November 2018

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Thursday, November 1, 2018

I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning, and after that, it was extremely windy, so I didn’t really go birding. I saw American Crows (r) a few places, and I stopped briefly at Waverly Beach Park in Kirkland to see if there were any interesting ducks there. All I saw were Mallards (r) and American Wigeons (r). (r) indicates a repeater, a species I have seen in each month so far this year. There are 62 such species after ten months, and my goal is to get all 62 of those in November and December as well. After Thursday, I had 3 species for November and all 3 were repeaters.

Friday, November 2, 2018

I had another doctor's appointment again this morning, and afterwards I needed to take my car to the dealer to look at a possible problem, so I didn't do any birding in the morning. I did see a Black-capped Chickadee (r), though, in our yard, when I was bringing in the paper.

After lunch the rain had stopped, so I went over to Logboom Park, hoping to see the Redheads and Canvasback I had seen there on Wednesday. No luck at that, but did see some other birds. Here is a male Gadwall (r).

There were a number of Buffleheads around. Here is a female Bufflehead.

Here are two male Buffleheads.

I had seen American Wigeons yesterday, but today I got pictures. Here is a male American Wigeon.

Here is a less colorful female American Wigeon.

Here's a picture of a pair of American Wigeons.

There had been 3 or 4 dozen Double-crested Cormorants (r) there on Wednesday, and there were only maybe a half dozen around today, but it went on my list. I added Greater Scaup, Wood Duck (r), Pied-billed Grebe (r), Canada Goose (r), and Great Blue Heron (r) by scoping along the eastern shore of the lake. There was a river otter out there in the lake, too.

As I walked back toward my car, I spotted a Belted Kingfisher (r) along the shore. It was a long way away, but here is a distant picture of it.

On the way home, I stopped at St Edward State Park, hoping to see a Varied Thrush or some other forest bird. All I got was American Robin (r), though. Back at home, I saw a Northern Flicker (r) out of my bedroom window.

I'm getting a slow start this month, but there is plenty of time left. I added 12 more species to my list today, to bring it to 15 now. Ten of those today were repeaters, and now I have 13 repeaters. The weather forecast looks poor, but I'll see if I can get out there and find some good birds over the weekend.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

It was raining again today, but I headed out anyway. My plan was to go out to Carnation, then up to Tokul Creek to look for American Dipper, and then go back through Carnation to Duvall. I had to change my plans, though, because Novelty Hill Road was closed for the day, going down in to the Snoqualmie Valley. I backtracked a little and took a road I hadn't been on before that I thought might be a way around, and it turned out to be so. I got to Duval and drove up W. Snoqualmie River Road NE. The river was as high as I have ever seen it, and it is supposed to be higher tomorrow - right at the edge of flood stage.

Birds weren't out much in the rain, but I picked up European Starling (r) and Dark-eyed Junco (r) right away. The only other birds I added to my list on that road were Red-tailed Hawk (r) and Bald Eagle (r). After that I stopped at McCormick Park in Duvall and walked out on the valley trail to the pond where I have seen snipe. Fortunately, there was a brief break in the rain, the only one I had all day long, actually. There was a lot more water in the pond than a couple of weeks ago, but at the south end I spotted two Wilson's Snipe hunkered down. Here is the first one I saw, with its long bill tucked in under its wing.

A few minutes later, it took its bill out and I got another picture.

Here is the second Wilson's Snipe I saw there today.

That was a good one to get, and I boogied on down the road toward Carnation. I detoured over to Sikes Lake, but all I picked up on that detour was American Coot (r). Oh yes, I also saw a Steller's Jay (r) on my way back to my car at McCormick Park.

After Sikes Lake and a short stop at Chinook Bend, I made my way into the town of Carnation, to the house with feeders. There were absolutely no birds in sight when I got there. I was about to give up when I spotted a dove at the top of a tree. Unfortunately, it was a Eurasian Collared-Dove (r), not a less common Mourning Dove. As I was pulling away, I saw some American Goldfinches in a tree, and they went to the feeders from there. I also looked around and saw a Cooper's Hawk near the top of a nearby tree, which is probably why there weren't any birds around when I got there. Here is the Cooper's Hawk, in difficult light.

It was raining when I took that picture, and every time I opened my window, the rain came in.

I moved on and drove through Tolt-MacDonald Park, and then up to Tokul Creek, picking up Feral Pigeon (r) on the way. It was raining up there, too, of course, but I got out and stood on the bridge in the rain and looked for a dipper. At first I didn’t see one, but after a couple of minutes, I spotted one upstream. Here is a distant picture of today's American Dipper (r).

The dipper was working its way down the stream, so I waited and eventually it got quite close. It was hard to focus my camera in the poor light, though, and the bird kept moving, so this was the only somewhat close shot I got.

The water was pretty high in Tokul Creek today, after our recent rains.

After that I drove to Marymoor Park, but I didn't find anything there in the rain.

It wasn’t much of a birding day, but I got out and about, and I did add 12 more species to my November list, to bring it to 27. 9 of the species were repeaters, and now I have 22 of my 62 possible repeaters for the month. I'm hoping the weather will be drier soon.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

We had a dry day, and I headed out on a route that had 7 planned stops. My first stop was Logboom Park in Kenmore. I was hoping for Canvasback or Redhead, but all I got was Ring-necked Duck and Western Grebe (r). Western Grebe was a good one, and I got a distant picture of one of the two Western Grebes I saw.

My next stop was Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, trying for California Quail. I didn't see or hear any quail, though, and I didn't get anything else I needed, either. My third stop was Kayu Kayu Ac park in Richmond Beach. There I added Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Pigeon Guillemot (r), and Red-breasted Merganser. They were all distant views, so no pictures.

I stopped at the little park in the town of Woodway and walked in the woods a bit. I managed to call up a Brown Creeper (r) and despite the low light conditions, I got some pictures I like. In this first picture, the bird was calling back to me. You can barely see that its bill is open.

Here is a shot that shows its face better.

Finally, here is a side shot as the Brown Creeper goes scurrying up another tree.

I played Pacific Wren songs, too, and attracted one. I kept trying for pictures, but it wouldn't sit still and it was just too dark under the trees. My camera is very slow to focus in low light, and by the time I would get a focus, the bird would have moved on. Both of those were excellent November birds, though.

Next I went into Edmonds and parked and walked out onto the fishing pier. There wasn't much around, but I did manage to pick up both Pelagic Cormorant (r) and Brandt's Cormorant for my list. There were a lot of Heermann's Gulls around, too, and one Bonaparte's Gull (r) sitting in the water off the end of the pier. Here is the Bonaparte's Gull, which is the smallest gull we have around here regularly.

There was a female Belted Kingfisher just sitting there as I walked out onto the pier. I didn't need it for November any more, but I took these two close-up pictures of her.

Male Belted Kingfishers don't have that brown color on them once they are mature. Immature ones of both sexes have brown in their breastband, so this is an adult female.

I also added Common Murre, an excellent bird, to my November list out on the pier. There were two Common Murres quite close in, diving repeatedly. I got this series of pictures of Common Murres.

After that, I drove up to Sunset Avenue and got out my scope. I saw several Harlequin Ducks, a lot of Surf Scoters (r), and a group of Black Scoters - five males and one female. Finally, I went a bit farther north to Ocean Avenue and saw 5 or 6 Pacific Loons for my list.

It was nice to be out and about without any rain or wind to speak of, and I added 17 species to my November list, to bring it to 44 species now. Six of the species today were repeaters, so now I have 28 or the possible 62 repeaters this month. The month is starting out rather slowly, but I'm steadily moving along.

Monday, November 5, 2018

This morning I drove up to the Everett sewage ponds to look for ducks, mainly. It hadn't been raining at home, but it was raining up there, and it continued all morning. It was no doubt due to the Puget Sound Convergence Zone, where the winds from the west meet after going around the Olympic Mountains north and south. I have noticed that there has been rain there every day for the last few days, even when it was dry everywhere else. Anyway, it was a light rain, and I got out my scope and looked at the hundreds (thousands?) of ducks on the big pond. I soon added Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, and Ruddy Duck (r) to my November list. There was also one Green-winged Teal (r), which I hadn't seen before this month. Eventually, I spotted two Eared Grebes, too, and that had been one of my primary targets. Eared Grebes are uncommon around here, and I don't imagine I will see one anywhere else I go this month.

I tried to lure out a Marsh Wren with its song, but all I got was a Song Sparrow (r), which was a November first, anyway. I also saw Mew Gull and Bonaparte's Gull, although I had seen Bonaparte's yesterday at Edmonds.

I had some extra time, so I stopped by the Everett waterfront to look for the rare (for this area) Great Egret that has been hanging out there, but I didn't find it today. I did check out the gulls in the boat launch parking lot, though, and added two more gulls to my November list. Here is a Ring-billed Gull (r).

Here's a California Gull (r).

They probably both just look like "seagulls" to most people, but the leg color and the bills are different in the two species, as is the eye color. There were also Glaucous-winged Gulls (r) there. Now I have all six gull species that are common around here in November.

I had lunch with my friend, Chris, and afterwards we stopped by the Brightwater Water Treatment Center north of Woodinville and walked a little. It was raining there, and it didn't look like it had rained. I didn't see anything I needed, so we went to Canyon Park wetlands and walked there. I spotted a Red-breasted Sapsucker, which was an excellent November bird, and then I played sparrow songs, hoping to attract a sparrow or two. No sparrows showed up, but a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets did. That was another good November bird for me, and I tried to get a picture, but couldn't. A couple of Spotted Towhees (r) responded to the calls I was playing, so that one went onto my November list, too.

I dropped Chris off and on my way to the freeway there were some geese in a field. I turned around and went back, and many of them were Cackling Geese, another one I needed for November. Here are a couple of pictures of Cackling Geese.

Cackling Geese look very much like their Canada Geese cousins, but Cacklers have shorter, stouter bills and they are much smaller than Canada Geese. Up until 7 or 8 years ago, they were all considered the same species, with subspecies to distinguish the smaller ones. They were spilt into two species, and birders had to start paying attention to the differences. I can tell the birds in the two pictures above are Cackling Geese, but it always helps to see them right next to Canada Geese, like in this next picture. The much larger goose on the left is a Canada Goose, and the smaller ones are Cackling Geese.

If you didn't know any better, you might think the ones on the right were young Canada Geese, not yet fully grown, but at this time of year, all of them are fully grown. Both species breed in Alaska and winter along the west coast. Some Canada Geese now stay over in Washington State and breed here, but they didn't used to, 30 or 40 years ago. Cackling Geese all breed in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

So, I got 14 more November birds today, and now I have 58 for the month. 7 species were repeaters today, and now I have 35 repeater species this month - ones I have seen in each month this year so far. I still have 240 species on my year list, and that isn't likely to change until my trip to Hawaii at the end of this month. Now we are supposed to have 6 or 7 mostly dry days in a row, so I hope to get out there and build up my November totals.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

This morning I headed over to Marymoor Park, taking advantage of the dry weather forecast. I drove through the parking lot that has held meadowlarks and pipits recently, but got nothing - not even a single Killdeer, and there are always Killdeer there.

Next I parked in the west dog park parking lot and walked along the slough to the weir. I didn't see anything I needed there, either. I backtracked and walked to the trees around the mansion. There was a Belted Kingfisher along the slough, and I couldn't resist taking its picture, even though I had just had very close kingfisher shots the other day. Here is today's rather distant Belted Kingfisher.

On the way to the mansion area, I picked up House Finch (r) for my list. I played the song and got a quick response from a little group of 4 or 5 Golden-crowned Kinglets (r). I was glad to have that one under my belt. While I was trying, unsuccessfully, for a picture I thought I saw another species I needed. I played that one's song, and I got a good look at a responding Chestnut-backed Chickadee (r). I was doing so well with my targeted species that I tried another one and attracted a Red-breasted Nuthatch (r). I was three for three with the "little birds" I was hoping for in that area.

I played some sparrow songs, and heard a "chip" call from some blackberry brambles. It took a while, but finally I spotted a lurking Fox Sparrow back in the brambles. The light was poor and coming from the wrong direction as well, but I managed this picture of the lurking Fox Sparrow.

I couldn't lure it out farther than that, so I moved on down the line of blackberry brambles. I heard another "chip" response, and this time a Fox Sparrow came out a little more, and it was actually singing back to me some of the time, not just chipping. Here are two pictures of the second Fox Sparrow.

Next I drove over to what is called the viewing mound, which overlooks the East Meadow. I was hoping to get a response from a Lincoln's Sparrow, but I never did. I did spot a bird in a tree, and it turned out to be a Western Meadowlark, an excellent November bird for me. Here is a rather distant picture of the Western Meadowlark.

There was also an Anna's Hummingbird (r) flitting around.

After that I headed for home, but I stopped on the west side of the park at the rowing club access point. I was hoping for something on the pond there, but there were no birds at all there today. I did manage to pick up Red-winged Blackbird (r) for my list, at least. At the slough, I got this picture of a Double-crested Cormorant, which I didn't need for November.

So, when all the results were in, I had 8 more species for my November list, to bring it to 66 species. 5 of the ones today were repeaters, so now I have 40 of the possible 62 repeaters for the month. Tomorrow I plan to go up to Skagit county and see if I can get some of the winter specialties up there. I don't think the two species of swans are back yet in any numbers, but there are other species I can get, I hope.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Today I drove up north to Skagit county. My first stop was to pick up a Subway tuna sandwich, and then I went to Eide Road, west of Stanwood. I was hoping to see Short-eared Owl, but I didn't see any today. I did pick up Northern Harrier (r) for my November list, and I played some sparrow songs at one place. A Song Sparrow flew in, and although I didn't need it, I got this picture in the morning light.

A Lincoln's Sparrow also flew in and posed for me, although not as close.

I did need that one, and was happy to add it to my list.

I moved north to Wylie Slough and walked around a little. I missed some birds I was hoping to see there, but I did manage to call out a Marsh Wren (r). A small flock of about a dozen Trumpeter swans flew over, and that was another November species. As I drove away from Wylie Slough, I stopped at the dairy farm that has a lot of blackbirds and spotted a male Brown-headed Cowbird (r).

On my way to Hayton Reserve, my next stop, I got this picture of one of the several Red-tailed Hawks I saw today.

I also got this picture of a female Northern Harrier flying.

At Hayton Reserve I walked up onto the dike, but the tide was out, so there weren't any shorebirds in view. A Black-capped Chickadee landed on a stick nearby and posed for me. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the little cutie.

There was a small group of Snow Geese there, too, so that one went on my list. I stopped on the way out of Hayton Reserve and scoped the ducks on the long pond. There were some American Wigeons, and I scanned through them and found a male Eurasian Wigeon, an excellent one for my list. Eurasian Wigeons are Asian ducks that breed in the far north, where American Wigeons also breed. Every year a few Eurasian Wigeons join American Wigeons and migrate down the west coast of North America, then winter from Washington to California. I read that about 1% of the wigeons on the west coast in the winter are Eurasian Wigeons, so you have to look through any American Wigeons you find until you find a Eurasian one.

I saw some Brewer's Blackbirds (r) on my way out of Hayton, too. Next I drove to the house on Valentine Road and ate my sandwich in the car while I watched the suet feeder. I have seen three woodpecker species there in recent months, but today all I saw was the easiest one, a female Downy Woodpecker (r).

When I was about ready to leave, I played some Bewick's Wren (r) songs, and one flew in but didn’t stick around long enough for a picture.

I drove up to the Samish flats and drove around looking for birds. On Sullivan Road I saw a female American Kestrel (r) and got this picture.

Just down the road was a male American Kestrel, and here's a distant picture of him. Note the blue on his wing.

Here's a picture of another Red-tailed Hawk.

That one has a very long, hooked bill, I notice.

Here is a Bald Eagle on another pole.

I stopped at the West 90 and walked around a little, but I couldn't find any Short-eared Owls or Rough-legged Hawks, both of which were on my wish list. I did mange to see a Common Raven (r) flying, though, which was nice. I started toward home and stopped at the East 90 corner and saw some sparrows. Some of them were immature White-crowned Sparrows (r), which I was happy to get. There were some House Finches with them, which I didn't need, but then I saw two Savannah Sparrows, which I did need. Here is one of the Savannah Sparrows.

Soon after that I saw a large raptor flying, and it was hovering in the air, which is unusual. I got this picture of it.

It ended up flying down and interacting with another raptor, and I got this picture of them.

From the pictures, I was able to determine they were Rough-legged Hawks, a species I particularly wanted to see up there today. The white tail with a dark terminal band on the bird on the left was diagnostic.

I turned down Farm-to-Market Road and headed toward home. I soon came on a medium sized flock of Snow Geese. Here is a picture of a few of the Snow Geese with Mount Baker in the background.

Here is an adult Snow Goose and a darker juvenile on the left.

Almost all the Snow Geese that winter in Western Washington are white, but there are a few dark morphs, too. Here is a juvenile dark morph Snow Goose.

Here is what an adult dark morph Snow Goose looks like.

While I was out of the car taking pictures of the Snow Geese, a couple of flocks of Dunlins (shorebirds) flew around, so that one went on my November list. There were also a couple of Trumpeter Swans in a shallow pond near the Snow Geese.

Here's a picture of one of them scratching its head with its big webbed foot.

One of the Trumpeter Swans stretched its wings at one point.

So, that was my day. I was out for about 7 hours and 45 minutes, and I drove about 160 miles. I got16 more species for my November list, to give me 82 now. 9 of them were repeaters and now I have 49 repeaters this month. That leaves me 13 more repeaters to look for this month, while I'm also trying to get as many species as I can locally. I should add 20 or 30 more species in the last few days of the end of the month when I travel to Honolulu, but I'd like to get 120 species locally first. I have my work cut out for me, but at least the weather is supposed to be good for another 4 or 5 days.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Today I started by heading out to the Snoqualmie Valley and Carnation. I stopped at the Redmond Retention Ponds on the way, and added Killdeer (r) to my November list. It was foggy there and in all the valleys, but I managed see the ducks on the main pond through the fog, and there were 6 Hooded Mergansers (r). No pictures because of the fog.

Out in the Snoqualmie Valley, the fog was burning away, but the visibility was still compromised. I spotted a Kestrel on a wire, but there was too much fog for a picture. At one point there were some little birds by the road, so I pulled over and after getting out of the car, I was able to identify at least one Golden-crowned Sparrow, another one for my list.

It was still too misty to see anything at Sikes Lake and I didn't see anything else until I got to the house with feeders in Carnation. As I pulled up, I saw that there were goldfinches on the ground at the edge of the street and on the feeders, and when I stopped to look, a dove flew in. Just then a truck came down the street and all the birds flew off, but I got enough of a look to tell it had been a Mourning Dove (r). That was great because I was worried I wouldn't find one this month. I parked and waited, and the goldfinches slowly came back. Here are three American Goldfinches feeding at the edge of the street.

A Mourning Dove flew in again, but was again spooked by a car coming by, before I could get a picture. Some Eurasian Collared-Doves came in after a while, and I got this picture of one of them.

It is a quiet street usually, but today it seemed like lots of cars came by, and the birds couldn't really ever get settled in to their feeding. Eventually I gave it up and moved on.

I picked up a sandwich at the Carnation Market and drove through Tolt-MacDonald Park, hoping to find a Varied Thrush. No luck with that, but I did get this picture of a female Northern Flicker.

I crossed the Snoqualmie River and drove down the west side on W. Snoqualmie River Road. There were a couple of Trumpeter Swans on a pond, and I got this picture.

A little farther down the road I spotted a bird on a snag across the river. I thought at first it might be a Merlin, which I need, but it turned out to be another Kestrel, a male this time. Here is a distant picture of the male American Kestrel.

On another pond there was a strange looking duck, so I took a picture of it.

I think it was a domestic Muscovy Duck. I don't know if it was an escapee or if the owner just lets it roam free. It could fly, because it flew to the other end of the pond and joined another one for this picture.

There were farms in the area, so maybe they are just free ranging and they return to their home to be fed from time to time.

I drove on to Lake Sammamish State Park, to look for a couple of duck species that have been reported there this week. First I found a place to park and ate my sandwich, though. While I was eating, I was watching the neighboring trees, and I saw some small birds in one tree. I got out and checked them out. They were only Black-capped Chickadees, but I noticed other small birds in the tree and in the tree next to it. It turned out to be a small flock of Bushtits, a good November bird for me.

I finished my sandwich and drove down near the lake. I walked out to see if there were any ducks around, and it looked like there were some at the west end of the beach, so I walked down there. As I approached the lake I noticed a guy who seemed to be looking at the ducks, and as I got closer I recognized Hank, a birding buddy that I sometimes see in the field. We found a picnic table and sat and took pictures of the ducks. Both of the species I was hoping to see were there - about 5 or 6 Canvasbacks and one male Redhead. I never got a picture of the Redhead, and he disappeared, but I got some rather distant pictures of Canvasbacks, although the light was all wrong. Here are two Canvasbacks.

I think the one on the left is a male and the one on the right is a female. Here is a better picture of a female Canvasback.

Males have a redder head and a black breast.

Hank and I walked around a little, and we found a nice little mixed feeding flock of small birds. In the flock we were able to identify Black-capped Chickadee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Brown Creeper. I didn't need any of those, as it turned out, but it was still nice to see them up close. They never stopped flitting around, though, so we couldn't get any decent pictures. Here is the best I was able to do with a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

I like the way you can see the yellow stripe down the middle of its head.

It was a fairly long day of birding for me, and I added 7 more to my November list, to bring it to 89 species now. Three of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 52 of those. That leaves just 10 more repeaters to look for this month. The toughest species is going to be Barn Swallow. Swallows migrate south in the winter, and I don't see how I'll find any this month or next month. I don't know how I managed to get that species in January or February, though, so maybe a few of them over-winter here. Hairy Woodpecker is always tough, too, but I hope to find one somewhere. California Quail isn't easy, but if I go over to Richmond Beach several times, I should be able to see them or hear them there, if I'm lucky.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Today I had a six stop route planned. My first stop was at Logboom Park, in the hopes of finding either Lesser Scaup or Common Merganser. It was nice to see that the ducks are coming back now, for the winter. There was a good variety there today. Here are some Ring-necked Ducks, which I already had for November. There is one male Bufflehead in the middle of the shot, too.

There were scaup there, but Greater and Lesser Scaup are very similar in appearance. Here is a single scaup, and I'm not sure which species it was.

One of my target species was there, Common Merganser (r). Here's a picture of male and female Common Mergansers. The one on the left is the male.

Here are two more unidentified scaup, probably Greater Scaup.

Here's a shot of three Greater Scaup, I think,

Here is one more that shows three Greater Scaup, I think. The one on the left is looking right at me, and the shape of the head says Greater Scaup to me.

I ended up deciding I couldn't count Lesser Scaup today. There were some Canvasbacks around, too. I got that one on Thursday, but here is a picture of a male Canvasback.

Here are two male Canvasbacks together.

Next I moved on to the house in Lake Forest Park where I have seen Band-tailed Pigeons many times. They have a feeder, and the pigeons hang out in the neighborhood all year round. When I pulled up in front of the house, I immediately spotted a Band-tailed Pigeon (r) in a tree in back of the house.

So, I had 2 repeaters in my first two stops. My next stop was Richmond Beach Saltwater Park. I was looking and listening for California Quail, which is another repeater. Sadly, I had no luck there today and left without adding anything new. I stopped at Kayu Kayu Ac Park in Richmond Beach to see if there was anything out on the water. I set up my scope on the viewing platform, but right away a slow freight train came along, blocking my view of Puget Sound. While I waited for the train to pass, I looked back at the trees around the park, and I saw a small group of interesting looking birds. I went closer and they turned out to be Yellow-rumped Warblers, an excellent November bird. Once the train passed, I went back and scanned the water. I found a group of about a dozen Barrow's Goldeneyes, another good November bird.

I moved on to stop number 5, which was Sunset Avenue, just north of the ferry terminal in Edmonds. I scanned around and there were a fair number of birds out there, but nothing I needed at first. There were Harlequin Ducks, Red-necked Grebes, Horned Grebes, Surf Scoters, Pigeon Guillemots, gulls, cormorants, a large group of very distant Western Grebes, and a group of about a dozen Black Scoters, but I didn't need any of those species this month. I heard some peeping nearby and it turned out to be some House Sparrows (r), of all things. That's a pretty common species, but I hadn't run across any yet this month. I moved up the street and looked some more, this time finding a group of 5 or 6 Common Goldeneyes. Those were the first Common Goldeneyes I have seen since May, so that was nice. I was expecting them back from their breeding grounds this month and they showed up on schedule. It was good to see so many species returning to the Edmonds waterfront, but I missed 5 that I need still - White-winged Scoter, Common Loon (r), Rhinoceros Auklet (r), Marbled Murrelet, and Red-throated Loon. All five of those species have been reported there in the last week, so I guess I'll have to go back and try for them again.

My last stop for the day was Ocean Avenue, which is about a mile north of the ferry terminal in Edmonds, along the water. I didn't add anything else there, although there was a loon that I looked at long and hard. I ended up deciding it was a Pacific Loon, not the similar Red-throated Loon, and I already had seen Pacific Loon this month. There were some female Red-breasted Mergansers there, too, close enough to shore for distant pictures.

That was it for my birding today, and I headed home for lunch, reading, and a football game on TV. I added 6 more species to my November list today, to bring it to 95 now. 3 of those were repeaters, and now I have 55 repeaters this month. That leaves just 7 more repeaters to look for in November.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

We had a cold but clear morning, and I headed over to Seattle. My main target was California Scrub-Jay at my usual spot south of the University of Washington, but I stopped at the Montlake Fill first to try for some uncommon to rare sparrows that had been seen yesterday. I walked out to the UW Farm, as it is called, and talked to some other birders who were also looking for the sparrows. No one had seen the rare one, Harris's Sparrow, but this couple had seen a White-throated Sparrow, which would have been fine for me. I walked around and never saw anything but White-crowned Sparrows. I then tried for the Swamp Sparrows that had been reported in the southeast corner of the Fill, but I came up empty on that one, too. I would have liked to have played some calls, but there were too many birders around. For one thing, many birders don’t like playback, and it also doesn't seem fair to me to play bird calls and songs when so many birders rely on the calls to identify birds. I don't want to fake them out, so I don't usually play calls when other birders are around.

I gave that up and went over to where I have seen the jays regularly. I walked a little and played their calls, and I got one that responded with calls. I played some more and it perched out in the open, and I got these two pictures of the California Scrub-Jay (r).

I had my main target, so I headed back toward home. I stopped briefly at the Fill again, thinking of trying again for the sparrows, but I was feeling the need to find a bathroom, and the one at the center there was closed for the weekend, so I got back on the road for home. I did stop at Logboom Park, though, and walked out onto the pier. I used my scope and saw some scaup fairly nearby. I was sure that at least one of them was a Lesser Scaup, which was the one I needed. I'm not sure about the others with it, but I only needed one. I could have walked out onto the pier in the hopes of a distant photo, but I was still feeling the need for a bathroom, so I went back to the car and drove home.

I added two more to my November list, to bring it to 97 species. One of them was a repeater, and now I have 56 of the 62 possible repeaters this month.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

I had other business to take care of on Monday and Tuesday this week, as well as this morning. Today I went out to lunch with my friend, Chris, and after lunch we went down to Juanita Bay Park, to the fire station road. It was quite birdy there today. There was a nice flock of little birds, including Black-capped Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Bushtits. There were also some members of the sparrow family. In addition to Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees, which I didn't need, there was a lovely little White-throated Sparrow, which I very much needed. I tried for a picture of the White-throated Sparrow, but there wasn't enough light and I couldn't get my camera to focus on it, which was very frustrating. I did add that one species to my November list, though, to bring it to 98 species. I still have 56 repeaters this month, leaving me 6 more to try for.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

This morning I went down to Juanita Bay Park and walked out onto the east boardwalk. I played Hairy Woodpecker and Virginia Rail calls. I never saw or heard a Hairy Woodpecker, but I did get a response from a Virginia Rail, so that one went on my November list. It was a repeater, too.

There were ducks out on the lake, as usual, and I took some pictures. Here is a female Bufflehead.

Here are a couple of male Buffleheads, one of which was flapping its wings and one was just diving.

Here is a male Gadwall.

I didn't have much time, but I went over to the fire station road and played some more bird calls. I saw a couple of woodpeckers - Northern Flicker and Red-breasted Sapsucker, but I didn’t need either of those. I attracted a White-throated Sparrow, presumably the same one I had seen there yesterday afternoon. It stayed back in the blackberry brambles, just as it had yesterday, but today I managed to get a peek-a-boo picture of the White-throated Sparrow.

A Golden-crowned Kinglet came in, and flitted back and forth as I played its song. I couldn't get a good picture, but I did manage to get this rather blurry one.

That was it for this morning - I had one for my November list.

I had a lunch date with my friend, Dan, and we drove north to do a little birding/lunch trip. Before we got lunch, we went to Tulalip Bay, which is north of Everett, about 40 minutes from home. The tide was very high, so the Black-bellied Plovers were not where they usually are, on the spit. I did see 3 Black Turnstones sitting on the log boom logs at the marina, so that one went on my list. We stopped at the youth center and I found where the Black-bellied Plovers were roosting with some Dunlin, at the south end of the bay. I didn't need Dunlin, but I did need the plovers.

After that we went to MOD Pizza in Marysville, and I bought lunch to settle our election bet. After lunch we headed toward home, with some stops on the way. I didn't see the Great Egret at the Everett waterfront, so we moved on to Mukilteo. I didn’t see anything I needed there, either, so we went on south to Edmonds. I didn't see anything I needed at Ocean Avenue, but from Sunset Avenue, I saw a Rhinoceros Auklet, which was another repeater, my second of the day.

So, I ended up getting 4 more species for November, to bring me to 102. Two of those were repeaters, and now I have 58 repeaters for the month.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Today I drove a long circular route. It started with a ferry ride over to Whidbey Island, then I drove up the length of Whidbey, and came home via the southern part of Skagit county, with a stop in northern Snohomish county on the way home. It was about 170 miles altogether, and I was out there for about 7 hours and 45 minutes.

As the ferry pulled in to Clinton, on Whidbey, I got this picture of a Pigeon Guillemot.

In the summer, Pigeon Guillemots are black, with white wing patches. This one is almost into winter plumage, but it will be whiter in a few weeks. One of the Pigeon Guillemots looked a bit different.

I thought it was probably just transitioning to winter plumage more slowly than the others, but in looking it up, I learned that this was a juvenile bird, hatched this year. It will stay like this all winter, until it turns black next spring. I think it is interesting that I have never noticed this juvenile plumage before.

On Whidbey Island, my first stop was Deer Lagoon. I was looking for the single American White Pelican that has been hanging around there, or California Quail, which I have seen and heard there. Today I didn't get either one of those, and nothing else I needed either. Not an auspicious start to my adventure.

At the overlook parking lot south of Crockett Lake I spotted some loons offshore. Most of them were Pacific Loons, which I had already seen this month, but there was one Common Loon, which I not only needed, it was a repeater. I saw several other Common Loons today, too, later on.

I drove along Crockett Lake and when I saw some shorebirds, I stopped and got out my scope. I got lucky with shorebirds there today. In addition to the hundreds of Dunlin, which I didn't need, I saw some Least Sandpipers, some Long-billed Dowitchers, some Greater Yellowlegs, and one Western Sandpiper. All four of those were November birds for me. Here is a part of a large bunch of roosting Dunlin, with their heads tucked under their wings.

Here is a small group of Long-billed Dowitchers.

I like the way I accidently caught one coming in for a landing, in the upper part of the picture. Here is a Greater Yellowlegs with some dowitchers.

The pictures aren't great, partly because the birds were so far away, and partly because it was heavily overcast and there wasn't much light.

I was happy to get so many shorebirds in November (most have moved south by now, but some stick around for the winter, I guess). On my way to my next stop, Libbey Beach, there was a small group of Snow Geese in a field. Here are a few of them.

I already had Snow Goose this month, but pictures are always welcome. The white ones are adults, and the darker ones are juveniles, hatched this year up in Alaska.

I didn’t see anything I needed at Libbey Beach, but at least there were some birds out on the water. Moving north, I stopped at Hastie Lake Beach Access and looked around. There were a lot of birds out on the water there, but they were much too distant for pictures. Using my scope, I was able to identify all three local loon species, including several Red-throated Loons, which was the last of the three loons I needed this month. I was quite pleased to see a group of Long-tailed Ducks, an excellent bird that is pretty uncommon.

I moved a little farther up the coast to West Beach county park overlook, and I saw a group of White-winged Scoters there, another excellent November bird for my list. I ate the first half of my Subway tuna sandwich there, and moved on.

A brief stop at Deception Pass State Park got me Black Oystercatcher for my list. Here is a Black Oystercatcher taking a nap, hiding its long, bright orange bill under one of its wings.

Here is a picture of another Black Oystercatcher that was showing off its orange bill.

I counted five Black Oystercatchers on that rock, just offshore.

After that I drove off of Whidbey Island, over the Deception Pass bridge, and onto Fidalgo Island, which is in Skagit county. My next actual stop was at the house with feeders on Valentine Road. I was hoping to get a woodpecker I needed at the suet feeder. I ate the second half of my sandwich and watched the feeder. I didn't see either Hairy Woodpecker or Pileated Woodpecker, which were the ones I was hoping for, but I did get this picture of a female Downy Woodpecker.

A Black-capped Chickadee kept flying in to the suet feeder, too, and I got this picture of it looking back at me.

Here is a more usual shot, showing only its back.

That house is great because I can sit on the side of the road in my car, with my window open, and the suet feeder is only about 20 feet away.

When I finished my sandwich, I moved on. I was covering a lot of miles today and it was getting late. I drove around the Rawlings Road/Maupin Road loop, but didn't see anything there. At Hayton Reserve, as I drove in, I spotted a huge flock of Snow Geese in the distance. I stopped and took some pictures of some of the thousands of Snow Geese that were flying around to the east.

That is just a small portion of the entire flock. Here is a shot that shows more of them, although it still wasn't the entire flock.

It was pretty impressive, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to have been on the ground close to where they were flying around.

I didn't get out of the car at Hayton Reserve because I was running out of time, and I already had seen the shorebirds (at Crockett Lake) that I had been planning to look for there. There is another species I have seen there that I needed, though, so I looked around. There it was, sitting at the top of a tree, out in the late afternoon light - a beautiful Peregrine Falcon. I wasn't real close, but here are a couple of pictures of the Peregrine Falcon.

That was a great one to get, and I moved on Wiley Slough. My main target there was the rare (for this area) Black Phoebe that has been hanging out there for months. I usually miss it, although I had seen it several times this year. I was looking along the little slough where people have reported it recently, and I stopped to look at some birds across the slough. They were only Spotted Towhees, American Robins, and a male Downy Woodpecker, none of which I needed. As I was getting ready to move on, I suddenly saw the Black Phoebe, perched up in a little tree quite close. I got a good look at it, but it flew off before I could get my camera fired up to take a picture. I got out and looked for it, but it never came back or responded to playback of its song. It was a great one to get, though.

While I was trying to lure the Black Phoebe back with playback, I played the call of Hairy Woodpecker, just for the heck of it. To my great surprise, I heard a woodpecker type call, and looked around. There was a woodpecker on a post across the road, and it turned out to be a male Hairy Woodpecker. Here is a picture of the male Hairy Woodpecker, which was another repeater that I was very happy to get.

Here is another picture of it, looking around.

I continued to look for the Black Phoebe, hoping for a picture, and took these next two pictures of a Spotted Towhee that was posing for me in the late afternoon sunshine.

It was getting late and I still had one more place I wanted to stop, so I moved on. On the way to my next stop, I spotted this female American Kestrel on a wire, and I was surprised when it stayed there for me to take this picture from my car.

Kestrels usually take off when I pull up to take a picture of them.

My final stop was Eide Road, just west of the town of Stanwood, in northern Snohomish county. My two main targets there were Northern Shrike and Short-eared Owl. I didn't see a shrike, but I did manage to see at least two Short-eared Owls, probably three. Unfortunately, they were much too far away for pictures. I had good views of two of them with my binoculars and one of them with my scope, as they swooped around over the fields, hunting.

That was it for me today. I boogied down the freeway and the sun set as I was driving south. I got home at 4:40 after a long day of excellent birding. I had started out poorly with my double miss at Deer Lagoon, but after that, I saw most of what I was looking for. I ended up getting 13 species for my November list, to bring it to 115 species. When I was riding the ferry this morning, I had decided that if I got 5 new species today, that would be good, and 8 would be outstanding. What do I call 13? Over the top, I guess. Two of them were repeaters, too, to give me 60 repeaters now for November. The only repeaters left now are Barn Swallow, which is just about impossible in November around here, and California Quail. I guess I'll have to go over to Richmond Beach a time or two, in the hopes of seeing or hearing California Quail. I would say that I see or hear quail there about one time in every 3 or 4 times I go there, so it isn't going to be easy to pick that one up this month.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Like yesterday, today turned out to be a lot luckier than I would have expected. I first went over to Richmond Beach Saltwater Park to look for California Quail. I figure I see or hear quail there about one time in every 3 or 4 times that I go there. I had missed them the last few times I was there, so maybe I was due. Today I decided to really give it the old college try. I parked and carried my folding camp chair down to the railroad pedestrian overpass, intending to just sit there and wait to hear quail calling. I had intended to take my Kindle along so I could read, but I forgot and left it in the car. As it turned out, I never even set up my chair. I looked up and down the tracks, and by golly, I spotted a half dozen quail to the south. Unfortunately, it meant looking right into the sun, so my pictures are really crap. Here is the best I could do of the California Quail today.

I had the species, though, and it was a repeater - the last repeater I'll get this month, no doubt.

I moved on to the Edmonds waterfront to look for the last sea bird that I needed this month, Marbled Murrelet. As expected, I didn't find one, but I had lots of time, so I drove another half hour up to Mukilteo to try there. Again I got lucky, and on my second or third pass with my scope, I spotted a pair of Marbled Murrelets. They were actually close enough for distant pictures, but they were feeding, which meant they were only up on the surface for ten or fifteen seconds at a time, and then they would dive and disappear for a minute or two. When they next came up, they would have moved on a hundred years maybe. Bottom line, I didn't get a picture, as they moved away from me.

So, I got two more species for November, and one was a repeater. That gives me 117 species for the month, and 61 are repeaters - species that I have seen (or heard) in every month so far this year. My last repeater is Barn Swallow, and I am extremely unlikely to get that one in November. They have all gone south for the winter now. I may very well not get any more new November species at all until my trip to Hawaii at the end of the month, but we will see. There are a few possibilities, if the weather cooperates and I am lucky enough.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

It was a beautiful, crisp fall day today, and I headed over to Marymoor Park. My first stop was at the pond on the path to the rowing club, on the west side of the park. I was looking for Green Heron, which I had missed there 2 or 3 times already this month. Today I didn't see one at first, but then the Green Heron that had been perched in a tree on the other side of the pond flew down to the edge of the water, and I had it. The light was great and the bird hung around, so I went overboard with pictures. Here are three pictures of the Green Heron on the far side of the pond.

I liked the reflection in that third one.

At that point I moved my focus to the female Wood Duck on the pond and got this picture, after several tries.

I love the blue and purple colors in her wing. Male Wood Ducks are more colorful, but I find the females more attractive overall.

After that I looked back to where the Green Heron had been, and it was gone. I looked around a little and I spotted it again, closer, but in the shade this time. It was perched on a branch over the water, looking for food.

As I watched, it grabbed a fish.

Here's the Green Heron with its prize.

It swallowed that one down and went back to fishing. It soon caught a second fish.

Here it is as it swallowed the second course of its meal.

After that it resumed the fishing position for a minute or two.

It soon decided to take a break, though.

It flew back to the opposite side of the pond and perched in a tree, out in the sun. Green Heron.

Here is a shot of one end of the rowing club pond, on a beautiful fall day.

That was fun, and I had a great November bird. I wasn't ready to quit, though, so I drove over to the main part of Marymoor Park. There was something going on called the Pineapple Classic. It turned out to be a 5K run/walk obstacle course, and the participants each carried a pineapple as they ran/walked the course. There were a lot of cars parked in one lot, but the traffic was okay while I was there. I parked in the lot near the viewing mound and the East Meadow. There had been a large flock of Cackling Geese in one of the sports fields as I drove in, and something put them up. I took this picture of some of them flying past. I think they were Cackling Geese, although there were some small flocks of Canada Geese around, too.

I didn't see anything from the viewing mound, so I walked around the East Meadow. I didn't see anything much there, either, so I walked down the path toward the lake. I played some bird calls, but I didn't attract anything. There were a couple of Golden-crowned Sparrows in an old apple tree that had lost its leaves, so I took pictures. Here is a Golden-crowned Sparrow, a juvenile, I think.

Here's another one that was pecking at an apple.

I walked almost to the lake and turned back. On my way back, there were a couple of Golden-crowned Sparrows on the ground under a different apple tree, eating apples. Here is what I think was a juvenile Golden-crowned Sparrow eating an apple.

That one didn't have very much gold on its head and it didn't have black stripes on both sides of the gold, like this adult Golden-crowned Sparrow.

I saw a bird in a tree and thought it looked like a Purple Finch, but before I could get a picture, it flew off. I hung around and played Purple Finch songs, and I was rewarded with four female Purple Finches that were feeding in a tree right in front of me. Here are a couple of pictures of female Purple Finches in the lovely fall light.

Purple Finch was another excellent November bird for me, and one I don't see very often, so it was satisfying. My two species today brings me to 119 for November now. As a reminder, I still have 61 repeaters and I don't expect to see the last possibility, Barn Swallow, because they have all migrated south now for the winter. I have 240 species for the year so far. I might very well not get any more until I get to Honolulu a week from tomorrow, so there might not be any more reports until then. Or, maybe I'll get lucky, you never know.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Well, I'm back. I wasn't at all sure I was even going to do any more birding this month before my Hawaii trip next week, but yesterday I drove over to Magnuson Park in north Seattle. I didn't find anything, and I didn't get any pictures. Today I went out to the Snoqualmie Valley, with a stop at Marymoor Park on the way. It was foggy at Marymoor, though, so I didn't stop there. Out in the valley, I drove slowly, looking to get lucky, and my first stop was at Sikes Lake. There were two or three dozen swans there, and the morning fog was just burning off.

Here are a couple of Trumpeter swans coming for a landing on the lake, in the lingering mist.

They make quite a splash when they land, and it takes them a bit of time to get airborne again. They are big birds.

At the south end of the bridge, I played the song of Swamp Sparrow, which was a real longshot. I didn't attract a Swamp Sparrow, but I did get a couple of Lincoln's Sparrows to pop up and pose for me in the nice morning light. Winter light is great here, when the sun shines, because it comes from a low angle and tends toward the yellow end of the spectrum since it goes through so much air.

A Song Sparrow or two also responded and posed for me.

I moved on, and as I approached Carnation Farms, I pulled over to check out some geese in a field. Here is the flock of geese with a farm in the background.

I don't know why I bothered to check them because they almost certainly were all going to be Canada Geese or Cackling Geese, but the light was good and there was a place to pull off where I could take a good look from the car, so I scanned the flock. To my great surprise, I spotted a single Greater White-fronted Goose near the front of the flock. I needed that one, and I hadn't expected to find one this month, but that's what I was looking for when I scanned the flock. I was amazed. I quickly grabbed my camera and got this documenting shot.

After that I lost sight of it, and kept trying to find it again. I couldn't find it, and I started to doubt that I had even seen it, but I looked back at my picture to reassure myself that I had indeed seen it. I kept watching and watching, but for about 10 or 15 minutes, I couldn't find it. Then some more geese flew in, and the whole flock looked up at them, and I spotted the Greater White-fronted Goose's head sticking up out of the grass.

I guess it had been taking a little nap in the deep grass, with its head down. Anyway, after that, it actually moved through the flock to the front, to give me the best view of it, I guess. Here it is as it moved through the flock of Canada and Cackling Geese.

Here's the Greater White-fronted Goose next to a much larger Canada Goose.

Here it is at the front of the flock, showing off its orange legs and black bands on the belly.

Meanwhile swans were flying around, and I got this picture of a couple of Trumpeter Swans flying past.

From there I drove into Carnation and looked around for various unlikely species and didn't find anything interesting. On my way home I stopped again at Sikes Lake and took more swan pictures. Here are a couple of Trumpeter Swans taking off.

Finally, here are some Trumpeter Swans flying by.

It was another beautiful day out there today, probably the last one for a while. Greater White-fronted Goose was a surprise addition to my November list, to bring it to a nice round 120 species. What a life!

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Here I am again, of all things. I decided to go out this morning to see if I could get lucky again. I went over to Marymoor Park, in the hopes of seeing the Northern Shrike that has been reported there recently. This was the third or fourth time I have looked for it this month.

I drove slowly through the area where it has been reported, ending up at the parking lot of the model airplane field. I didn't see the shrike, but I heard a meadowlark singing, and then saw it. Here is a picture of the Western Meadowlark singing.

Here is another picture of it, looking back over its shoulder at me.

Next I went to the parking lot by the East Meadow and got out and walked up onto the viewing mound. I looked around, and there it was - the Northern Shrike, a great November bird for me. It was pretty far away, but I shot two quick pictures for verification and then moved to where I could stabilize my camera better. When I next looked, the bird had flown to a more distant tree. Here are the two quick pictures I took from pretty far away.

I went down off the mound and around to the east side, to try to get a closer view, but the bird had flown while I did that, and I never found it again. I walked around and waited around, but it never showed up again. Once again, timing was everything, and I happened to be there at the exact right time, I guess.

Eventually I gave up and headed for home, since there was little else I might find that I needed. I stopped by the Redmond Retention Ponds, hoping to maybe see Cedar Waxwings, but all I saw were robins, sparrows, juncos, and woodpeckers. Here is an American Robin.

Here is a Golden-crowned Sparrow.

A Red-breasted Sapsucker flew into a tree fairly far away, and with the bright sky in the background, it was a tough shot. Here was the best I could get of the Red-breasted Sapsucker.

There were two or three Northern Flickers around, too, and I got this shot of a female Northern Flicker.

So, I added one more to my November total, to bring me to 121 species for November. I can't imagine getting anything else before Hawaii next week, but who knows? I didn’t expect to find the shrike today or the Greater White-fronted Goose on Tuesday, either.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Aloha! I made it to Hawaii today, after an arduous 6 ½ hour flight. There was enough turbulence at the start that it took them 2 hours before they even STARTED to serve drinks. I felt a lot better after the ride smoothed out and I got a couple of glasses of wine in me. Anyway, I survived it and now I’m here. The flight was a little late (the captain was 30 minutes late, and we waited on the plane for him!), and by the time I was heading toward baggage claim, it was after 5 PM local time. I didn’t expect to do any birding today, but at the Honolulu airport, you walk along a covered walkway that is outside, on your way to bag claim. Of course I was watching, and darned if there weren’t birds.

Here are a couple of pictures of my first new year-bird today, RED-WHISKERED BULBUL.

My second new year-bird today was SPOTTED DOVE. Here are a couple of pictures of that one.

Then I spotted another new year-bird, a RED-VENTED BULBUL. Here are three pictures of that one.

That was it. I needed to make my way to baggage claim. All three species are common ones, of course, but I thought it was pretty good to get three new 2018 species between the arrival gate and baggage claim.

I had other adventures, too, including my first Uber ride, but it’s late and I need to sleep. I don’t have internet access right now, but I’m going to try to connect via my phone and the cellular network, to send this out tonight. If I fail at that, I’ll send it tomorrow, when I hope to have internet access.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Last night I was in such a hurry to get my report out and get to bed that I neglected to give my totals for the month and year. After yesterday, I had 124 species for November and 243 for the year.

This morning I woke to the sounds of doves in the neighborhood, and they turned out to be ZEBRA DOVES, another new 2018 species for me. Later in the day I got this picture of a little Zebra Dove.

I also added COMMON MYNA to my year list from the balcony outside my room.

After breakfast and all our respective morning routines, Bruse and I headed out to look for birds. First we stopped at Subway and got sandwiches, and then we moved on to the Honouliuli Unit of the Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge. I had read of a new viewing platform from which you can see part of the of the reserve, which is closed to the public to protect the birds. We found our way there, with a little quarter mile walk in the midday heat and humidity. I don’t do well with heat or humidity, but I held up today pretty well, especially since I was also dealing with short sleep and a two hour time change.

Here is the view of part of the NWR from the new viewing platform.

I had decided to bring my scope along, despite the fact that that meant I had to check a bag, so I set it up and scanned the area. I added HAWAIIAN COOT, which is a separate species from the American Coot we have at home. Here is a picture of a Hawaiian Coot.

There were also a few of the Hawaiian subspecies of Common Gallinule around. I don’t understand why the gallinules are a subspecies, but the coots are a full species, but that’s the way it is. Here is a Hawaiian Common Gallinule.

There were two or three Cattle Egrets around, too, and that was another November bird for me. Here is a distant picture of one of the Cattle Egrets, which are quite common here.

In the distance, I also saw PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVERS, Ruddy Turnstones, and the Hawaiian subspecies of Black-necked Stilt. I’ll have pictures later of those species, I hope. I didn’t think I would see any more species there, but just before we left, a pair of Northern Cardinals flew through, perching for me right in front of the platform. Here is a male Northern Cardinal.

That was my best bird of the day, in terms of difficulty. There aren’t that many around here, and I only had it at a 20% probability in my spreadsheet. On our way back to the car there were some COMMON WAXBILLS, which never got close enough for pictures, and also a SAFFRON FINCH. Here is a very distant picture of the Saffron Finch.

From there we drove up the Aiea Valley to the Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area. It was a few hundred feet in elevation, and was cooler up there. We ate our sandwiches and looked around, but didn’t do any real walking. The heat had stolen all my energy away by then. I did get some pictures of RED-CRESTED CARDINALS, though. Here is a Red-crested Cardinal.

Here is that same adult Red-crested Cardinal with the juvenile one that was following it around and being fed from time to time.

The juvenile is the one with the brown head, and here is a better picture of just the juvenile Red-crested Cardinal.

Here’s another shot of the adult Red-crested Cardinal.

There were a lot of feral chickens around, as usual in the hills of Oahu. Here is a hen with two chicks.

There is a countable species in the island called Red Junglefowl, but they are the same species as domestic chickens, and they interbreed, so wild chickens on Oahu aren’t considered “countable” by the official birding rules. Here is an interesting looking rooster. Check out those long golden feathers on his neck and back.

I couldn’t decide which of two pictures I liked better, so here is another one that shows his right side.

That was it for our birding today. I was worn out by the heat and jet lag. We stopped at Costco and stocked up a bit, and came back to Bruse’s place by about 3:30.

Today I added 12 more November birds, to bring me to 136 now for November. 9 of those species were new for 2018, and now I have 252 species for the year.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Today Bruse had a luncheon/class thing scheduled, and he could get there by bus, so I took his car and headed to the North Shore. I had three main sites in mind, and on my way to the first one, I stopped off at Dillingham Airfield. There were 3 or 4 skydiving outfits there, and lots of eager tourists wanting to take a jump. I didn’t join them, but I drove slowly along the air strip, looking mainly for Eurasian Skylarks, but I never saw any. At one point I spotted some little birds in a puddle in a side road, so I pulled over. It turned out they were Common Waxbills, a bird I had seen yesterday, taking baths in the puddle. Here are a couple of pictures of the Common Waxbills in the puddle.

Back on the main road, I drove slowly along, in the hopes I would see something, and I saw a Saffron Finch on a fence.

That was another one I had seen yesterday, but pictures are always welcome. The bird started singing a very pretty song, and here’s a picture of it singing.

I finally got to my first real birding destination, the end of the Farrington Highway. From that point, it is a 2.5 mile hike to Kaena Point, where Laysan Albatrosses nest. It is just the start of nesting season now, and the birds have been reported to be back for the breeding season. I couldn’t face the idea of a 5 mile round trip walk in the sun and humidity, but I was hoping I might see a cruising albatross at the end of the highway. I had never seen any kind of albatross, so I was hoping for my first.

I parked and got out at the edge of the ocean and looked around. I was hoping an albatross would come sailing along the coast, out beyond the surf line, so I was looking outward. I had only been there a few minutes when a shadow passed over the ground, right next to me. A large shadow of a bird. I looked around, and there was a LAYSAN ALBATROSS (lifer!) flying away from me. If I had been watching the right direction and had been ready, I could have had a great picture, but it was too late by then. It flew out of sight, and I kept watching, and soon that same bird or another one flew back, going back toward the point, this time on the land side, between me and the mountains. I watched as it flew around and came back past me, fairly far out over the water. I took two distant pictures that are totally blurry, but they show my first and only albatross ever, so here is the Laysan Albatross.

I don’t get lifers very often these days; I think that is my first one this year.

I hung around for another 20 or 30 minutes, but I never saw another albatross. I did see a WANDERING TATTLER, though, a good year bird I was hoping for there. Here are a couple of pictures of my Wandering Tattler today.

I ate the first of my two large lunch sandwiches that Bruse had made for me, and I moved on. Traffic was slow as I made my way across the north end of the island toward my next destination. It got really thick and stop-and-go when I approached Sunset Beach, and it turned out that there was an event going on there – part of the World Cup of Surfing 2018. I finally got through all that and got to my next stop, which was the shrimp ponds near the town of Kahuku. I stopped at the place I had directions for, and walked out on the paths between ponds. There was very little there, a major disappointment compared to my expectations. I saw Cattle Egrets (which are everywhere), Hawaiian Coots, and four Black-necked Stilts, but I already had all of those on the trip. I did take some pictures, though.

Here is a Hawaiian Coot feeding a juvenile coot.

Here is a juvenile Hawaiian Coot on its own.

I don’t think I would call juvenile coots cute, but they are interesting looking. Here is another picture of a juvenile with an adult. There were three juveniles and two adults.

That adult coot has a red shield on its forehead. Only about 15% of Hawaiian Coots have that red shield; most have a plain white shield. See my pictures from yesterday for a white shield coot.

Here is a picture of a couple of Black-necked Stilts, Hawaiian subspecies.

I had hoped to see some shorebirds and maybe some finches at the shrimp ponds, and maybe even a Ring-necked Pheasant, but it was disappointing, as I indicated. I moved on to my third site of the day. I wanted to see a Bristle-thighed Curlew, a species that can only be seen in Hawaii and Alaska in the US. I had directions to a golf course in Kahuku where you are supposed to be able to find them. I found the golf course and set out on the indicated path, expecting to have to walk about a half mile each way to find the curlews. I had only just started out, though, when I scanned the golf course for birds and found a BRISTLE-THIGHED CURLEW not too far away. It wasn’t exactly close, but I took pictures and here is the Bristle-thighed Curlew from today.

There were Pacific Golden-Plovers on the golf course, too, of course. They are everywhere. Here’s a Pacific Golden-Plover with its feathers a little ruffled.

Here is a rather skinny Pacific Golden-Plover.

It was after 2:00 by then, and I was over an hour from “home”, so I headed south. I stopped at a park and ate my second large sandwich, then continued. I took this picture of a mongoose while I was having my second sandwich.

Mongooses were introduced to some of the Hawaiian Islands to catch rats, which were harming the sugar cane fields, but mongooses turned out to be a much bigger problem than the rats. They devastated the bird population, for example.

I got back to Honolulu in time for rush hour, which seems to start between 3 pm and 4 pm, and finally got back to Bruse’s condo about 4:15. It was disappointing today to get so few species for my November list (only 3), but at least all three were year-birds, and one was a lifer. A day of birding in which I get a lifer can only be called a great one, so I guess it was a great day of birding, in that sense. Now I have 139 species in November and 255 for the year. I think the Laysan Albatross brings my life list total to 1165, although I don’t have my complete records with me, so that might be a few species too low. It is at least 1165, though. And, now I have seen an albatross, finally.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Bruse and I started the day with a trip out to his farm on the west shore. He has five acres out there that is being farmed by a local farmer, growing basil. I hadn’t ever seen the property, so we drove out there (about an hour from where he lives) so I could see it, and he could do a little maintenance. We took care of that and had our picnic lunch at a great spot in a park overlooking the ocean, sitting in the shade at a picnic table.

When we got back to town, we drove down to Kapiolani Park, which is at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki. I had the location of a nest tree for a tern species I wanted to see. There is a web site that shows a map of dozens of nest trees around town, and I had looked up one nearby. Here is a picture of the tree that was supposed to have the nest in it.

Note the blue band around the trunk, marking the tree.

An egg in the tree had been reported in late October, and I was hoping that a chick had hatched and would still be there. While I was looking in the tree for the tern chick, I saw a couple of JAPANESE WHITE-EYES, another species I was looking for in the park. Then I spotted the WHITE TERN chick.

Despite referring to it as a “nest tree”, there isn’t any actual nest. White Terns lay their single egg on a bare branch. The chick hatches and spends several weeks just hanging on and being fed by the parents. While I watched, the chick moved around a couple or three feet, and I wonder how much movement they actually do. While Bruse and I watched, a parent White Tern flew in with a little transparent fish for the chick.

While we watched, the parent transferred the fish to the chick. I took pictures, but they came out over exposed. I’ll show them anyway.

Here’s one last shot of the parent and juvenile White Terns.

At that stop, I also saw 2 or 3 YELLOW-FRONTED CANARIES in the grass. Later I got this picture of a Yellow-fronted Canary, which is a very small bird.

After that, I had Bruse drop me off at the other end of the park, and he went home to take care of things for an hour or so. There were several species I was hoping to see, and I saw one of them within the first couple of minutes. Here is a ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET, a species introduced to Hawaii, like most of the other species here now.

I think that one was a female. Here is a male Rose-ringed Parakeet.

Here is a closer look at the face of the male.

Here is a pair of Rose-ringed Parakeets. The female was grooming the male.

Another female joined them, looking like she wanted to get in on the action.

There dozens of JAVA SPARROWS around, a small introduced member of the finch family, despite its species name. Here are a couple of close shots of Java Sparrows who came to a small puddle to drink.

There were some little finch-like birds feeding with the Java Sparrows in the grass, and at first I thought they were another species I had hoped to see, African Silverbill. Eventually, I decided they were actually juvenile Java Sparrows and hadn’t yet gotten their adult colors. Here are a couple of pictures of juvenile Java Sparrows.

Here’s a shot of a juvenile Java Sparrow next to an adult, showing the differences.

A couple of Red-crested Cardinals were around, and I got this picture.

There were more of the Rose-ringed Parakeets around, and I got this picture of another female.

There was one more species I was hoping to see there, and I went over to the edge of the park and played its song. That turned out to be very successful, and at least 3 WHITE-RUMPED SHAMAS flew in at various times. It was difficult to get a decent picture at first, because they were up in the trees in poor light. After taking a lot of bad pictures, one shama perched out in the open, in the sun, no less. Here is a White-rumped Shama.

This particular one sat there and sang for at least five minutes, while I circled around taking pictures.

They have a very loud and melodious song. Here is one more picture of the White-rumped Shama, another bird introduced to Hawaii.

I spotted another one that had a much shorter tail, and I learned later that females have shorter tails than the males. I guess this one must have been a female White-rumped Shama.

You can just get a peek at a small part of her white rump, through the folded wings.

That was it for my birding. I had added six species to my lists in about an hour and a half, at the local city park. That gives me 145 species for November now. All six of the species were also new for my year list, and now I have 261 species for 2018.

Friday, November 30, 2018

Today Bruse had an all day class, so I went off on my own, looking for birds. First I drove down the coast to the south end of Oahu. I stopped at a couple of lookout points and looked for seabirds, but I saw nothing. At the southern tip of the island I pulled in to the Makapuu Point Lookout. I spent 20 minutes or so there, but again didn’t see any seabirds at all. Here is a picture of Rabbit Island taken from the lookout at Makapuu Point.

That low island in the front is a seabird sanctuary, but I guess this is the wrong time of the year, because I saw nothing. Here is the view looking up the east side of the island.

I headed back up to Honolulu and pulled off into the Koko Head Shooting Complex property. I was mainly just looking for little birds in the bushes or grass. There were some Common Waxbills, and I got this picture of one.

There was a nice restroom, and I availed myself of that, and then I got this picture of a Cattle Egret.

Then I got another Cattle Egret picture.

Cattle Egrets are interesting to me because that is a species that I have seen in the US, in Hawaii, in Australia, and in Britain. There are probably only 3 or 4 other species that I have seen in all four of those places. I can think of Mallard, House Sparrow and Feral Pigeon, but I can’t immediately come up with any others.

I drove back to Honolulu and went up into the hills on Tantalus Road. I stopped several places and played some bird songs. At the first stop, I managed to call in an Oahu Amakihi, one of the few remaining native Hawaii songbird species. It didn’t stick around long enough for pictures, sadly, but it was great to see it well.

At another stop later, I attracted a White-rumped Shama, and got these two pictures.

At my third or fourth stop, I was playing a bird song, and I heard a response. It was clearly the same species as I was playing, and I was ready to count it, but I kept playing and looking for the bird. Finally I saw two or three little RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX’S. I managed to get one very blurry photo of one of them.

That is an introduced species, but one that is quite attractive and has a nice little song.

That was it for me today, and that was it for November. I added two more species to my November list, to bring it to 147 species. Both species today were new for the year as well, and now I have 263 species for 2018.

Interestingly, my spreadsheet for this trip predicted 26.1 new species for November, and I got 26, so my estimates were right on this time. Of course, I missed some I thought I would get, and I got some I thought I probably wouldn’t get, but that’s always the way it is. Now I have three days here to get my December list off to a good start.

[Correction - due to an error I made on June 18, my 2018 total is understated here by 50 species. I actually had 313 for 2018 at the end of November.]