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron. Notice how light colored the back is.
Here is one more adult Black-crowned Night-Heron. There were 6 or 7 of them at that pond.
That was it for my birding today. We finished the drive around the northern part of Oahu, with a stop at Costco to fill up with gas, and got back to Bruse’s house about 4:45. Incidentally, gas prices around Honolulu have ranged from $3.21 per gallon to $3.70 per gallon, except for Costco, which is $2.70 per gallon at this time. I don’t understand how Costco can be so much lower than the rest of the stations.
So, I got 2 more species for December today, to bring me to 28 species for December. That includes three species that I’ll see in Seattle this month, so my Hawaiian trip has added 25 species to my December list. In November, it added 26 species. I actually have a chance to add one more tomorrow at the airport. When I flew in, I saw a Red-whiskered Bulbul right in the airport, and I don’t have that one yet for December. I’ll be looking tomorrow.
If all goes according to plan, I’ll be flying home tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Yesterday I had my long flight home from Hawaii, about 5.5 hours in the air. It was smoother than the outbound flight, for the most part, but I had a window seat, rather than an aisle seat. My left shoulder was against the side of the plane, and my right shoulder was against the guy next to me. Neither of us could use the armrest between us, and there wasn't enough room for me to use the one on my left side, either. Still, I survived it, and the time actually went by faster than on the outbound flight. I had been hoping to see a Red-whiskered Bulbul at the Honolulu airport because I had seen one there when I flew in, but I didn’t see one this time. I did see a couple of AFRICAN SILVERBILLS (a year-bird), though, and got these pictures of them.
When I saw these birds, I thought they were juvenile Scaly-breasted Munias, but after processing my pictures, I looked them up, and I now believe they were African Silverbills, a species I had been looking for all week. It was a nice surprise to find out belatedly that I had another year-bird.
Today I didn't really go birding, per se. I picked up Spotted Towhee (r), Dark-eyed Junco (r), and House Finch (r) in our yard, and then on my way to pick up my friend, Chris, to go out to lunch, I spotted American Crow (r). After lunch we went to Canyon Park Wetlands and I got some waterfowl. There was a single male Northern Pintail in with the park Mallards, so that one went on my list. I also added American Coot (r), Gadwall (r), Green-winged Teal (r), and Pied-billed Grebe (r). Here's a picture of a male Green-winged Teal.
Here is a Pied-billed Grebe.
When I dropped Chris back at his house, I saw a Steller's Jay (r). Then on my way home there was a flock of geese in a field, and I added Canada Goose (r), Cackling Goose, and Snow Goose.
Altogether, yesterday and today combined, I added 15 to my December list, to bring it to 43 species. Eleven of today's birds were repeaters, and now I have 14 repeaters in December. The African Silverbills brought my 2018 list to 265. I hope to get out and do some actual birding tomorrow.
Thursday, December 6, 2018
It was sunny and cold this morning, about 32 degrees, as I set out at about 9:30. My first stop was the house in Lake Forest Park where I see Band-tailed Pigeons. Not today, though. I moved on to Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, in the search of California Quail. When I got there, I realized I had forgotten my scope. Normally I keep it in the car, but I had taken it to Hawaii, and I forgot to load it back into the car. It was too late to go back home, so I carried one with only my binoculars and my camera.
At the pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks, I looked for quail. I didn't see any at first, but then I finally spotted a small group of them up the tracks, foraging on the edge of the bushes. I set up to try for a distant picture, but something spooked them just as I was ready to shoot. The resulting picture shows four California Quail scurrying for the bushes. It was interesting to see how quickly they all responded to whatever the alarm was - they really boogied. Here is a distant picture of four scurrying California Quail.
Can you spot the four birds in that picture? I made it larger than usual to make it easier. Look for the white streaks on their sides.
That was a repeater, and it was nice to get it so early in the month. Last month I had to keep going back there and finally got the species at the last minute.
Next I drove through the town of Woodway to Edmonds. On my way through Woodway, I stopped at my newly-discovered spot for Brown Creeper and Pacific Wren. I walked in the woods and played the songs of the two species, but it took a long time before I saw anything. I wondered if the birds were lying low because of the cold. Finally I saw a Pacific Wren, and got great looks at it. It was just too dark in the woods for pictures, though. On my way back to the car, I also saw a Brown Creeper, which was a repeater. Again, there wasn't enough light for pictures. It's nice to knock those two species off so early in the month.
I stopped at the Edmonds Marsh and tried to call up a Marsh Wren. I wasn’t able to do so, but I did see a Killdeer in the marsh and a distant Bald Eagle at the top of a tree. Both of those were repeaters.
Up on the bluff at Sunset Avenue, I soon added Red-necked Grebe, Harlequin Duck, and Surf Scoter (r). There were also a few Buffleheads out on the water, a couple of Red-breasted Mergansers, and some Common Goldeneyes. There were cormorants around, and I was able to identify Double-crested Cormorant (r), the most common of the three local cormorant species. I probably would have gotten more species if I had had my scope. I was limited to the birds that were fairly close to shore, and I had to use my camera to identify some of them.
On my way home, I stopped at Ocean Avenue, but all I added was Horned Grebe. That gave me 13 species for the day, to bring December to 56 species. Six of the species today were repeaters, so now I have seen 20 species in each of the 12 months this year.
The weather is supposed to hold for the next couple of days, so I hope to add some good numbers to December and my list of repeaters.
Friday, December 7, 2018
I had a long day today, and this is a long report. Before I even left home I added European Starling (r) to my list. (r) indicates a repeater, you will remember, a species I have seen in each month this year.
I headed up to Skagit county, stopping on the way, in Stanwood, to pick up a tuna sandwich at Subway. While I was in Stanwood, I dropped by a location where a rare (for here) flycatcher has been seen in the last few days. I didn't find the Vermilion Flycatcher, but I did see three other birders who were looking for it. I had too many places to go today to stick around in the hopes of seeing one bird, even a rarity. I did see some White-crowned Sparrows (r) while I was there, and here is a picture of one of them.
On my way north to Wylie Slough, there was a flock of swans in a field, so I stopped and scoped them. Most were Trumpeter Swans, as expected, but there were at least two Tundra Swans, so both species went on my December list.
It was clear and cold today, and Mount Baker was showing off in all its glory.
I saw my first Red-tailed Hawk (r) of the day and the month, and also my first Northern Harrier (r). I saw a number of both of those raptors today.
At Wylie Slough, I stopped at the little slough on the way in to look for the rare (for here) Black Phoebe that has been there for months, but I couldn't find it today. The little slough was frozen over, though, and I saw a bird on the ice. At first I thought it was an American Pipit, but it turned out to be the quite rare (for here) NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH that has been reported there recently. Northern Waterthrush is a member of the warbler family, and this bird should be in Mexico now. They breed in Alaska and parts of Canada, but they aren't seen here very often. They usually migrate south on the east side of the Rockies, but this one seems to have come down the west side, and then gotten lost. Here is the poor, lost Northern Waterthrush on the ice, which isn't its usual habitat.
That's the first time I have seen a Northern Waterthrush outside of Texas, during migration.
I picked up Song Sparrow (r), Golden-crowned Kinglet, Black-capped Chickadee (r), and Golden-crowned Sparrow there, too. In the main marsh, there was a lot of ice, but there was some open water, too, and there was a small group of shorebirds feeding in the icy water. Here's a picture of a Long-billed Dowitcher and a Dunlin, in poor light.
A Bald Eagle flew through and put up all the birds, including the ducks, but two of the Long-billed Dowitchers stuck around. Note the ice in the background.
I checked out the western parking area, but saw nothing around there. I was going to leave, but I decided to drive around the east parking area one more time, just in case something had shown up. I was glad I did, because I saw a small group of Cedar Waxwings across the little slough, and I got these next two pictures.
Then I noticed a small bird in a distant tree and took some pictures. It turned out to be a male Purple Finch, an excellent December bird. Here is a picture.
I took those last three pictures while sitting in my car, and I kept seeing more birds. There were tons of American Robins around, but I already had counted that one for December. I saw another Golden-crowned Kinglet and then a Yellow-rumped Warbler, which was an excellent winter sighting and a great one for my December list.
As I left Wylie Slough, I saw a Common Raven (r), the first of two or three I saw today. My pictures didn't come out. My camera was having some kind of problem today, and several of my pictures were unexplainably blurry. It might have been happening in bright light, at fast shutter speeds. I'll have to pay attention to that in the future, to determine if it is actually a problem with the camera.
I had seen a very large flock of Snow Geese earlier, and although I didn't need Snow Goose for December, as I left Wylie Slough, something got them up, and they were flying around making a lot of noise. They were pretty far away, but I got out of my car and got this picture of some of them flying around with Mount Baker in the background.
Next I went to Hayton Reserve. I didn't get out of the car because I was running late, but I added Red-winged Blackbird (r), Brewer's Blackbird (r), American Wigeon (r), and Eurasian Collared-Dove (r) to my December list.
I drove to the house on Valentine Road that has a suet feeder, looking for woodpeckers. As I drove up, there was a Hairy Woodpecker (r) on the suet, and by the time I got set to take a picture, it had been joined by a Downy Woodpecker (r). Here is a size comparison shot of the Hairy Woodpecker (on the left) and the Downy Woodpecker.
I love size comparison pictures when two species are similar in appearance but are different sizes. Here is the female Hairy Woodpecker on her own.
A male Downy Woodpecker flew in, and I got this picture of him.
A Red-breasted Nuthatch (r) flew in to the suet briefly, but I was too slow to put down my sandwich and pick up my camera. I was still eating my sandwich when several birds flew into a tree next to my car, and I got a good look at one of them. I had no idea what species it was! That shocked me, as I know the local species pretty well by now. I noticed then that there was a bird bath on the other side of the fence, behind some branches, and there were 4 or 5 birds at the water. Some were reddish and some were yellow-greenish. Then I got a look at their bills, and I realized they were RED CROSSBILLS. I don't see them very often, and I hadn't seen any for several years, so they took me completely by surprise. They flew off after a brief drink of water, and I didn't get a picture. It was great to get a second year-bird today, though. (The Northern Waterthrush was the first.)
When I finished the first half of my sandwich, I headed farther north, into the Samish Flats. I went down Sullivan Road and added Rough-legged Hawk to my December list. That was one I especially wanted to see today, and I got this picture from almost underneath the bird.
I took 4 or 5 pictures of that bird, and this one was the only one that didn't come out mysteriously blurry. I need to figure out what is going on with my camera in bright light. Just down the road from that I saw a good looking second-year Bald Eagle, and I got this picture. Bald Eagles take four years to completely mature and get their white heads and tails. Each year they look different, and this Bald Eagle was hatched in 2017.
My other pictures of that eagle are blurry, too, and this one isn't real sharp either. Again, it was in bright light, so I'm suspicious that might be connected to the problem.
There was also an American Kestrel (r) on a wire on Sullivan Road, but the light was wrong for a picture and I was still running a bit late. I saw Great Blue Herons (r) several times today. At the West 90 I got out of the car and looked around with my scope. I added Western Meadowlark to my December list, and then I spotted a distant Short-eared Owl and watched it fly around, through my scope. That was another species I had especially wanted to see today.
I drove onto Samish Island and went to the overlook. There was a Common Loon (r) quite close to shore, and I got this picture of it with a fish it had just caught.
I didn't see if the loon swallowed the fish or if it got away, but here is the loon a few seconds later.
I was quite pleased to see several Long-tailed Ducks out on the water, including a beautiful male in breeding plumage. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but they were just too far away. There were also some Mew Gulls out there, so that one went on my December list, too. I looked far across the bay, and there were hundreds of birds out there. Most were too far away to identify, but a large number of them were Brant, which is a small goose that winters in this area, after breeding in the far north. These were the first Brant I had seen since May.
That was all I got today. I drove back past the East 90 and through the little town of Edison, but I didn't add any more species to my list or get any more pictures. I was out there for almost 7 hours, although that included an hour of driving each way, just to get there and back. For me, that is a full day of birding these days.
I added 34 species to my December list, to bring it to 90 species now. That sounds good, but 26 of those were Hawaii birds that I won't see here in Washington State. My Washington State total for December is only 64. although I have only been home for three days. 17 of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 37 of the possible 61 repeaters for December. I also added 3 more species (Northern Waterthrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Red-Crossbill) to my Skagit county list, to bring it to 127 species.
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Before I left home this morning, I added American Goldfinch and Anna's Hummingbird (r) to my December list. Then I went over to Marymoor Park. I stopped first at the pond by the rowing club, hoping to see a Green Heron. No such luck. There were no birds around, but there were three river otters swimming around, and I got this picture of one of them.
Next I stopped at the headquarters building, and I was pleased to see that they had filled the feeders there. Here is a female Northern Flicker (r) at one of the feeders.
A European Starling (which I already had this month) came to the suet feeder, and I got this picture.
Bushtit wasn’t a repeater because I didn't see them in January this year, but I got them today for December. They flocked around the suet feeder like little bugs. That's the same suet feeder that the starling had been on, and the size comparison of the starling to the Bushtits is interesting. Bushtits are tiny little birds.
While I was watching the birds at the feeders, a Bewick's Wren (r) flew in to the trunk of a nearby tree. I drove around the building to the other side, and the single feeder there had been stocked, too. I was hoping for a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, but all I saw was a Black-capped Chickadee and some Dark-eyed Juncos, neither of which I needed. Here's a picture of a cute little Dark-eyed Junco giving me the eye. I was sitting in my car, about 30 feet away.
I drove around the park, looking for birds I needed. There had been a report on Thursday of a single Greater White-fronted Goose in a large flock of Cackling Geese, and today there were several large flocks of Cackling Geese around. I stopped several times and looked them over carefully, but I never found a Greater White-fronted Goose. I'll bet I looked through a thousand Cacklers, although they kept moving around, so I probably looked at some of them more than once.
I parked and went up on the viewing mound to look for the Northern Shrike that has been around there, but I didn't find it today. I also played the song of Lincoln's Sparrow, but all I attracted was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but that was a good December bird, anyway.
After that I moved my car to the west parking lot for the dog park and walked along the slough a little. I got this picture of a pair of Gadwalls.
The male is the one on the left. Here is a close-up of a male Gadwall, showing off the intricate patterns on him.
At one point I saw a bird fly up from the side of the slough, and I got my binoculars on it. It was a Wilson's Snipe, a good December bird. It landed farther down the slough, but I lost track of it and couldn't find it again for a picture. I walked around the large patch of blackberries, playing Fox Sparrow songs, but today I couldn't attract one.
It was time to leave for home by then, but I drove by the Redmond Retention Ponds on the way home. The main pond was almost all frozen over, after our recent freezing overnight temperatures, and I saw nothing there but a lot of robins.
I added 7 more December species today, to bring me to 97 for December now. I got 3 more repeaters, to give me 40 now. It wasn't a very productive day, either in terms of numbers or in terms of pictures, but at least I got out there and moved around, which is good for me.
Monday, December 10, 2018
Sunday was a rainy day, and I stayed home. Today I drove over to Log Boom Park to look for ducks and gulls. I took my scope out onto the pier and some ducks took off. Two of them were a pair of Wood Ducks (r), and I got a good look at them while they flew away. There were some gulls around, and I added Ring-billed Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull to my December list.
There were quite a few ducks out on the lake, including dozens of Common Mergansers (r) and several pairs of Hooded Mergansers(r). There were a dozen or more Ring-necked Ducks, too, another one for my December list. One of the main species I was looking for there today was Canvasback, and there were at least a couple of dozen Canvasbacks, too. I didn't get any pictures there because the light was dim and the ducks were too far away.
Next I drove by the house in Lake Forest Park that usually has Band-tailed Pigeons (r) nearby, and they were there today.
I stopped at Matthews Beach and found a Eurasian Wigeon in with the American Wigeon flock. Eurasian Wigeons should be in Asia now, but a few lose their way and come down the east side of the Pacific Ocean each winter. The duck in the front is a male Eurasian Wigeon. The one with the red head.
Male American Wigeons have green on their heads. Here's another picture that shows the Eurasian Wigeon in front and an American Wigeon on the other side of him.
The one with neither green nor red on its head is a female wigeon. I don't know how to tell the difference between a female American Wigeon and a female Eurasian Wigeon.
After that I went to Magnuson Park in north Seattle. It had been heavily overcast, and it was just starting to rain when I got to Matthews Beach. When I got to Magnuson, I parked and carried my scope through the rain to the shelter of the rest room building and took a look at the gulls on the swim platform. While I was there, the rain stopped and the skies cleared to the south. There were four species of gulls on the swim platform, so I took some distant pictures. Gull pictures are boring, I know, but I'm going to make this a mini gull tutorial (I know, that's even more boring).
Here is a California Gull, another repeater. Note the yellow legs, the black wing tips, and the red and black spots on the bill.
Here is a gull that might have been a Glaucous-winged Gull, although the wing tips might be too dark for that. Glaucous-winged Gulls hybridize with Western Gulls, and many of the large gulls around here are hybrids. The wing tips of the hybrids vary a lot, in various shades of gray. In a pure Glaucous-winged Gull, the wing tips are the same color as the rest of the wing. Anyway, here is a possible hybrid gull.
Here's a shot of a flying Glaucous-winged Gull, and you can see that the wing tips are totally the same color as the rest of the wings. Note the pink legs and the red spot on the lower part of the bill.
Here's a Ring-billed Gull. It has yellow legs, black wing tips, and a black ring around its bill. It is also smaller than either California Gull or Glaucous-winged Gull.
Finally, here is the fourth gull species on the swim platform today, Mew Gull (the closest bird). Mew Gulls are a little smaller than Ring-billed Gulls, they have a smaller bill, with no marks on it, and they have black wing tips and yellow legs.
The only gull I still needed at that point was California Gull, since I had seen Ring-billed Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls earlier at Log Boom Park.
So, there is the little gull tutorial. I know - they all look like "seagulls", which is what all the non-birders call them all.
The rain had stopped and there was some blue sky by then. I drove around Magnuson Park, but I didn't find anything interesting. I decided that as long as I was in Seattle, I would go to my California Scrub-Jay spot by the University of Washington to pick that repeater up. I parked in a loading zone and walked around. I played scrub-jay calls, but I didn't see one for a while. I was almost back to my car, ready to give it up for today, when I spotted a flash of blue flying into some bushes. I waited and played the calls some more, and eventually a California Scrub-Jay (r) flew up to a street light and perched on it. I got this picture of it, looking up from almost underneath the bird.
Here is a close-up, showing its face better.
That was it for me today. I added 11 more species to my December list, to bring it to 108 species now. Eight of those were repeaters, and now I have 48 species that I have seen in every month this year. That leaves 13 more repeater species to look for this month. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy again, so I probably won't see anything new.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
As expected, it rained all day on Tuesday, but today was dry. I headed over to the Snoqualmie River Valley, around Carnation. While driving across the valley, I got this picture of a White-crowned Sparrow on a fence. I didn’t need it, but I like the picture.
At Sikes Lake, I parked and walked out on the bridge over the lake. I played some sparrow songs, and I attracted some sparrows. Here is another sparrow I didn't need, a Song Sparrow.
I did need Lincoln's Sparrow, and one showed up. It took a while to lure it out into the open, but when it did come out, it posed nicely.
After that I noticed another sparrow, and it tuned out to be a semi-rarity around here, a Swamp Sparrow, an excellent December bird. I saw one in February, though, so it wasn't a year-bird. Here is the Swamp Sparrow.
Those last three sparrows are superficially similar, but they all have their distinct differences, too.
I drove on, and at the pond at Chinook Bend, I got this picture of a pair of Ring-necked Ducks. I didn't need that one, but I like pictures that show the male and female of a species. The male is the one on the right.
At the Carnation house with feeders, there wasn't much around. About the only birds were American Goldfinches. I took this picture of some goldfinches at one of the feeders, with a male House Finch showing off his color, too.
I moved on, and just south of the town of Carnation, there were hundreds of geese and swans in a field. Here are some of them.
There were Cackling Geese, Snow Geese, and swans - mostly Trumpeter Swans. Here is a closer shot, showing those three species.
I looked at as many of the dark geese as I could, hoping to find a Greater White-fronted Goose, but I never found one. Here is a shot of a Tundra Swan. It's the one on the middle left, with the little yellow dash in front of its eye.
Here is a picture of a Snow Goose (in the middle).
The darker goose on the right, without a white "chinstrap" is a juvenile Snow Goose, hatched this year in the far north. The others, with the chinstraps are Cackling Geese. I didn’t need any of those species, but it was unusual to find Snow Geese in that valley, and even more unusual to see a mixed flock like this.
I drove on, eventually getting up to Tokul Creek, where I go each month to try to see a dipper. The water levels were high in the rivers and creeks, and at first it seemed like this was a time I would miss on the dipper. Nothing downstream, so I looked upstream. Nothing there, either. After a couple of minutes of looking, I saw a bird fly across the river, far upstream. It was probably a dipper, but I didn't see it well enough to count it. It made me stick around longer, though, in the hopes it might work its way downstream. It didn't, but I looked downstream one last time, and there it was, in the middle of the rushing creek - an American Dipper, a repeater.
It was heavily overcast and there wasn't much light, but I took a lot of pictures, and here are the best ones. The dipper kept diving into the water and then getting out onto rocks. Here it is in the water.
It would disappear under the water, and then pop up again and go to a rock.
It used that particular rock a number of times.
It was working its way upriver, toward me, and I got this picture of it from above and right in front of it. I was on the bridge over the creek.
After that, it simply disappeared. I guess it flew off, but I didn’t see it go. It had put on a show for about five minutes, and then it was gone. Timing can be very important in birding.
I turned back toward home and stopped again at the feeder house in Carnation. This time as I was watching the goldfinches feeding on the ground, I noticed a single Pine Siskin in with them. It was the first Pine Siskin I had seen since May. Here is the Pine Siskin (in front) with an American Goldfinch.
Immediately after I took that picture, a truck drove past, and all the birds scattered. I didn't see the Pine Siskin again.
As I approached the bridge over Sikes Lake, on the way home, I saw a Belted Kingfisher (r) fly down to the water and then fly off to the top of a distant tree. That was a nice one to get for December. There were both Hooded and Common Mergansers on the Lake, and I stopped on the bridge to take pictures. I didn’t need it, but here is a picture of a male Common Merganser.
I ended up adding 5 species to my December list, and 2 of them were repeaters. That gives me 113 species for this month, and now there are 50 species that I have seen in each month this year.
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Today's report is pretty boring and it has no pictures, but I had a fun day, anyway. I had a lunch appointment with a friend I used to work with, but I was meeting him at his house, which is north of here, so I left early and went out to the Snoqualmie River Valley, north and west of Duvall. I was looking mainly for a Prairie Falcon, a rarity (around here) that has been reported there a number of times in the last week. There were other birds I might see, too.
Upon arrival at W. Snoqualmie River Road NE, I saw a bird on a wire, and thinking it might be a kestrel, I stopped to take a look. It turned out to be a Northern Shrike, which was a great December bird. I was getting out of the car to try for a picture when a pickup came along and spooked the bird. I couldn't find it again after that, so no pictures, but I had a good binocular look at it through the windshield.
I drove to where the falcon has been seen, and on the way I picked up Northern Shoveler for my December list. I should mention that it was heavily overcast and raining lightly, off and on. I didn't see the falcon as I drove north, and I stopped at the dairy near the north end of the road, which is a dead end. I saw some blackbirds and took some pictures. It is kind of marginal, but I think that there were a couple of male Brown-headed Cowbirds (r) in the group, so I counted it. Others have seen a number of cowbirds there, and although I wouldn't swear to it, I think I saw Brown-headed Cowbird today, so I'm taking it.
I drove back to the best spot to look for the falcon, and I set up my scope under the raised liftgate of my car, to keep out of the light rain. I saw a couple of Northern Harriers and a couple of Rough-legged Hawks, but no falcons. Another birder came along, and we both looked for awhile, but didn't find it. I had to leave for my lunch appointment, but we exchanged phone numbers, in case one of us saw it. My route took me up the west side of the valley, and he went over there, too, to look for the falcon from that side. As it turned out, he texted me about a half hour later and said he had seen the bird, from the last spot I had seen him, on the west side of the valley.
After lunch, I went back to the valley and tried again, from both the west side and the east side, which is where most of the reports have originiated.. I didn't find the Prairie Falcon, but I again saw Northern Harriers and Rough-legged Hawks, and I also flushed a Wilson's Snipe, a good bird, but not one I needed still. This time four other birders came along, all of whom I have met before multiple times. We had fun looking for the falcon, sharing the birds we did see, and telling birding stories, which is what birders do when they meet in the field.
So, that was my day. I actually added three species to my December list, one of which was a repeater. Now I have 116 species for December and 51 of them are repeaters. Sorry for the lack of pictures today.
Friday, December 14, 2018
My destination today was Marymoor Park. First I went to the rowing club pond, hoping to find a Green Heron. No luck with that. There was a river otter and three Hooded Mergansers, but no Green Heron. I next drove through the park, looking to find a Greater White-fronted Goose with the Cackling Geese. I found two or three flocks of Cackling Geese, but I couldn't find a Greater White-fronted Goose with them. I tried for Chestnut-backed Chickadee at the feeders by the office, but had no luck with that, either. Yesterday the Thursday birding group had seen a pheasant in the P Patch garden, but I couldn't find that one, either. I finally got a picture there, though, of an American Crow that posed for me.
I parked and walked by the slough, hoping to find a Fox Sparrow. I played Fox Sparrow songs, and in a short time I heard one calling back to me. It stayed in the blackberry brambles, and I only got one brief view of it, and no pictures, but at least I had a species for my December list. I tried again for Chestnut-backed Chickadee in the area near the mansion, but couldn't attract one.
I drove through the park again, still looking for a Greater White-fronted Goose. In the area between the parking lot for the model airplane field and the viewing mound, I spotted the Northern Shrike that has been reported there recently. I needed that one until yesterday, but I saw one up near Duvall. I didn't get a picture yesterday, though, so I parked my car and approached the shrike. Here are a couple of distant pictures of the Northern Shrike today.
It was actively hunting insects on the ground, but it kept going back up to a perch. I chased it around and got a closer picture.
It kept moving around, and I kept following it, and finally I got this fairly close picture of the Northern Shrike.
I moved on and stopped at the feeders again. All I got to show for that was this picture of a Dark-eyed Junco.
A couple of Black-capped Chickadees were coming to the feeders, but no Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
I was ready to head for home by then, but I stopped at the rowing club pond again, to see if a Green Heron had flown in. No such luck. The Hooded Mergansers were more cooperative for pictures, though, this time, so I took some. Here are three pictures of a male Hooded Merganser, from three different aspects. First, here is the bird from the front.
The water was still, and with the dark vegetation in the background, the reflections and the colors reflected by the water were interesting, I thought. Here is a shot of a male Hooded Merganser from the back, looking back at me.
He can raise his crest, and the white part forms a quarter of a circle, but today he kept it down. Here's a shot from the side, showing his handsome markings better.
There were two males and one female. Here is the female Hooded Merganser, showing off her wild hair do.
There was a single female Bufflehead there, too.
There were a couple of pairs of Mallards on the shore as well. Here is the female Mallard.
Here's a somewhat flashier male Mallard.
Still no Green Herons showed up, so I headed for home. On the way home I decided to stop at the fire station road at Juanita Bay Park. I was mainly hoping to call up a White-throated Sparrow, like I had last month there. As I approached the blackberry bramble where I had seen the White-throated Sparrow last month, a couple of birds showed themselves. One was a Song Sparrow, but they are very common. Ironically, the other one was a Fox Sparrow. It was ironic because I had spent at least ten minutes trying to lure one out of the blackberries at Marymoor earlier today, and now one was posing for me, without me even playing its song. Here are a couple of pictures of the posing Fox Sparrow.
I played the song of White-throated Sparrow, and one immediately popped up and sat there looking at me while I took pictures. They are pretty uncommon around here, so I was happy to get it for my December list. Here are a couple of pictures of the White-throated Sparrow.
It's easy to see how that species got its name. The Fox Sparrow came back again, this time with the remains of a berry that it had been eating.
A Spotted Towhee was around, too, and I got this picture.
I love the way my camera blurs out the background on close shots like those.
I added two more species to my December list, to bring it to 116 species now. No repeaters today, so that total stands at 51 still. I need to get up to Edmonds to get some sea birds, but the weather has either been rainy or windy, as it was today. It is not supposed to rain tomorrow, but the wind might be marginal. I hope to go up to Edmonds to find out, though, and I hope to add some sea birds to my list, including some repeaters.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Finally the weather looked good enough for me to get up to the Edmonds waterfront again. I had gone on December 6, right after getting back from Hawaii, but I had forgotten to put my scope in the car, and looking for sea birds without a scope is difficult. Today I remembered my scope.
I stopped first at the Edmonds Marsh, and I tried to call up a Marsh Wren. No luck with that, so I moved on up to Sunset Avenue, overlooking Puget Sound from a bluff. At first it seemed kind of slow, but I added Brandt's Cormorant and Pelagic Cormorant (r) to my December list. There were also some Pigeon Guillemots (r) out there. I moved on up the street and set up my scope again. This time I spotted a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes up the coast, a species I was glad to get. I saw a bird fly by, and I got my scope on it. It was an all dark bird with very distinctive white wing flashes as it flew away from me. I watched it for quite a while, and I ended up deciding it could only have been a White-winged Scoter; after consulting my field guides, I'm sure that's what it was. There were also three Black Scoters in the distance - two males and one female. I was getting a good number of birds I needed, but they were all too far away for pictures.
My next stop was Ocean Avenue, and I got out my scope there. While I was looking for birds, a guy in a house there shouted at me and asked if I was looking for the whales. I said, no, birds. He said there were some Orcas out there, so I took a look, and I found them. They were very far away (he must have had a scope), but I watched them leaping out of the water for a minute or two. I had a nice clear view with my scope. It made a nice change from birds.
While looking for the Orcas, I spotted a batch of Western Grebes (r) way out there, and then a Pacific Loon, another one I needed for December. Everything was still too far away for pictures, but I was seeing birds I needed.
I decided to go out on the Edmonds fishing pier with my scope (and camera). Finally there were some birds I could take pictures of, anyway, even if I didn’t need them. Here are two pictures of a Horned Grebe, one I didn't need.
There were also Red-necked Grebes around, another one I already had, but here are a couple of pictures of a Red-necked Grebe.
Red-necked Grebes in winter plumage don’t usually have those white streaks on their heads, so I looked it up. It turns out that this was a juvenile bird, and the white streaks are the remnants of how the bird looked as a chick. I guess I had never seen a juvenile up close enough before, so I didn’t realize the differences from an adult.
A male Surf Scoter posed for me, too, another bird I already had seen this month.
I think that male Surf Scoters are remarkably unattractive. I was about ready to leave when I saw a small gull flying around off the pier. I got my binoculars on it, and it was a nice Bonaparte's Gull (r). There were two or three of them flying around, and one landed on the water pretty far away. I got as close as I could and took this distant shot of a Bonaparte's Gull.
Here's a shot of a Double-crested Cormorant, another one I already had this month.
Earlier I had gotten Pelagic Cormorant, but here is a picture I got from the pier.
I was on my way off the pier, ready to go home, but I saw an interesting bird back where I had just come from, near the end of the pier. I went back out onto the pier, and tried a shot of a flying Bonaparte's Gull. It came out blurry, of course, as usual with a flying bird, but I used my processing software to remove some motion blur, and this is what I ended up with. A flying Bonaparte's Gull.
The Motion Blur feature introduced some artifacts to the image, but it did make it a lot sharper.
Meanwhile, the bird I had gone back for kept diving, and I would have to wait for a minute or two before it came up again. It could be a long way away from where it dove by the time it came up. Eventually I discovered it was a Common Murre, another excellent December bird. Here is a picture of the Common Murre that kept diving and disappearing for minutes at a time.
Then I noticed another bird off the end of the pier. It kept diving, too, but I kept watching, and eventually I got these next two pictures of it.
I guess it was a Rhinoceros Auklet (r), although it didn't look quite right. Winter-plumaged Rhinoceros Auklets have orange bills, but it turned out that juveniles have dark bills. I guess this must have been a juvenile Rhinoceros Auklet. There just isn't anything else it could possibly be, as far as I can find.
There were Pigeon Guillemots around, and one came close enough for a picture.
That was one I had gotten earlier from Sunset Avenue, but pictures are always desired. This bird was mostly in winter plumage, but it still had some of the black on its head and neck, from its summer plumage.
There were a couple of Harbor Seals around, and they kept surfacing and making me look to see what they were. Here is one of the Harbor Seals.
The Common Murre was still around, diving and only staying on the surface for a short time, but I got one more picture of it when it came close enough.
So, it ended up being a quite successful day of birding, as far as my lists were concerned. I eventually got some pictures, too. I had 11 new species for my December list, to bring it to 129 now. Five of them were repeaters, and now I have 56 repeaters this month. That leaves me just 5 more repeaters to look for. A couple of those will be fairly easy, but the others could be tough. Still, if I have managed to see a species in each of the first 11 months of the year, it seems like I ought to be able to find one in December. I still have half the month left, although the weather doesn't look promising in the next week or ten days.
To put today in perspective, I got 11 of the sea birds I was looking for today, and I only missed 2 - Red-throated Loon and Marbled Murrelet. Both of those are tough ones, so I did quite well today, including cleaning up all the sea bird repeaters.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
The weather forecast today wasn't promising, but I headed out anyway. I was lucky, though, because as it turned out, it didn't start to rain seriously until just before I was ready to head for home. My first stop was Tulalip Bay, which is north and west of Marysville, which in turn is about a half hour north of home.
Upon arrival at the marina on the east side of Tulalip Bay, I saw a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes near the shore. I got that one yesterday, but today I got pictures. Here is a male Barrow's Goldeneye.
I should mention that with the heavy overcast, conditions were poor today for pictures. Here's a female Barrow's Goldeneye.
Here's a shot of the pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes.
The tide was high, and I didn't see any Black-bellied Plovers, which was one of the species I was looking for there. I did see 3 or 4 Black Turnstones, though, on the log boom around the marina dock. That was a good December bird. There were also a couple of hundred Dunlin on the log boom, but I had that one already this month. Here's a picture of a few of the 200 plus Dunlin roosting on the log boom.
They all had their heads tucked under their wings, waiting for the tide to go out. Something woke them up and flushed them, and I got this picture of some of them flying in formation.
I scanned the birds in the bay, but I got nothing I needed. Next I drove to the Everett sewage treatment ponds. I stopped first on the north side and took a look with my scope from the raised roadway. There was an immature Bald Eagle in a tree there.
I looked south at the north pond and managed to pick out a couple of Ruddy Ducks (r), my main target there today. I didn't really expect to get anything else, but I drove around to the south side of the main pond and parked where I could get close enough for pictures, through the fence. It sprinkled off and on while I was there, but I was bundled up, and I stood out there and took pictures of ducks though a gap in the gate.
Here's a picture of a male Northern Shoveler, a juvenile, maybe.
Here's another shot of a male Norhten Shoveler, possibly also a juvenile.
There were thousands of ducks on the ponds, but there isn't much access, and I could only get pictures of the handful of ducks near the middle of the south end of the largest pond. Here is a pair of Northern Pintails. The male is on the right.
Here's a female Ring-necked Duck.
There were some scaup there. Scaup are ducks, and there are two species of them, Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup. They are very similar, and I always struggle to tell them apart. The shape of the head is the difference, but it's subtle. I took a lot of pictures and when I got home I looked at them and my field guides. I needed both species still this month, and I ended up deciding that what I saw today were all Lesser Scaup. Here are some pictures. First, here is what I think is a female Lesser Scaup.
Here is what I believe is a male Lesser Scaup.
Here’s a more distant view of what I think was a male Lesser Scaup.
That was my third December species, and I was quite satisfied with that. It was starting to sprinkle more, so I headed for home. On the way, though, I saw a bird land on top of a pole, and I thought it looked like a Merlin, which would be a great December bird. I pulled around so I could take pictures from my car, and the bird stayed where it was. It had a small bird it had caught, and I watched and took pictures while it ate it. Here is my first shot of the Merlin with its prey.
The light was terrible, but I did the best I could. Here is a sharper picture.
The Merlin kept chowing down, and I kept taking pictures. It looked around from time to time.
Here it has a mouthful of feathers.
My first thought when I saw it was that it was a Merlin, but as I took the pictures, I decided it might be a kestrel instead. Most of the Merlins around here don't have a bluish back like this bird did. Later I looked it up, and one of the subspecies of Merlin does have a blue-gray back. I don't think kestrels catch birds, either, but Merlins certainly do. After studying my pictures, I'm sure it was a Merlin, not a kestrel. As I left, I took one more picture of it, as it looked around.
So, I ended up adding 4 more species to my December list today, to give me 133 species for December now. Ruddy Duck was a repeater, and now I have 57 of the possible 61 repeaters this month. A couple of the last 4 are going to be tough, Marsh Wren and Mourning Dove. I should be able to get a response from a Virginia Rail, and I hope to be able to find Chestnut-backed Chickadee somewhere. The weather looks like it is going to continue to be challenging, though.
Monday, December 17, 2018
I had a dry morning to look for birds today, before my noon lunch appointment. As I started off, though, I noticed the low tire pressure indicator on my dashboard was on. I turned around and went back home, and I found that my right rear tire was completely flat. Bummer. I called AAA, and they came quickly and changed the tire, but I had lost 45 or 50 minutes of my planned birding time. I skipped the first part of my plan and went to a small wetland near Wallace Swamp Creek Park in Kenmore, where some good birds had been reported on Saturday. I got nothing there, and I moved on to Wallace Swamp Creek Park itself. I walked and played the song of Chestnut-backed Chickadee. I saw Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees, and eventually I actually saw a Chestnut-backed Chickadee that came in to check me out. That was a repeater, and one I was very pleased to get. It didn't stick around, so no pictures.
After lunch, my friend, Chris, and I walked at Canyon Park Wetlands. There wasn't much around until we got to the east end of the main pond. There we had some activity. Here is a White-crowned Sparrow that posed nicely for me.
Then we found a small mixed species group of birds, feeding on the ground. Most of them were Golden-crowned Sparrows, but there were a couple of Spotted Towhees, a Song Sparrow, and a Bewick's Wren as well. All I got decent pictures of were Golden-crowned Sparrows, though.
That last one would have been the best one, except for that orange leaf intruding into the picture on the left. It almost looks like a giant's fingers reaching for the bird.
The rain held off in the afternoon, but I had to take my car in to get the flat tire fixed, so I didn't do any more birding today. I added one more species to my December list, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and it was a repeater. Now I have 134 species for December and 58 repeaters. I have just three repeaters left to get now (Virginia Rail, Marsh Wren, and Mourning Dove), and I plan to concentrate on getting those, if possible. Virginia Rail should be fairly easy, and maybe I can get Marsh Wren if I try a few times, but Mourning Dove is going to be tough. It will most likely mean several trips out to Carnation, since that is the only place that I have seen Mourning Doves locally. Tomorrow is supposed to be showery, but I can look for Marsh Wren and Virginia Rail close to home, and maybe I can get lucky with the rain.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
It was dark, gloomy, and blustery this morning, but it wasn’t raining, at least. First I went up to Totem Lake, a small lake near the shopping center across the freeway and played the calls of Marsh Wren and Virginia Rail. I saw no birds at all.
Next I went down to Juanita Bay Park and walked out onto the east boardwalk. I played the same calls there, Marsh Wren and Virginia Rail, and again I saw nothing. Out at the end of the boardwalk I saw some birds on the lake, so I took some pictures. First, here is one I call "Seven swans a-swimming". Is this the seventh day of Christmas?
Actually I fudged it a little because there were actually 11 Trumpeter Swans there, but I cut four of them out of the picture.
There were some ducks on the lake. Here is a male Bufflehead.
Here is a pair of Buffleheads.
There was one male Ring-necked Duck hanging out with the Buffleheads.
I hadn't seen anything I needed, so I headed back to my car. On the way I played the calls some more, and eventually I heard a response from a Virginia Rail, so that one went onto my December list as a "heard only" species. It was a repeater, too.
I was satisfied with that, but I had some time, so I went over to the fire station road, on the east side of Juanita Bay Park. I had seen and photographed a White-throated Sparrow there last Friday, and I like that species very much, so I thought I would see if it was still around. I played the song, but this time nothing popped up. On Friday I had seen Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrows, and Spotted Towhees, as well as the White-throated Sparrow. Today, nothing.
I walked down the road and did manage to see a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and on my way back I played the White-throated Sparrow song again. This time a White-throated Sparrow did show up, and I took some pictures. It stayed back in the blackberry brambles, though, eating a red berry. Here is a picture of it through the brambles, looking back at me.
I took half a dozen pictures of it, but it was tough to get a focus on the bird with all the brambles in the way, and this was the only one that had the bird in focus. A Spotted Towhee showed up this time, too, and I got this picture of it.
The White-throated Sparrow flew off, and I walked back down the road again, still looking for other birds. When I came back a third time, I again played the song, and I saw a White-throated Sparrow in the brambles again. Again, I had to shoot through the vines, and this time I got two shots with the bird in focus.
While I was taking those pictures and hoping the bird would come out into the open, I saw a second White-throated Sparrow. Tonight when I was processing my pictures, I looked back at the pictures I took on Friday, and the Friday bird was definitely a different White-throated Sparrow than the one I shot today. There are two different morphs or types of White-throated Sparrow, and the one today (pictured above) was a Tan Stripe one. Note the tan color of the eyebrow stripe. The one I saw on Friday was a White Stripe one.
Here's a picture of the White morph White-throated Sparrow from last Friday, at the same place.
The Friday one has a much larger yellow spot over the eye and a white eyebrow, rather than a tan eyebrow stripe. I imagine the second one I saw today was the white morph, but I didn't get a picture of it or think to check at the time. White-throated Sparrow is a quite uncommon bird around here, so having two of them at the same place is very unusual. Last winter there was a tan morph White-throated Sparrow at the same spot; I wonder if it was the same bird I saw today. They breed up in northern Canada, and most of them winter in the southeast of the US, but a few winter along the west coast each year. This seems to be a good year for them because there have been a lot of reports of them this year.
Anyway, the Virginia Rail I heard calling was the only bird I added to my December list today, to bring it to 135 species. It was a repeater and now I have 59 of the possible 61 repeaters this month. All I still need are Marsh Wren and Mourning Dove. My year list stands at 252 still.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
I had a very long, quite successful day of birding today. I also shot a lot of pictures. I sorted through the 201 pictures I shot today, and I kept 34 of them. 22 of those 34 made it into this report. It was overcast, but dry, today, and fairly warm.
I started by stopping by Marymoor Park to look for Green Heron at the rowing club pond. No Green heron today, but I did shoot this picture of a pair of Hooded Mergansers.
The male has his crest down as far as it will go, it seems, and he looks strange as a result. I drove through the park, looking for Cackling Geese, in the hopes that there might be a Greater White-fronted Goose in with them. I didn't even find any cacklers, let alone a Greater White-fronted.
I drove out to the Snoqualmie River Valley and spent the rest of the day out there. I drove up W. Snoqualmie River Road SE toward Carnation, and I saw 4 or 5 Muscovy Ducks on the pond where I have seen them before. They aren't native here, but people keep them as domestic ducks. I don't know it these are escapees or if they just roam free on purpose. I would guess they are escapees and might be breeding at this pond. Here's one of the Muscovy Ducks, which I don't count for my lists since they aren't really "wild". In order to be countable, they would have to breed in the wild for ten years and form a self-sustaining population.
A bit farther up the road there were ducks and swans on a pond, and some Canada Geese as well. In with the Canada Geese were four Greater White-fronted Geese, a species I needed for December. Two of them were mature birds, and two were juveniles. I don't recall seeing juvenile Greater White-fronted Geese before. Here is an adult bird. Note the white above its bill and the dark streaks on its belly.
Here's one of the juvenile Greater White-fronted Geese. Note the absence of the white on the face and the dark streaks on the belly.
South of Carnation there was a large mixed flock of swans and geese, in the same field I saw them in last week. Here are some Snow Geese and some Cackling Geese.
Here are a couple of Trumpeter Swans.
Note the stubby little bill on this Cackling Goose.
Cackling Geese are much smaller than Canada Geese, but even when there aren't any Canada Geese around for a size comparison, the stubby bill and relatively short neck identifies Cackling Geese.
I drove through Tolt-MacDonald Park, looking for Varied Thrush or Mourning Doves, but saw neither. I did get this picture in terrible light of a Steller's Jay with some food, a piece of fruit, I think.
I stopped at the house with feeders in Carnation, hoping to see Mourning Doves there. There were 15 or 20 Eurasian Collared-Doves around, but no Mourning Doves. Here is a Eurasian Collared-Dove.
I drove around the town of Carnation, looking for Mourning Doves, but found none. At one house that had feeders, there were some finches in a tree. Here are a couple of male House Finches.
In the same tree was a similar looking finch, but I think this other one was a male Purple Finch. Here are two pictures of what I think was a male Purple Finch.
The easiest difference to see between the House Finches and the Purple Finch is the streaks on the flanks and bellies of the House Finches. The Purple Finch has brown smudges instead of streaks. I don't see Purple Finches often, and never at feeders, so this was an interesting sighting for me. I already had Purple Finch this month, though.
I gave up on Mourning Dove and drove to Sikes Lake. I got out and played sparrow songs, hoping to see the Swamp Sparrow I had seen last week. As usual, a Song Sparrow responded. It posed for me and sang back to me, so I took its picture.
On the lake were three male Common Mergansers, and I took a picture of one of them.
While I was out on the bridge over Sikes Lake, Hank, a birding acquaintance, came by in his car and we chatted for a few minutes. He said he had seen seven Mourning Doves at the feeder house in Carnation at 9:30 this morning. I had been there at about 10:30 to 11, and I hadn't seen any. I decided that if they were around, I would go back and try again. I had brought my lunch with me from home, and I figured I could sit in my car and eat it while watching for Mourning Doves.
That plan worked out great. While I was there, three Mourning Doves flew in and landed in a tree across the street. Here's a picture of two of them in the terrible light.
Later two Mourning Doves flew in to the yard and I got another picture of one of them.
That was a repeater, and one I wasn't realy expecting to get this month. After that I only had one more repeater to get - Marsh Wren.
When I finished my lunch, I drove up to the Stillwater Unit of the Snoqualmie Valley Wildlife Area. I walked along the valley trail and played Marsh Wren songs where I have seen them before. No luck today. I did see a Great Blue Heron that posed for me in very still water, so I took this picture showing its reflection.
Later, as I returned to my car, I got this picture of it with its head down and lots of plumes showing.
On the trail, I met Vicky, another birding acquaintance I see in the field regularly. We chatted and she told me she thought she had heard a Marsh Wren down the trail yesterday. I wouldn't have gone down there, but with her comment, I decided to do so. We walked down there together, and when we got to where she had heard one, I played the Marsh Wren song again. To my amazement, one responded by flitting around across a small channel of water from us. I took some distant pictures, although the bird never stayed still and it stayed in the brush, too. Here are my two best ones of the Marsh Wren, from across the channel.
That second one was the most open the bird got, and I like the picture because it shows all the markings on the bird. I kept playing the song, and eventually it flew across the little channel and we took some closer pictures. Here is the only one I could get when the bird was close.
There were actually two Marsh Wrens there for a while, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet came by, too, also responding to the playback.
So, that was my last repeater for the month. I have now seen (or heard) all 61 of the birds I had already gotten in the first 11 months of the year. Thanks to Hank and Vicky, because I probably wouldn't have gotten either Mourning Dove or Marsh Wren if I hadn't run into them today.
After that I drove up to W. Snoqualmie River Road NE, in an attempt to find the Prairie Falcon that was around there last week. I found a kestrel, a Northern Harrier, and three Bald Eagles, but no Prairie Falcon. As I drove back to the main road, I got this picture of a Red-tailed Hawk on a wire.
That was it for today. I added 3 more to my December list, to bring it to 138 now. I got my last two repeaters, and I ended up seeing (or hearing) 61 species in each month of this year. I got home about 4:00, after seven hours out there.
Monday, December 24, 2018
I wasn't sure I was even going to go out birding again this month, because I had been enjoying a short break from it, but the weather forecast looked good and I saw a report for Point No Point that looked good. On Saturday, in an all day marathon with a number of birders, they had seen 7 or 8 species I could use for December. I felt like a day trip, so I caught the 10:20 ferry out of Edmonds over to the Kitsap Peninsula. The sun was just coming out from behind the clouds as the ferry was departing, and I got this picture of Mount Baker, which is 50 miles or so to the north of Edmonds.
Here is a Red-necked Grebe just north of the ferry terminal.
Here's a female Red-breasted Merganser.
Finally, here is a juvenile Pelagic Cormorant, with a lot more brown on it than an adult would have.
I didn't need any of those, but it's always nice to get pictures, especially when sea birding, since the birds are usually too far away for pictures.
I picked up a tuna sandwich at Subway in Kingston and got to Point No Point at about 11:15. Sea birding there depends very much on the tides, and I hadn't checked the tides, nor did I know what to look for in terms of how high the tide should be. I saw some other birders there today who told me the best time to be at Point No Point is an hour after high tide. It turns out that high tide was at 6:30 this morning, and by the time I was there, it was almost low tide, although it was a pretty high low. The idea is to be there as the tide starts to go out, because there is quite a current near shore then, and that brings in the fish and therefore the sea birds. I was there at a poor time today, so there weren't many sea birds around, other than gulls.
It wasn't completely devoid of birds, though, and I slowly saw some. Here is a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers.
Here's a closer shot of the male Red-breasted Merganser.
Eventually I saw all three local loon species - Common Loon, Pacific Loon, and Red-throated Loon. I needed the third one for my December list. There were at least a half dozen Common Murres way out there, and at least half a dozen Marbled Murrelets. I didn't need the murres, but I did need Marbled Murrelet, so that made two for my December list. I backtracked to Norwegian Point and looked from there. I saw a shorebird on the beach, quite a distance away. I wasn't able to make out the identity, even with my scope, so I walked down the beach toward it. I stopped from time to time to take a look, and at the third or fourth stop I was able to see that it was a Black-bellied Plover, another one for my December list.
I went back up to Point No Point and ate the first half of my sandwich in the car, while I watched for birds. I didn't get anything new, but I did get this mediocre picture of a Bald Eagle that flew into a tree nearby.
After I ate, I drove to the end of the road near Foulweather Bluff, but I didn't see anything interesting there. Next I went to Driftwood Key. I have seen shorebirds there, but not today. I looked at the ducks on the enclosed harbor. The light was terrible; I was looking right into the sun, which is low on the horizon in late December at this latitude. Most of them were Buffleheads, with a couple of American Wigeons and a couple of scaup. I was looking for Greater Scaup for my December list because that was one that had been reported there on Saturday. Sure enough, the pair of scaup were Greater Scaup. Here’s a picture that basically only shows the outline of the birds, but the shape of the head is what I needed to see, so I was happy with it. Greater Scaup.
I headed back toward the Kingston ferry terminal, and I figured I could make the 2:30 sailing if I was lucky. As I approached the town of Kingston, though, the traffic was stopped. On a normal winter Monday, I would have made the 2:30 ferry, but it turns out that Christmas Eve is a very popular time for people to travel from the Kitsap Peninsula to Edmonds. Who knew? I not only didn't make the 2:30 ferry, I was too late to get on the 3:20 sailing, too. I was pretty early in the line of cars to get on the 4:00 boat. I hadn't counted on spending an hour and a half waiting for a ferry. I walked around, though, and I had brought my Kindle, so I read in the car, and the time passed fairly quickly. While I was waiting, a Great Blue Heron flew in and landed in a tree right across the road from me. Here are a couple of pictures in the late afternoon sun.
By the time we got on the ferry, the sun had gone down behind the Olympic Mountains and there wasn't much light. I did take a couple of pictures of Barrow's Goldeneyes next to the ferry, though. Here is a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes. The male is the one on the left.
Here are four Barrow's Goldeneyes in the fading afternoon light.
The sun was behind the Olympic Mountains for us, but it was still shining on the Cascade Range across Puget Sound to the east.
Mount Baker was in red light as the sun was setting, and I took a couple of pictures of it with the westbound ferry in the frame. I couldn't decide which picture I liked better, so here are the two best ones. Mount Baker and a Washington State ferry.
So, that was my day trip to the Kitsap Peninsula. I added 4 more species to my December list, and I had thought that getting three would be great when I started out this morning. Now I have 142 species for December, and 116 of those were in Washington State (the others were in Hawaii). I have 61 species that I saw in each of the 12 months this year (my repeaters), and I have 265 species for 2018. I don't know if I'll do any more birding this year or not. Time will tell.
I hope all my faithful readers are having a great holiday season and will have an excellent New Year celebration when 2019 rolls around.
Monday, December 31, 2018
I've had a fairly severe cold for a week, and I haven't been out birding. It was a nice break, although I could have done without the cold symptoms. I'd say I'm 90% over it now, and this morning I went out one last time in 2018. My first stop was the rowing club pond at Marymoor Park, hoping to see the Green Heron that I keep missing there. When I arrived at the pond, I immediately heard a Belted Kingfisher call, and I saw it in a leafless tree ahead. I got off a quick shot, and here's today's Belted Kingfisher.
I approached it and it flew on to an open perch, so I took another shot.
This time it stayed there and I was able to get closer for this third picture of a Belted Kingfisher.
I didn't need Belted Kingfisher for December, but pictures are always welcome.
I didn't see the Green Heron when I got there today, but today I tried something different. Last week someone reported hearing a Green Heron there. I don't recall ever hearing the sound a Green Heron makes, and I don't recall ever playing the call. So, today I tried playing Green Heron calls, just as an experiment. Darned if I didn't get a loud response right away! It was clearly nearby, but I couldn't see it. I hung around looking for it in the bushes, and eventually it flew out of the brush where I had been looking and flew to the other end of the pond. I had my Green Heron for December. It was across the pond and the light was low, but I took some pictures anyway. Here is the rather distant Green Heron sitting on a branch.
It flew down to the edge of the water, and I got this shot of it from the front.
I kept watching and it moved down a few feet, and I got this final shot of the Green Heron.
So, that quest was successful, on about my 4th or 5th trip to that pond this month, looking for Green Heron. If I hadn't played the call, the bird wouldn't have responded by calling back. If I hadn't heard it, I wouldn't have stuck around long enough to see it fly across the pond and I wouldn't have gotten it today. Now that I know they will respond, I'll be playing Green Heron calls in the future.
I had some time, and there wasn’t much else to go looking for that I needed for December, so I drove up onto the Sammamish Plateau to a pond in Klahanie where I had been told that a Pileated Woodpeckers was making a nest hole in a snag. I found the place, I think, but I couldn't see a suitable snag where it had been described to me, and I didn't hear or see any Pileated Woodpeckers. I walked around the pond a bit in each direction, and there were a lot of birds, but nothing I needed, of course. That was it for me today. After a couple of hours of birding, I was feeling the aftereffects of the cold, so went home.
Seeing the Green Heron today brings my December total to 143 species, and it brings my Monthly Birding experiment to an end for 2018. You can see a spreadsheet that shows each month and the species I saw that month, along with totals, at this link: http://barry15.com/2018_Birding_Reports/2018%20Birding%20List.xls Scroll up and down to see all the species.
I got 61 repeaters this year - birds I saw in each month of the year. Those are shown in bold in the spreadsheet. There were an additional 10 species that I saw in each of 11 months of the year, and there is a column for those, too, on the right, next to the 2018 year column.
While I was updating things, I discovered that I made an error in my little notebook of 2018 year-birds, way back in June. I misread a number and inadvertently I have been reporting a yearly total that is 50 species too low, since June 18. It's kind of embarrassing that I didn't ever notice it, although I have been feeling that my yearly total was disappointingly low. My actual total for 2018 is 315 species, which is significantly better than the 265 I thought it was. Considering that I didn’t do much traveling this year, and those were all in the three West Coast states plus Hawaii, 315 is pretty good, I guess.
I have some new things I'm going to keep track of for 2019, but I'll tell that story next year (tomorrow).