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Monday, April 1, 2019

 

A new month has begun.  Everything is new for my April list now.  I picked up House Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, White-crowned Sparrow, and Song Sparrow in my sister’s back yard.  Kathy and I had an appointment to see her CPA for her taxes, and that took the rest of the morning.  After lunch I drove down to Mission Bay, to the San Diego River, to see what I could find.

 

I saw a Mourning Dove on the way, and once there I saw Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Gadwall, American Wigeon, and American Coot.  There was also a grebe in the water, and it turned out to be a Clark’s Grebe, with “the eye in the white”.  Here’s a picture of the Clark’s Grebe.

 

Next I got the teal trifecta – Cinnamon Teal, Blue-winged Teal, and Green-winged Teal.  There were some Caspian Terns on the other side of the river, and some Long-billed Dowitchers on my side.  I also picked up Willet, Marbled Godwit, and Snowy Egret there.

 

After that, I went across the river to Robb Field.  There were lots of roosting terns there – Elegant Terns, Royal Terns, and Forster’s Terns.  There were also gulls, and I got Western Gull and California Gull.  There were a couple of Long-billed Curlews walking around, some Double-crested Cormorants, and several Brown Pelicans.  I saw two or three Little Blue Herons feeding in the shallows, some Whimbrels, and a single Greater Yellowlegs.  There weren’t really all that many birds there, based on my past experience, but I got quite a few species, anyway.  As I drove out of the park, I picked up American Crow, Feral Pigeon, European Starling, Eurasian Collared-Dove, and Brewer’s Blackbird.

 

My next stop was Crown Point.  I still couldn’t find any Black Skimmers, a tern species I really like, but I did see the Western Grebes that seem to hang out there all the time.  There were also a couple of Pied-billed Grebes near them.  I set up my scope at the north end of Crown Point Beach Park, and saw a lot of birds in the mud across the bay.  I saw Brant, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover, and one I missed seeing last month – Ruddy Turnstone.  Ruddy Turnstone was the only species I saw today that I didn’t see in March.  It wasn’t a year-bird, though, because I had seen them at home in January and March, although they are quite uncommon in Washington State.  As I drove away from that park, I saw a Cassin’s Kingbird and a House Sparrow.  I also saw this male Anna’s Hummingbird.

 

I had seen a White-crowned Sparrow in my sister’s yard in the morning, but I got this picture of one as I left Crown Point.

 

I had done pretty well in a short time, but I wanted more.  I drove back north, and the freeway traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as on Friday, I was glad to see.  I went to the San Dieguito River, near the Del Mar Racetrack, where I had seen some birds yesterday.  I drove up the road along the river and saw a couple of Red-tailed Hawks circling overhead.  There was a Northern Mockingbird on a wire, and in the river estuary I saw several Great Egrets and a couple of Great Blue Herons.

 

I parked at the Old Grand Avenue Bridge, where I had seen stuff yesterday, and again there were birds.  The Cliff Swallows were still around, although today they weren’t gathering mud like yesterday.  Maybe that means their nests are now completed.  There were also a couple of Northern Rough-winged Swallows on a wire.  I had counted Whimbrel earlier, at Robb Field, but there were a couple of them at the bridge.  Here is one of the Whimbrels.

 

One of the Whimbrels caught a little crab.

 

It struggled with the crab for a minute or so.

 

Eventually it managed to choke down the crab.  There were a lot of crabs out on the mud in the sun, I noticed.

 

Here’s one of the Willets that were there.

 

I had counted the species earlier, but a Snowy Egret flew in and I got this picture.

 

Like yesterday, I saw a Spotted Sandpiper, but it was too distant for a good picture.  A couple of California Towhees were present, too.  Four Mallards flew in briefly and flew off again.  As I was leaving, this male House Finch was singing in the afternoon sun.

 

That was it for me today, and I headed back to my sister’s house.  As I was approaching her street, though, I saw a couple of birds high in a tree.  I stopped and they were a male and female Western Bluebird.  Here is the male Western Bluebird.

 

Here’s the female Western Bluebird.

 

I was only out there for about 3 ½ hours this afternoon, and I spent an hour of that driving, but I got a lot of birds.  I now have 55 species for April.  I didn’t get anything new for 2019 today.  April is officially underway.

 

 

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

 

Today Chris, a friend I’ve known since high school, came down from Orange County and we got together with John, another old friend from that same time.  I had seen John on Friday.  Chris came here to my sister’s house, and we went over to La Jolla to look for birds, planning to meet John later at Mission Bay.  It took two passes, but we found a great parking place and we walked around La Jolla Cove.  I was just there on Sunday, but now it was April, so I needed all those same birds again for my April list.

 

I added Brandt’s Cormorant, Black Turnstone, and Heermann’s Gull to my April list.  I couldn’t find a Wandering Tattler today.  A Black Phoebe flew in and posed for me at one point, so it went on my list.  Here’s a picture of the Black Phoebe.

 

Isn’t that a nice pose?

 

Chris and I enjoyed the lovely spring morning at the ocean, and then drove down to Mission Bay to meet with John.  The three of us drove down to the border area, where I had been on Saturday, stopping at an In ‘n’ Out Burger on the way.  At the first Dairy Mart Road pond, I again was able to call up a Bell’s Vireo, but today it wouldn’t pose for pictures.  I also saw an Orange-crowned Warbler, as I had on Saturday.  Today I got a better picture of the Orange-crowned Warbler.

 

At the second pond, I picked up Black-crowned Night-Heron, Tree Swallow, Common Gallinule, and Northern Shoveler.  Next we went to the Bird and Butterfly Garden, but it was extremely quiet again, and I got nothing but a Turkey Vulture circling in the distance.

 

At the Imperial Beach sports park, I counted at least 8 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in the nest tree by the rest rooms, but none were out in the open today, so I didn’t get any more pictures.

 

After that we headed back north again and stopped at the J Street Marina.  I saw the Ospreys across the bay at their nest, and while looking around to see if there was anything else interesting there, I spotted two terns that were different.  They turned out to be GULL-BILLED TERNS, my first of the year.  Gull-billed Terns migrate south in the winter, and they are just now starting to return to the south bay of San Diego harbor.  I hadn’t expected to see them on this trip because there hadn’t even been any eBird reports of them until two days ago, and I hadn’t noticed the reports until I looked tonight.  Here are the two Gull-billed Terns.

 

Next we drove back up to the Mission Bay area and went out to the off-leash dog park in Ocean Beach.  I hadn’t seen it before, and I was interested.  It is a lovely beach where people can let their dogs run and go into the surf.  Here’s a picture of it.

 

 

John wanted to beat the traffic and get home, so we dropped him back at his car, on the bank of the San Diego River.  There was a Little Blue Heron there with a fish.  I didn’t need the species, but I like pictures of birds with their prey, so here is the Little Blue Heron with its mid-afternoon snack.

 

 

After getting the fish down, it resumed hunting for more.

 

One of the problems with that location is that it is on the north side of the river, so you are always looking into the light, which makes pictures less than satisfactory.  John headed for home, and Chris and I drove around Fiesta Island, which is in Mission Bay.  I saw this female Red-breasted Merganser for my April list.

 

I was particularly looking for a species that John and I had seen there on Friday, and I found one Horned Lark today.  Here are three pictures of it.

 

 

 

We hit the freeway north then, hoping the traffic wouldn’t be too bad.  It was actually great until the last couple of miles, and that never really stopped, only slowed down to a crawl for a short time.  It was a little early for dinner still, so we went to the San Dieguito River Park, on the north side of the river and the east side of the freeway.  I had driven by there a lot of times, but I hadn’t ever stopped.  We walked on the trail for a while, but there weren’t many birds.  We did see two or three male Anna’s Hummingbirds, but I needed Allen’s Hummingbird, not Anna’s.  I did get a couple of pictures of one of the male Anna’s Hummingbirds, though, showing his magenta-colored gorget.

 

 

We were about to head back to the car when I spotted an interesting sized bird ahead of us.  It turned out to be a California Thrasher.  I had heard one on Friday, but hadn’t seen it.  Today I got it for April, and got pictures of the California Thrasher as well.

 

 

It went into the underbrush, but I played its song, and it came out and perched in some scrubby bushes.

 

 

On our way back to the car we passed a sign that mentioned a few of the birds that were there, and one of them was California Gnatcatcher.  Just for the heck of it, I played the call, and a couple of them responded quickly and were calling back to us repeatedly, I guess.  I say I guess because I couldn’t hear them at all, but Chris assured me he could hear them all the time, continually.  I saw them, though, and I got some pictures.

 

 

 

We also saw a couple of Common Ravens chasing a Red-tailed Hawk, so Common Raven went on my April list.

 

That was it for my birding today.  Chris and I went out for an early dinner at Denny’s, and I took him back to my sister’s house, where he picked up his car and headed for home.  I added 20 more species to April today, to give me 75 now.  One (Gull-billed Tern) was new for the year, and now I have 215 species for 2019.  I have two more days to find birds here in San Diego, and then I start back toward home, but with a lot of birding to do on the way home.

 

 

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

 

This morning I went over to the Visitor Center at San Elijo Lagoon, but I stopped at Cardiff State Beach on the way to look for Snowy Plovers.  I didn’t see any Snowy Plovers, and as soon as I got to the Visitor Center, I saw a Bewick’s Wren on a fence, one I needed for April.  Here it is.

 

I met a woman in the garden area and we talked about what birds we had seen.  While we were talking, a California Gnatcatcher came around and was calling repeatedly.  Just like yesterday when Chris could hear the gnatcatcher and I couldn’t, she could hear it and I only heard one faint call.  I’m going to have to look into getting hearing aids, even if I only use them for birding.  Here are a couple of the pictures of the California Gnatcatcher.

 

In this next one, it seemed to be feeding on bugs by picking them off the vegetation.

 

There was also a single Bushtit in that area, so that one went on my April list, too.

 

I walked out on the short trail, stopping at benches to sit and enjoy the morning, from time to time.  At first there weren’t many birds, but at the east end of the trail I heard, and then saw, a male Common Yellowthroat.  Here are some pictures of that little cutie.

 

 

 

I heard a bird singing loudly, and it seemed like a familiar song, but I couldn’t place it at first.  I finally remembered it was a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.  They migrate south in the winter, and I hadn’t heard that song since last summer.  I couldn’t find the bird, but it kept singing away.  A couple came along and they heard it, too.  I told them what it was (they were from Chicago and weren’t familiar with the song), and we all looked.  I gave it up and was leaving when they called me back because they had found it.  Here is a distant picture of the male Black-headed Grosbeak, my first of the year.

 

In the midst of my search for the grosbeak, I had seen another bird, and it turned out to be a Nuttall’s Woodpecker, an excellent April bird that we don’t have in Washington.  Here is a marginal picture of the Nuttall’s Woodpecker.  Too bad it looked away just as I took the picture.

 

On my way back to my car, I saw a Savannah Sparrow for my April list.  Here are three pictures of the cooperative Savannah Sparrow.

 

 

 

The red color in the background of those pictures is from some heavy equipment that is working on a restoration of the San Elijo Lagoon, restoring the saltwater flow and marsh habitat.  It’s a huge project that has been going on for at least a year so far, and appears to have a long way to go still.

 

I saw a kingbird as I got near the Visitor Center, but it turned out to be still another Cassin’s Kingbird.  I’ve seen at least 6 or 7 Cassin’s Kingbirds so far on this trip, but no Western Kingbirds yet.  Here is one of today’s Cassin’s Kingbirds.

 

After that I stopped at San Dieguito County Park, but the lower park was closed for some reason.  I drove through the upper part of the park, but I didn’t stop or get out of my car.  It was getting to be lunch time, but I drove into the parking area for the old Del Mar Polo Fields, which now are a huge complex of soccer fields.  I saw a few birds on the way, but nothing I needed until I saw some birds flying around up on the hill.  They turned out to be LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCHES, a great bird that I had forgotten even lived around here.  I was sure of the identification, but I wasn’t completely satisfied until I had looked it up to confirm that they do indeed live here.

 

As I was pulling out of the site, I saw a female Western Bluebird, which I didn’t need, and I took this picture.

 

I went back to my sister’s house and made some lunch for myself, then went out again to San Dieguito Reservoir.  It turned out that you couldn’t really access it, but I found a place where I could see most of the reservoir from next to the road.  I set up my scope and looked at the water.  There were quite a few Western Grebes, but I didn’t need that one.  I soon found some Ruddy Ducks, though, and I needed that one.  I had gone there because of a report on eBird of Ruddy Ducks there, so that was satisfying.  I also saw three Lesser Scaup, a duck I needed for April.  I had read a report of one other species of water bird, and after searching the lake several times, I finally got a look at an Eared Grebe that was continually diving.  That was an excellent April bird.  While I was doing all that, a couple of Great-tailed Grackles flew through and landed on some wires, too, so that one went on my April list as well.

 

As I drove back to my sister’s house I saw a pair of Western Bluebirds, so I stopped to take pictures.  Here is the male Western Bluebird.

 

The two of them flew up into a tree, and I got this picture of the male and female Western Bluebirds.

 

In this last picture, the female had just taken off.  She is very blurry, but I thought the picture was interesting anyway.

 

It was a very slow and laid back day of birding for me today.  I didn’t venture far and I didn’t walk much, but I enjoyed the day and I did get a few birds and some pictures.  I ended up with 11 new species for April, and now I have 86 species this month.  Two of those species were new for 2019, and now I have 217 species for the year.

 

I have one more day here in the San Diego area, and I’ve already gone to just about all the birding places I wanted to visit, so I’ll have to decide overnight where to go tomorrow.

 

 

Thursday, April 4, 2019

 

My first stop this morning was a place where Kathy and I had seen an oriole and some Lesser Goldfinches the other afternoon.  I parked and almost as soon as I got out of the car I saw a bird fly into a palm tree.  I got my binoculars on it, and it was a female Hooded Oriole, one I had wanted to get for April before I left San Diego.  Here is the female Hooded Oriole.

 

As I went back to my car, I also saw a male Lesser Goldfinch, the other species I had wanted to see there this morning.  I never saw another Lesser Goldfinch all day, either.

 

So, with those two under my belt, I drove to the walking/horse/bike trail along Carmel Creek, at Carmel Creek Road.  I had read eBird reports of a Ridgway’s Rail that you could hear there.  They are often responsive to playback, so I thought I would give it a try.  I especially wanted to get Ridgway’s Rail for April here, because I won’t have any other chances this year.  It turned out that I didn’t even need to use playback.  The rail was calling when I got there, although I didn’t recognize the call at first.  Eventually I recognized what it was, and when I played the call on my phone, the bird went crazy and stepped up his calling.  It was calling for the entire half hour or so that I was in the area.

 

I walked on the trail in both directions because the report had included some other birds I wanted to see.  There was a California Scrub-Jay at the top of a tree, so that one went on my April list.  I saw the first Spotted Towhee that I’ve seen on this trip, and I got this picture of him.

 

A few minutes later I heard a bird call, and I recognized it as a Wrentit, another one I needed in this area for April.  I played the Wrentit song, and two of them flitted around and posed for me.  Here are some Wrentit pictures.

 

 

Here’s a super close-up shot, showing its feather detail.

 

I walked along the trail the other way, and I saw a little bird fly into a tree.  It turned out to be my first PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER of the year, an excellent one to get.  Unfortunately, it moved on before I could get a picture, but I got a great look at it.  When I was almost back to the car I heard a bird singing, and I thought I recognized it as a California Thrasher, a bird I had gotten already this month.  It was indeed a California Thrasher, and I got this picture of it.

 

That turned out to be an excellent place for me, but I moved on to my next site, which was another place I hadn’t been before, called Crest Canyon Park.  It was in a canyon, as the name implied, and the access points were on the rim of the canyon and at the very bottom.  I didn’t feel up to a lot of hill climbing, so I walked around the edge of the canyon a bit, at two different access points, and saw a few birds.  I saw a male Allen’s Hummingbird, which was still another Southern California specialty I wanted to get for April, and I got this picture.

 

It moved to another bush, and I got this picture showing its colorful gorget.

 

A little later, I saw my first female hummingbird in that family.  It was probably an Allen’s Hummingbird, but it could have been a female Rufous Hummingbird, since the females of those two species look alike.  Here’s a picture of her.

 

I also got a picture of a California Scrub-Jay there.

 

I saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler for my April list there, and also another California Thrasher.  There were a couple of California Towhees around, too, and I got this picture of one of them.

 

Next I drove around to another access to the park, off Oribia Road.  There was another species I wanted to get here in California for April, so I played the song.  A couple of House Wrens responded and that one went on my April list.  Here’s a picture of one of them singing away.

 

As I drove down the road from there, I saw another kingbird on a wire.  I’ve seen 9 or 10 kingbirds so far in San Diego, and they all have been Cassin’s Kingbirds, not Western Kingbirds.  This one was no exception.  Here is still another Cassin’s Kingbird, I think.

 

If I don’t see a Western Kingbird in Orange County tomorrow, maybe I can see one in Sacramento on the way home.

 

I ate the sandwich I had brought from Kathy’s house at the Old Grand Avenue Bridge on the San Dieguito River.  I didn’t see anything interesting there this time, though.  I had gotten most of my targets in the north part of the county by then, so I decided to go into San Diego and try for some stuff there.  I would have loved to have seen the Tricolored Heron that has been hanging around, or the Reddish Egret I had seen on Saturday (or was it Sunday?  the days blur after a while), but there were also warblers reported at the south end of Famosa Slough, so I headed there.  I stopped at the San Diego River estuary to look for the heron and the Reddish Egret and I saw this Belted Kingfisher, another April bird.

 

 

I saw three Little Blue Herons, but not the Tricolored Heron or the Reddish Egret, the two rarities I was hoping for.  I drove to the south side of the river to Famosa Slough.  I parked at the south end and walked around.  I saw a pair of Hooded Orioles, and got these two pictures of the male.

 

 

I saw a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers, which I didn’t need, and then I got my folding camp chair out of the car and set it up where I could watch a little trickle of a stream, deep in some bushes.  There were birds around that wanted to go to the water, I think, but I think I was sitting just a little too close for their comfort, so most of them didn’t actually go to the water.  A few did, though.  It turned out to be an amazing place to settle for 20 or 30 minutes.  I got this picture of a very pale looking Song Sparrow.

 

Song Sparrows here are very light-colored compared to our Washington State ones.  There were a couple of House Finches that did go to the water, but then I saw a little bird up in a nearby tree.  I could see it was a vireo, and I got an excellent look at it, but I wasn’t sure what species of vireo it was.  I looked it up later, and I believe it was a CASSIN’S VIREO, one I never thought I would get here.  I see them sometimes in Eastern Washington, but this was a nice surprise.

 

Then a TOWNSEND’S WARBLER showed up.  That was another excellent one to get, one I sometimes don’t see in a whole year, although we do have them in Western Washington, in small numbers.   I only saw one in all of 2018, for example.  I got this picture of the colorful Townsend’s Warbler.

 

It even went to the water and took a bath.  Here is the Townsend’s Warbler bathing.

 

There were a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers moving around in the bushes, too, and I got this peek-a-boo picture of one of the Yellow-rumped Warblers.

 

All that was great, but the best was yet to come.  A true rarity for the West Coast showed up, and I got an excellent look at a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER.  I didn’t get any pictures, I’m sorry to say.  I looked it up later, and one has been seen there at Famosa Slough a few times this spring, but not for the last couple of weeks.  I guess it stuck around.  It should be somewhere in the eastern half of the country, probably migrating north about now.

 

That was it for my birding today.  I got around to some places I hadn’t been before and I got a lot more birds than I had expected to get.  I added 14 to my April list, to give me 100 now.  I added 4 to my year list, and now I have 221 for the year, I guess.  I say “I guess” because I have a discrepancy in my record keeping, and I haven’t been able to find the error yet.  My paper notebook says 221 and my spreadsheet says 222.  The notebook is the official number, but one of them has an error in it, obviously.  I tried all the obvious things to find it, but I guess I’ll have to laboriously compare them, line by line, when I can find the time.  Meanwhile I’ll go with the notebook number of 221 for 2019 so far.

 

 

Friday, April 5, 2019

 

Today was a travel day, but only a short distance.  I drove up to Orange County, and after picking up a sandwich at Subway, I went to the San Joaquin Sanctuary, which is adjacent to a water treatment plant and has a number of ponds, with paths and vegetation between them.  As I arrived, I saw a bird down by the river, and it was one of my target species for the day, EGYPTIAN GOOSE.  I parked and went back to get a picture, but the bird had flown.  As it turned out, I saw more of them today, and I’ll show some pictures later.

 

A woman in a ranger outfit told me about an uncommon to rare bird for this area, and told me where to find it.  I walked out onto the paths, and soon added American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt to my April list.  Here is an American Avocet.

 

Here’s a Black-necked Stilt.

 

I had read that yesterday there had been a couple of Redheads seen there, and I soon found them.  That was a great April bird.  Here is the female Redhead.

 

Here is the male Redhead, showing how the species gets its name.

 

There were some dowitchers by the path, and I got this picture of a Long-billed Dowitcher, a species I had already seen this month in San Diego.

 

Here’s a picture of another species I had seen in San Diego, Eared Grebe.

 

There were Ruddy Ducks around, and here is the plain female Ruddy Duck.

 

Here is the male Ruddy Duck, in breeding plumage, again illustrating how the species got its name.

 

I found the bird the woman in the ranger outfit had told me about, a CATTLE EGRET in breeding plumage.  Here’s a picture.

 

I added Canada Goose to my April list, and then American White Pelican.  I mentioned I had seen an Egyptian Goose as I arrived, and I got this distant picture of two of them later.

 

I walked back to my car through the garden area, and was lucky to have a Say’s Phoebe fly in and pose for me.  That was an excellent April bird.  Here are a couple of pictures of the Say’s Phoebe.

 

 

I got my sandwich from the car and ate while I watched the garden area.  I was really lucky and another species I had especially wanted to see flew in and checked me out.  Here are a couple of pictures of a Scaly-breasted Munia, formerly called Nutmeg Mannikin, and known popularly as a spice finch.

 

 

It was interesting because the bird flew in, looked at me for a minute or so, and then flew away.  It was as if it was showing itself off to me because it knew I wanted to see that species today.

 

On my way out of the sanctuary, I stopped across the driveway at one of the ponds and got this picture of a male Cinnamon Teal, another example of a duck species whose name reflects the appearance of the male, when in breeding plumage.

 

I went across the river to Mason Regional Park, which is in Irvine.  I hadn’t ever been there before.  It was a well manicured city park, which isn’t usually good for birding, but there were some wilder areas around the edges.  I had wanted to go there because people report Egyptian Goose there, and I didn’t know I would see that species at San Joaquin.  I found the pair of Egyptian Geese with goslings that I had read about, and I took these next two pictures.

 

I assume that was the male because he was on his own, more or less, and nearby the female was tending to the youngsters.

 

After having a little snooze in my car, I walked along the dry creek bed and looked for birds.  I found a couple of HUTTON’S VIREOS, an unexpected year-bird.  They stuck around for pictures, but were constantly moving.  Here are the best two pictures I could get.

 

 

I sat on benches a few times, and slowly moved around.  Here is a Mourning Dove I saw at one point while I was sitting on a bench.

 

Along the lake I saw a cute little Spotted Sandpiper, a species I had seen in San Diego this week.  The ones I saw in San Diego were in winter plumage, with pure white undersides, but this one was getting his summer plumage, which consists largely of spots on its undersides.

 

I was almost back to my car when I saw some Cedar Waxwings high in a dead tree.  That was a good April bird, but I wanted a picture, and the light was all wrong.  I went around to the other side of the tree, to get a good angle for a picture, and while doing that I spotted a WILSON’S WARBLER, another excellent April bird.  I got some Cedar Waxwing pictures, and here is the best one.

 

Right after taking that picture, I saw another little bird in a tree, and it turned out to be a Ruby-crowned Kinglet for my April list.  It’s funny how birding goes sometimes.  I had been walking around seeing nothing I needed, then I saw the Cedar Waxwings, and while trying for pictures of them, I got two more good species.

 

So, when all was said and done, I added 13 more species to my April list, and now I have 113.  Five of them were new for the year, and now I have 226 for the year.  Tonight I’m staying in Orange county with my old friend, Chris, from high school days (who came down to San Diego on Tuesday), and tomorrow we plan to drive to Sacramento, where we are having what we call a Reunion, with Fred, another friend from those same days.  We will be staying at Fred’s house in Sacramento for four nights, playing a lot of cards.  Then Chris and I plan to drive to Seattle, and he’ll stay one night with us before flying back home to Orange County.  I don’t know how much birding I’ll be able to do in the next several days, and I won’t have a lot of time to process pictures and write reports, so it will be hit and miss for the next week.

 

 

Saturday, April 6, 2019

 

Today was a travel day, and now I’m in Sacramento.  I didn’t do any birding today, and I didn’t take any pictures, but I still added birds to lists.  I got Brown-headed Cowbird at a rest stop along I-5, for my April list.  Better yet, I saw my first WHITE-TAILED KITE of the year along the freeway just south of Sacramento.  It was hovering, and I saw it well as we sped by at 75 mph.  That gives me 115 species for April and 227 for 2019.

 

I don’t know when I’ll get out birding again because now our Reunion starts, and there will be a lot of card playing.

 

 

Sunday, April 7, 2019

 

Today was a card playing day, but we took a break in the afternoon and went to Ancil Hoffmann Park.  It was fairly crowded, but we walked around, and I saw some birds.  There were Wild Turkeys on the golf course, so that one went on my list.  Later I got this picture of a Wild Turkey.

 

There were a few Yellow-billed Magpies there, a Sacramento specialty for my April list.  Here is a picture of a couple of distant Yellow-billed Magpies.

 

There were a few Acorn Woodpeckers around, and that was another April bird.  I had a brief look at a White-breasted Nuthatch, and that was still another April bird.  I couldn’t find an Oak Titmouse, which was the fifth April species I was looking for.  I did get this picture of a male Lesser Goldfinch, a species I already had this month.

 

On our brief walking break at the park, I added 4 more to my April list, and now I have 119 species for April.

 

 

Monday, April 8, 2019

 

It was another day of card playing, but we went out for lunch to Costco and stopped at a couple of birding sites, to accommodate me and have a break in the card playing.  I picked up Mute Swan, a bird I won’t see anywhere else, at Mather Lake, and then we drove by a couple of places, and I heard a Western Meadowlark as we drove slowly by Mather field.  That was another April bird.

 

At the Nimbus fish hatchery, I saw a domestic goose that was hanging out with a couple of Canada Geese.  Presumably, it escaped from whoever was keeping it.  It flew across the river with the two Canada Geese, and here’s a picture of it with a Canada Goose.

 

I didn’t count it because it was presumably an escaped domestic bird, but it was interesting how it was hanging out with the wild Canada Geese.

 

I added White-throated Swift at that location, a good April bird I probably won’t see anywhere else.  The river flow was much higher than a couple of weeks ago, and there weren’t nearly as many ducks on that stretch of the river.  Here is a Common Goldeneye, though, for my April list.

 

I think that is a juvenile male Common Goldeneye, but I’m not sure.  I added Common Merganser to my April list, and I got this picture of a male Common Merganser.

 

Here is a female Common Merganser.

 

On our short lunch/birding outing, I added 5 more species to my April list, and now I have 124 species in April.  I still have 227 in 2019.  We have one more day of card playing, and then I head for home on Wednesday morning with my old friend, Chris, to keep me company.

 

 

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

 

Today was another card playing day at our reunion, but I went out in Fred’s back yard this morning to see if I could get anything.  The species I wanted in particular was Oak Titmouse.  I had missed it yesterday, but today I saw one, which was a great addition to my April list.  It never stayed still, but I did manage to get these pictures of the cute little Oak Titmouse.

 

 

That is my favorite of the Oak Titmouse pictures today.

 

 

There was also a flock of maybe as many as a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers in the same tree.  I didn’t need that one, but I got some pictures, although they never stayed still for long, either.

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While I was trying for pictures of the Yellow-rumped Warblers, a small group of Cedar Waxwings landed at the top of the tree.  The angle was terrible, and I didn’t need that species, but I like Cedar Waxwings a lot, so here are two odd pictures of Cedar Waxwings.

 

 

The Cedar Waxwings flew off, and I went back to taking pictures of the Yellow-rumped Warblers.

 

I didn’t know what the Yellow-rumped Warblers were eating, but this picture seems to show a tiny insect.

 

Then I got this series of pictures that showed a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers with some sort of grubs or larvae.

 

Here is a different bird (the plumage is different – Yellow-rumped Warblers have a wide range of plumages, based on gender, seasonality, and subspecies) with a grub.

 

That bird seemed to be manipulating the grub until it could get in position to swallow it down.

 

 

I was interested to see a California Scrub-Jay, another species I didn’t need, fly into the tree and it started to go after the same grubs, as far as I could see.  Here is the only halfway decent picture I could get of the California Scrub-Jay.

 

So, that was it for today.  My only birding was in the back yard, and I did get one more for my April list, giving me 125 for April so far.

 

Tomorrow Chris and I head north, and, if it goes according to plan, it will take us 3 days to get to my house.  We are going up through Central Oregon into Central Washington, then over Snoqualmie Pass to home.  I hope to get some birds along the way, but we will see.  Tomorrow night we plan to stay in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

 

 

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

 

Chris and I had a nice easy drive to Klamath Falls today.  In the morning, we stopped at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and drove around the auto tour route, which takes about an hour. 

 

Before we went on the auto tour, we stopped at the visitor center to use the rest room, and I added Downy Woodpecker to my April list.  Here are a couple of pictures of a male Downy Woodpecker.

 

 

Early in the auto tour, there was a Red-tailed Hawk on the ground, and I got this picture.

 

I saw Golden-crowned Sparrows at several places, and that was an April bird.  I added Northern Pintail to my April list, and here’s a picture of a male Northern Pintail (in the foreground) with a male Green-winged Teal farther away.

 

We were bucking a 15 to 20 mph headwind all morning and the wind didn’t help the birding any, either.  My car is very dusty now inside, from having the window open on the unpaved auto tour route.  I figure the headwind cut my gas mileage by about 15%, too.

 

Here’s a picture of some Greater White-fronted Geese, another April bird.

 

There was a pair of Cinnamon Teal on a log, and although I didn’t need that species, I like the color of the male, so here are pictures of the pair of them.  First, here is the plain Jane female Cinnamon Teal.

 

Here is the colorful male Cinnamon Teal in his breeding plumage.

 

I added Ring-necked Duck to my April list, and then I finally saw my first WESTERN KINGBIRD of the year.  Here’s the Western Kingbird.

 

I didn’t need the species, but I saw Greater Yellowlegs a few places.  Here is a picture of three Greater Yellowlegs.

 

Near the end of the auto tour, an American Bittern flew across the road, and I got a good look at it.  That was an excellent April bird.

 

That was it for the Sacramento NWR, and we moved on.  We stopped at Mickey D’s just north of Redding, and then drove on up to Weed, where we cut off on Highway 97 toward Klamath Falls.  I had been looking forward to stopping at the Grass Lake rest area because I have seen some good birds there in the past, but it was closed for some reason.  I particularly wanted to see Sandhill Crane there, and we saw a pair of them in the distance from the highway, so that one went on my April list.  A short while later, there were two more Sandhill Cranes closer to the road.  Here is one of them.

 

We moved on again, and as we approached Klamath Falls we turned off on Miller Island Road.  I was hoping to see Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese there, but I guess they have left on their annual migration back to Alaska to breed, because we couldn’t find any.  I did see a couple of Canvasbacks, and that was one I needed for April.  I also saw American Robins along there, and I realized later that I hadn’t yet counted that species for April.  There was a pair of American Kestrels in a tree there, so that one went on my April list, too.  We saw BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES several times, and here’s a distant picture of one of them.

 

I saw a raptor in a distant tree, and it turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon, an excellent April bird.  Here is a distant picture of the Peregrine Falcon.

 

I also got a distant picture of my first Northern Harrier of April, on the ground.

 

There was also a single Sandhill Crane at one point.  This is the breeding season, and they breed in this area, so I figure that its mate was sitting on a nest nearby.

 

After that, we boogied on in to Klamath Falls.  But wait, it wasn’t over yet.  As we drove into town, we passed a park and I saw some white birds I wanted to check out.  We turned into the park, but the white birds turned out to be domestic geese and ducks.  There were a lot of other birds on the water there, though, so I looked around.  There were also a couple of Ring-billed Gulls in the parking lot, and I needed that one for April still.  Here is a Ring-billed Gull.

 

While I was out of the car, checking out the various birds, I saw a gull fly past that had a black head.  I looked out on the water and saw two more of them.  They turned out to be Bonaparte’s Gulls, just coming into breeding plumage, in which black feathers grow in on their heads.  Here’s a picture of two Bonaparte’s Gulls, and their heads are mostly black, but you can see a few white feathers on their heads, which makes their heads look kind of speckled or blotchy.

 

I noticed a male scaup on the lake, and got a picture.  Greater and Lesser Scaup are very similar, but I’m calling this one a male Greater Scaup, which I needed for April.

 

I’m mainly going by the very white flank and the greenish gloss on the head, since the head shape is kind of ambiguous.

 

I didn’t need it, but here is a picture of a Western Grebe.

 

That was finally the end of my birding today.  We drove to our hotel, had a drink or two, and went across the parking lot to Sizzler for a fine dinner, although I ate much too much, of course.  I added 17 more species to my April list today, and now I have 142 species in April.  Two of those species were new for 2019, and now I have 229 species this year.  Tomorrow is a long day of driving, and we plan to get well up into Central Washington, stopping at Ellensburg tomorrow night.  I probably won’t get any new birds tomorrow, but you never know.

 

 

Thursday, April 11, 2019

 

Thursday was a travel day, but we stopped at Collier State Park in southern Oregon, mainly to use the facilities.  While we were there, I played the song of a bird I thought was present there, but I didn't see or hear any response.  I was ready to leave, but Chris told me he heard the same song I was playing, in some trees about 50 yards away.  We tacked down the singing, and we saw a couple of PYGMY NUTHATCHES.  They stayed too high in the tree and kept moving around, so I didn't get any pictures.  It was another case of my high-frequency hearing loss handicapping me in my birding.  I never did hear the nuthatches singing, and Chris could hear them easily, even at a distance.  I need to look into getting hearing aids for my birding.

 

While we were trying to find the nuthatches, a Bald Eagle flew over, to give me another April bird.  After Thursday, I had 144 species in April and 230 in 2019.

 

 

Friday, April 12, 2019

 

After our long day of driving on Thursday, we spent the night in Ellensburg, WA.  We were less than two hours from home, but I had planned it that way so I could look for birds on Friday.  We headed east from Ellensburg, and our first destination was Parke Creek Road.  Along the road there was a Black-billed Magpie on a wire, and I got this picture.

 

I had seen that species in Southern Oregon on Thursday, but pictures are always in order.  As I was taking another picture of the Black-billed Magpie, it took off.

 

Farther along Parke Creek Road, I saw a couple of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, an uncommon species in Washington State and an excellent April bird.  We went east on the Old Vantage Highway and drove into the Wild Horse Wind Facility, among the windmills.  I have a place there for three species that live in sagebrush habitat.  As we drove in, though, Chris spotted a male MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, one of the species I was hoping for.

 

At my sage species site, we got out and I played some bird songs.  First I got my first SAGE THRASHER of the year, but I couldn't get close enough for a picture.  Next I called up a SAGEBRUSH SPARROW (formerly called Sage Sparrow), and I got this picture.

 

It took a bit longer to get the third sage species because they are shyer and tend to stay down in the brush.  Chris could hear them calling back to me, though, and I finally got these two pictures of a BREWER'S SPARROW.

 

 

We moved on toward the Columbia River and went down Recreation Road.  I saw a bird in the middle of the road there, and it turned out to be a CHUKAR, a quail-like game bird that was introduced from Europe to the US for hunting.  I don't see them every year, so that was a great one.  The bird went up the hill, joined by a second one, and I got a couple of pictures as they moved away from the road.

 

 

We saw a couple of Say's Phoebes, too, but I had seen that one in April in California.  Down at the end of Recreation Road, I parked and played the song of a wren I usually see there.  Eventually one responded and we got good semi-distant views of my first ROCK WREN of the year.  None of my pictures is worth showing.  While trying to attract a Rock Wren, I heard the advertising call of a California Quail, and I played it back.  A male California Quail flew in and went onto my April list. As it scurried off into the bushes, I got this picture of it.

 

We drove up to the lookout at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park, and looked out over the Columbia River.  There were interesting reflections of the clouds on the water, so I took this picture looking downstream, from high on a cliff.  The bridge across the river is Interstate 90, which runs from Seattle to Boston.

 

Looking upstream, I took this picture of Chris and the Columbia River, from the same high cliff.

 

The river is completely flat, but the cloud reflections make it look like white water.

 

There were some ducks way down on the river, and two of them were male Redheads, which are uncommon there.  That was new for my Kittitas county list.  Here is a pair of male Redheads, looking down on them from a great height.

 

They were feeding by diving, and I got this picture just as one of them dove.

 

There were many VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS flying around, and it was interesting to be able to look down on them from the cliff top.  (As a reminder, I use all caps for a species name when it is the first time I have seen it this year.)

 

After that, we headed west toward home, taking the faster route along I-90.  At Ellensburg, we followed US 97 north.  I got this picture of a Red-tailed Hawk along that stretch.

 

Continuing up US 97, we turned off onto Bettas Road, north of Ellensburg.  I tried for Vesper Sparrow where I have been able to call one up in the past, but all we got was Western Meadowlarks, which I had counted in Sacramento.  I did get this picture of a Western Meadowlark singing, though, a short time later.

 

We saw a couple of pairs of Mountain Bluebirds, and I got pictures of one pair.  Here is the male Mountain Bluebird.

 

Here's the female Mountain Bluebird.

 

After Bettas Road, we drove to Swauk Prairie Road and stopped at another site I discovered a few years ago.  I played the song of the species I was looking for there, and eventually, Chris's ears heard a MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE responding.  I heard it once or twice, but there were two of them, and Chris could hear them all the time.  I finally got a good look at one, but I didn't get any pictures.  The Mountain Chickadee song also triggered a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and they kept singing back to us the whole time we were there.  That was a good April bird for me.

 

We drove through the old Swauk Cemetery, but I didn't see anything there.  We drove along Ballard Hill Road and Red Bridge Road, stopping at the Teanaway River to try for American Dipper, but the water was too high, and we didn't see any dippers. Our final birding stop for the day was the Railroad Ponds in Cle Elum.  It was quiet there, and the only thing I added to April was Northern Flicker.  I knew there were Pygmy Nuthatches there, so I played the song and attracted a couple of them.  Chris could hear them singing back to us, of course, but at least I could see them.  Here are three mediocre pictures of Pygmy Nuthatch.

 

 

 

That was it for Friday.  We got on I-90 and drove over the Cascade Range to home, only losing a little time in the Friday afternoon traffic because it was only about 3:30 when we got to our house.  Our road trip was over, and my three week trip to California was likewise over.  I did add one more species to my April list, though, with a Black-capped Chickadee in our yard.

 

On Friday, I added 12 more species to my April list, to give me 156 now in April.  Seven of those were new for 2019, and now I have 237 species this year.  I added one (Redhead) to my Kittitas county list, and now I've seen 115 species in Kittitas county since I started keeping Washington county lists in 2012.  For the rest of the month, I plan to get the local birds, including some spring migrants that are returning now.

 

 

Saturday, April 13, 2019

 

I didn't do any birding on Saturday, but I did add Dark-eyed Junco to my April list, in the back yard, and then I had 158 species for April.

 

 

Sunday, April 14, 2019

 

Today I went over to Puget Sound, to try for some saltwater species. On the way I stopped by the house in Lake Forest Park where I see Band-tailed Pigeons, but none were around today.  I did see a Steller's Jay, though, for my April list.  After that, I drove to Kayu Kayu Ac Park in Richmond Beach and added Barrow's Goldeneye and Red-necked Grebe to my April list.

 

Next, I stopped at Deer Creek Park in Woodway to try for Brown Creeper and Pacific Wren.  I managed to attract a Pacific Wren, but at first it stayed down in the bushes.  There wasn't much light, but I did get this peek-a-boo shot of the Pacific Wren through the vegetation.

 

Eventually the Pacific Wren came out and posed for me.

 

I stopped playing its song, and it started to sing back to me, and I got these next two pictures of the Pacific Wren singing.

 

 

I also attracted a Brown Creeper with playback, but it didn’t stick around for pictures.  Both of those species were ones for my April list.

 

I moved on to the Edmonds pier.  There wasn't a lot around, but I did see a number of Horned Grebes, mostly changed into their breeding plumage.  Soon they will fly off east to breed in marshes and lakes inland.  Here is a Horned Grebe in almost-breeding plumage.

 

In the winter, Horned Grebes look like this one I shot in January this year.

 

I find it very interesting how much some species change as they get into the breeding season.  Here are a couple of pictures of Red-necked Grebes in breeding plumage.

 

 

Red-necked Grebes will also be flying off soon to breed inland on lakes.

 

I saw a pair of Black Scoters and a lot of Surf Scoters for my April list.  I needed Pelagic Cormorant, too and I got this picture of one from the pier.

 

There was a Great Blue Heron hunting on the breakwater, too, but I didn't need that one.

 

There were a couple of Glaucous-winged Gulls on the breakwater, too, and I did need that one for April.

 

Next I drove up to Sunset Avenue and looked around.  There was a pair of Harlequin Ducks on the floating log offshore, so that one went onto my April list.  I also added Pigeon Guillemot from there.

 

From Ocean Avenue, I spotted a Common Loon, which was an excellent April bird.  Here is a picture of the Common Loon, which has almost completely transitioned to breeding plumage.

 

There was a flock of Brant offshore at Ocean Avenue, too.  Here is a picture of the flock.

 

Here is a closer shot of four of the Brant.

 

I added 13 more species to April today, to bring me to 171 for the month.  I still have 237 species this year.

 

 

Monday, April 15, 2019

 

Fair warning - I don't have any pictures today.  Those of you who only look at the pictures and aren't interested in my sparkling commentary can delete this email right now.

 

This morning I drove up to Tulalip Bay, in Snohomish county.  All I added to my April list there was Mew Gull.  I'm also trying to get as many species in Washington State as I can in April, and I did add Double-crested Cormorant, Caspian Tern, Song Sparrow, and Anna's Hummingbird to my Washington April list, which now stands at 69 species.  Last year I got 128 species in Washington State in April, so I'm trying to match or beat that number.  I have a long way to go, but I only got back here on Friday.

 

Next I drove to the Everett Sewage Ponds, mainly looking for ducks for my Washington April list.  I added some, and as I drove away, I saw a Barn Swallow on a wire, and that was a new April bird for me.  This afternoon at home I saw a Chestnut-backed Chickadee at our feeder, and that was another April bird.

 

I got 3 more species for April, to give me 174 species now.

 

Since I'm now back home, I'm once again working on my three-county list, which keeps track of the species I have seen this year in King, Snohomish, and Skagit counties.  Today I added 6 species to my Snohomish county list.  My three county list now stands at 106 for King county (my home county), 99 for Snohomish county, and 90 for Skagit county.

 

I know, way too many numbers.  I put them here as a record for myself.

 

 

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

 

Good news.  I've got some pictures today.  I went over to Marymoor Park, and I stopped first at the rowing club pond.  I played Green Heron calls, but I got no response.  Next I drove around to the west parking lot for the dog park and I walked along the slough.  I picked up Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, Spotted Towhee, and Golden-crowned Sparrow in that area, all for my Washington April list.  I had seen all those species in California in April, but I want to see how many species I can see in Washington this month, too.  In other words, I have two April lists now - an overall list and a Washington April list.  Here is a Golden-crowned Sparrow in breeding plumage.

 

In the winter, Golden-crowned Sparrows don’t have such black head stripes and the gold color is much more subdued.

 

On my way back to the car, I played the song of Golden-crowned Kinglet, in a place I have seen them before.  One responded and I took a lot of pictures, as it flitted around and never stayed still for long.  Here is a front view of the Golden-crowned Kinglet, which was showing off its golden crown since I was playing its song.

 

Here is a side view of the Golden-crowned Kinglet.

 

Here are two more views of the cute little Golden-crowned Kinglet.

 

 

After that I drove to the east parking lot for the dog park, and I walked south along the East Meadow.  I got Common Yellowthroat and Savannah Sparrow for my Washington April list.  Here is the Savannah Sparrow.

 

I saw a male Rufous Hummingbird, one for my overall April list.  Here is a distant picture of him.

 

Here's the Rufous Hummingbird taking off.  The shot is blurry, but I think it is interesting anyway.

 

There is a convenient bench at the south end of the East Meadow, and I sat for a while.  I saw an Osprey circling overhead, and later I saw a Bald Eagle doing the same thing.  Those were both ones for my Washington April list.  I walked to the lake, in search of Marsh Wren, and I got this picture of a couple of Tree Swallows sitting next to a couple of nest gourds.

 

I didn't need that one for any lists, but I did need the Marsh Wren I attracted by playing its song.  It was one for my overall April list.  Here's a blurry picture with the Marsh Wren out of focus.

 

I walked back to my car and didn't get any more for my lists, but I did get this picture of a Spotted Towhee.

 

I stopped at the Redmond Retention Ponds on the way home, but I didn't see anything interesting.  At home I saw an American Goldfinch at our feeder, though, and that was an overall April list bird.

 

In all, I saw 12 species for my Washington April list, and that stands at 81 now.  I'm chasing last year's total of 128 in Washington in April, and it will be tough to get there.  I could get into the 120's, though, if I work at it and get lucky.  Four of those 12 species were new for April overall, and now I have 178 species in April.  Last year I got 192 in April, and I hope to catch up to that total and exceed it this year.  It will be close, though.

 

I also got 2 more species for my 2019 King county list, and now I have 108 species in King county this year.

 

 

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

 

Today I went out to the Snoqualmie Valley.  While driving across the valley, I picked up White-crowned Sparrow and Turkey Vulture for my Washington April list.  At the house in Carnation with feeders, I saw some Band-tailed Pigeons for my overall April list and some Eurasian Collared-Doves for my Washington April list.  Here is a Eurasian Collared-Dove.

 

There were only a few American Goldfinches around, and I got this picture of one of them drinking at the bird bath.

 

I also got this picture of an American Crow.

 

When I left there, I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River to Fall City.  Along the way I saw a field with some cows in it, with blackbirds and starlings on the ground among the cows.  I looked closely, and sure enough, some of the birds were Brown-headed Cowbirds, another Washington April bird.  Here is a male Brown-headed Cowbird.

 

I drove up to Tokul Creek, where I usually can find American Dipper.  Not today, though; I came up empty.  I even went farther up the main road and looked at the creek upstream of where I usually look, but I found no dippers.  I went back down to the valley and I stopped at the feeder house again, but found nothing I needed.  I ate my lunch, which I had brought from home, there, and then went up to the Stillwater Access to the Snoqualmie Valley Wildlife Area.  As soon as I got on the trail there, I saw a Red-breasted Sapsucker, one I needed for my overall April list.  Here's a picture of that member of the woodpecker family.

 

I walked south on the trail and spotted a pair of Wood Ducks, another one for my overall April list.  Here's a picture of the pair of Wood Ducks.

 

While walking down the trail and back, I heard Pileated Woodpeckers at least 3 times, although I never saw one.  That was good enough for my overall April list, though.

 

I ran into a birding acquaintance by the name of Vicki.  She told me she had just seen a Sora, a quite uncommon bird in Western Washington.  She showed me where it was, but it didn't show itself again or respond to playback.  Vicki also told me where there was an American Dipper nest, with the parents feeding the young regularly.   I went farther down the trail, and saw an American Bittern flying in the distance, so that one went on my Washington April list.  I didn't find anything else there, and when I got back to my car, I drove back through Carnation to the bridge over the Tolt River, which is where the dipper nest that Vicki had told me about was located.  I stood on the shore of the river, under the bridge, and I saw the nest.  It seemed to be made mostly of moss.  When I got there, an adult bird was feeding a young one, and the adult soon flew off and into the river.  It kept diving under and coming up again, sometimes seeming to swim.  Here's a shot of it that looks like it's swimming.

 

Here's a shot of it emerging from under the water, presumably heading for that rock on the right.

 

It didn't stay on the surface for long, and it moved rapidly downstream.  This is the only shot I got of it out of the water, briefly.

 

Here is the nest, with an American Dipper chick poking its head out (on the left side of the nest).

 

There was very little light under the bridge, and that was the best I could do, hand-holding my little camera at 1200 mm equivalent focal length.

 

That was the first time I have seen a dipper nest, although I saw a pair of dippers building a nest last year.

 

I waited around for a while, but no parent came back to the nest, and I moved on.  I stopped again at the feeder house in Carnation and got more pictures.  Here is a Band-tailed Pigeon.

 

Here's a shot of a couple of Eurasian Collared-Doves and a Band-tailed Pigeon.

 

From there I drove up to Duvall and walked down the trail from the old railroad depot park and looked for Wilson's Snipe.  I couldn't find any, though.

 

Finally, I drove up West Snoqualmie River Road NE.  At the first turn there was some standing water in a field, and I saw three Greater Yellowlegs, one I needed for my Washington April list.  Here are a couple of pictures of Greater Yellowlegs.

 

 

A bit farther up the road I saw a Peregrine Falcon in a big tree.  It appeared to be wet, but it hadn't been raining.  Maybe it had taken a bath.  Here's the wet looking Peregrine Falcon.

 

 

The bird was preening, which would support the idea of it having recently had a bath.

 

I was looking for Northern Harrier, as well as other species, and when I turned around near the north end of the dead-end road, I saw one.  I couldn't get a picture of that one, but later I saw another one, and I got this very distant picture of a female Northern Harrier, one for my Washington April list.

 

I checked out the tree that has four Great Blue Heron nests in it, and there were birds sitting on at least 3 of the nests.  I've been watching that nest tree for the last couple of years, getting pictures of the young birds as they mature.  Today I noticed that there are 3 or 4 other trees nearby with Great Blue Heron nests, too.  I don't know if they were there before and I missed them, or if they are new.  Altogether, there were at least ten nests with Great Blue Herons sitting on them.  I'll be watching them over the next couple of months.  While I was looking at the nests, I saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler o the other side of the river, and that was another one for my Washington April list.

 

Back near the south end of the road, where I had started, I got out my scope to check out a pond, and I saw a bunch of American Wigeons, another one for my Washington April list.  When I passed the big tree, the Peregrine Falcon was still there.  It seemed to have dried out, and I got a couple of pictures from the other side, showing the side of the bird.

 

 

I was out there for over 7 hours today, and I drove about 100 miles.  I added 15 species to my Washington April list, and now I have 96 species on that list.  Last year my total in Washington in April was 128, so that's what I'm shooting for.  I added 5 species to my overall April list, and now I have 183 species in April.  Last year I had 192.  I also added 5 more species to my 2019 King county list.  It was a full day of birding for me, and I walked quite a bit (for me).

 

 

Thursday, April 18, 2019

 

Part 1

 

The weather was kind of threatening today, and I felt like sticking close to home.  I went down to Juanita Bay Park, which is only 2 or 3 miles from home.  I walked out on the east boardwalk and played Virginia Rail calls.  I got no response at the first place I tried, but I heard two birds call back to me at the second spot.  That was an overall April bird.

 

At the end of the boardwalk, I looked around and was pleased to see a pair of Hooded Mergansers, another overall April bird.  Here's a picture I got of the male Hooded Merganser a little later.

 

They both flew off before I could get a picture of the female.  I also saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet from the east boardwalk, but it didn't stay still for long, and I got no pictures.  That was one for my Washington April list.  I also heard a Common Yellowthroat singing while on the east boardwalk.  I didn't need that one for either April list, but it was my first Common Yellowthroat this year in my 5 mile radius circle.  Remember that list?  It's a list of birds I see within 5 miles of home this year.   I have a lot of lists to keep track of.

 

I walked over to the west boardwalk, and as I approached it, I saw a pair of Downy Woodpeckers.  That was another Washington April list bird, and I got this picture of the male Downy Woodpecker before they flew off.

 

Out on the east boardwalk I came across a large flock of over a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging in the trees.  That was another one I had on both April lists, but it was also another one for my 5 mile radius list.  They didn't sit still for pictures, and they weren't real close, anyway.

 

There were lots of Red-winged Blackbirds around, and I saw a female building a nest, very close to the end of the west boardwalk.  I took a lot of pictures, but I'm going to save them for Part 2 of this report. 

 

While I was taking pictures of the female Red-winged Blackbird building her nest, a small group of geese flew in.  I noticed that one was smaller, and I was quite surprised to see that it was a Cackling Goose, a separate and smaller species than Canada Goose.  It was hanging out with its larger cousins, I guess.  Almost all the Cackling Geese have headed north for their breeding grounds in Alaska by now, and I hadn't expected to see that species in April.  In addition to being smaller, the neck is shorter and the bill is much stubbier in Cackling Goose, compared to Canada Goose.  Here is the Cackling Goose, with its stubby bill and short neck.

 

Here's a picture showing one of the larger Canada Geese (on the right) and the smaller Cackling Goose.

 

The larger Canada Goose was honking loudly at the poor little Cackling Goose, like it was trying to drive it away.  I felt sorry for the Cackler because it presumably had been separated from its brothers and sisters and left to get along on its own.  Cackling Geese are almost always in flocks when we see them in Washington in the winter.  I imagined that it had attached itself to the small group of Canada Geese.  Here's another picture of the Cackling Goose and one of the Canada Geese.

 

The geese swam out into the lake from the little bay where I had first seen them, and I got one more picture of three Canada Geese and the little Cackling Goose, trying to fit in.

 

Someone who didn't know birds might think the smaller one was a youngster, but geese don't fly until they are fully grown, and they breed in the summer, so all these geese are adults.  The short stubby bill is the real giveaway, though, as to the bird's species.  It was great to add Cackling Goose to my overall April list, and of course, anything I see for April now also goes on my Washington April list.

 

I headed back to my car after a while, and stopped at the first platform on the west boardwalk.  A Great Blue Heron was preening, and I took some shots of it.  Here it is just standing there, with all its breeding plumes on its head and neck.

 

Here it is preening (tending to its feathers).

 

At one point, it sort of fluffed up its head and neck feathers.  I didn't know they could do that.

 

After that, it went back to normal, with its head and neck feathers flattened out like usual.

 

It continued to preen.

 

At one point it raised one wing and tended to the feathers on the underside of the wing.

 

I got one more picture on my way back to my car.  Here's a male Northern Flicker showing his colors.

 

That was it for today.  It was a pleasant two hours at the park, and I called it a day.  Two hours in a row on my feet is about enough for me these days.

 

I added 5 more species to my Washington April list, to give me 101 species now.  Last year I had 128.  Three of the species were also new for April overall, and now I have 186 species overall for April, including my California trip.  Last year I had 192 for April, and I had the same California trip.  I also added 2 species to my 5MR list today, and now I have 80 species this year within a 5 mile radius of home.

 

Part 2 of today's birding, the female Red-winged Blackbird building her nest, will follow, probably tomorrow.

 

Thursday, April 18, 2019  Part 2

 

While at Juanita Bay Park on Thursday, I saw a female Red-winged Blackbird building a nest.  She would fly off and come back with nesting material, then sit in the nest, as if trying it on for size and comfort.  As an introduction, here is a picture of a male Red-winged Blackbird.

 

I didn't see any male participating in the nest building.  Females blend in to the surroundings better.

 

Here's the female Red-winged Blackbird sitting in the nest.

 

This next shot is from a different angle, and she is leaving the nest to go get more material.  Note the way the nest reeds are wrapped around the supporting reeds, to anchor the nest.

 

Here she is back in the nest, hunkering down as if to shape the nest to her liking.

 

In this next picture, she is leaving the nest in another direction, as if testing out the back door.

 

She kept going and coming back, carrying nesting material.  I wasn't able to get a picture of her with the material, unfortunately.  Here she is back in the nest again, once again seeming to try it out for size and comfort, or maybe shaping it.

 

The nest is located just 15 feet from the end of the west boardwalk, and it can be seen from two places.  It seems very exposed to me, and I somewhat doubt that it will be successful in the long run.  Here is a picture of the location, taken from the platform at the end of the west boardwalk, looking west.  The nest is right in the middle of the picture.

 

I suppose that when the reeds grow more, they will help hide the nest, so maybe it won't be as exposed as it is now.  Here is the female Red-winged Blackbird leaving the nest again.

 

Here are two more pictures of her in the nest, taken from the north side of the boardwalk, looking south at the nest.

 

 

That's it.  I hope to get back down there to check on the progress of the nest.  I looked it up, and the females do build the nests.  A male Red-winged Blackbird has a territory, and there are typically several females in his territory that build nests.  The female mates with the territory holder, but also with males from neighboring territories.  Here is a description of a Red-winged Blackbird nest, from the Cornell All About Birds website.

 

Females build the nests by winding stringy plant material around several close, upright stems and weaving in a platform of coarse, wet vegetation. Around and over this she adds more wet leaves and decayed wood, plastering the inside with mud to make a cup. Finally, she lines the cup with fine, dry grasses.

 

It will be interesting to watch the process.  Incubation lasts 11 to 13 days, and the young fledge 11 to 14 days after hatching.   I hope the nest is a success.

 

I didn't do any birding on Friday, due to the weather and a plumbing project I had to take care of.

 

 

Saturday, April 20, 2019

 

Today I decided to go over to Whidbey Island, but I did the trip in the opposite direction to what I usually do.  Instead of taking the Mukilteo ferry to Whidbey Island in the morning, and then driving up the length of Whidbey and returning through Skagit county and down I-5, I did it the other way.  I picked up a sandwich at Subway in Stanwood and drove up toward Skagit county.  Just north of Stanwood I saw a flock of Snow Geese, which was great, since I needed that one for April.  Most of the Snow Geese have headed north for the summer now, and these were the only ones I saw all day.  Here is a shot of the flock of Snow Geese, in two parts.

 

Here's a closer shot of part of the flock.

 

They all rose up and flew around at one point.

 

I moved on to Wylie Slough, which is in Skagit county.  As I drove around the parking areas, I heard some loud woodpecker drumming.  Woodpeckers communicate that way, sometimes.  It turned out to be a male Hairy Woodpecker, one I needed for my overall April list.  A couple of other Hairy Woodpeckers answered from time to time, with drumming of their own.  Somehow they manage to find a tree that gives off a great sound - maybe because of hollows in the tree.  Here is the male Hairy Woodpecker from the side.

 

Here's a shot of the same bird from the back, looking up at him.

 

While I was out of my car finding that woodpecker and taking pictures, I saw a male Rufous Hummingbird at the top of a tree.  It was the first Rufous Hummingbird I have seen in Skagit county since I started keeping county records back in 2012.  Here is the male Rufous Hummingbird.

 

I saw the first of several Northern Pintails I saw today, and that was one for my Washington April list.  I eventually found four Cinnamon Teal for that same list.  There were also a number of Long-billed Dowitchers there, still another one for my Washington April list.  Here is a Long-billed Dowitcher.

 

There were also a lot of Greater Yellowlegs around, and although I didn't need that one for any lists, I took some pictures.  Here are a couple of pictures of Greater Yellowlegs.

 

 

I found the Black Phoebe that has been hanging out at Wylie Slough for over a year.  That is a rarity in Western Washington, but this one has been quite reliable there.  My only pictures didn't come out.  On the trail along the dike, I saw a little brown bird, and I took some pictures.  It turned out to be a female Purple Finch, a good one for my overall April list.  I wasn't sure at first because the markings on the face are more subdued than usual in female Purple Finches, but I feel confident that is what it was.  Here is the female Purple Finch.

 

I saw a bird flying and got it in my binoculars.  It was a Pileated Woodpecker, an excellent bird, although I had it already on both my April lists.  I was adding birds to my 2019 Skagit county list, too, though, and it went on that one.  Here is a quite distant picture of a male Pileated Woodpecker.

 

At the duck viewing blind, I took pictures of ducks.  Here is a female Ring-necked Duck.

 

Here is a male Ring-necked Duck.

 

Here is a picture of a pair of Wood Ducks.

 

There were swallows flying around, and I got four swallow species for my 2019 Skagit county list.  Northern Rough-winged Swallow was new for my Washington April list, too.

 

There were some little shorebirds with the Greater Yellowlegs on one little island, and I took pictures to aid in identification.  Most of them were Least Sandpipers, but there was one Western Sandpiper in with them.  Both of those species went onto my Washington April list.  Here's a picture showing the lone Western Sandpiper in the middle of the picture, with Least Sandpipers around it.

 

The easiest way to tell the two species apart is the color of the legs.  Western Sandpipers have black legs and Least Sandpipers have yellow legs.  Here's another picture of the black-legged Western Sandpiper in the middle, with yellow-legged Least Sandpipers around it.

 

After that I drove to the house on Valentine Road with all the feeders.  I was going to eat my lunch there and take pictures, but the feeders were all empty and there were no birds around.  I moved on to March Point.  I was looking for a particular species there, and I found just one Black Oystercatcher, a great overall April bird.  Usually they are in pairs or small groups, but this bird was alone.  I took this picture of it from the car, as it called.

 

Right after I took that picture, it flew off around the point, but I located it again and got one more decent picture of the Black Oystercatcher before it flew off out of sight.

 

I ate half my sandwich there, and then ate the other half as I drove to Whidbey Island.  At a slough near the north end of Whidbey Island, I spotted a single swan.  I thought all the swans had flown off north for the summer, but this one was still there.  I had to get my scope out to determine the species, and I ended up deciding it was a Trumpeter Swan, an overall April bird I hadn't expected to get.  Here is a very distant picture of the Trumpeter Swan.

 

I drove down what I call the west coast of Whidbey Island, south of the naval air station on the west side.  I stopped at three different places to check out sea birds.  I added Red-breasted Merganser to my Washington April list at the first stop.  At the second stop I saw several White-winged Scoters, an excellent bird for my overall April list.  At the third stop, Hastie Lake Road, I saw a pair of Rhinoceros Auklets, a really excellent overall April bird.  I also saw a group of at least a dozen birds of mixed species.  They were distant, but with my scope I was able to identify both Pacific Loon and Red-throated Loon, both of which were great ones for my overall April list.  There was also a large group of maybe 20 or 30 birds, way off shore.  I think they were Long-tailed Ducks, which was one I really wanted to get, but they were just too distant for me to make the call, so that one isn't on my April list.  Besides the distance, there were large swells, and the birds kept appearing and disappearing in the swells, which made it really hard to see them well.  I left there quite pleased with what I had seen, though.

 

I stopped at Crockett Lake, but the water was high and I didn't see any of the species I wanted to see there.  On the old ferry dock across the road there were cormorants, though, and I found a couple of Brant's Cormorants, one I needed for my Washington April list.  Here's a picture showing all three local cormorant species.  The two on the outside are Pelagic Cormorants, the one with the yellow throat pouch is a Double-crested Cormorant, and the brownish one is a juvenile Brant's Cormorant.

 

After that I headed for the Clinton ferry and home.  It was a long day for this old rambler, almost 8 hours.  I drove over 160 miles, but I didn't have to walk very much.  I got 18 more species for my Washington April list, far exceeding my expectations for the day.  Now I have 119 species for April in Washington State.  Last year I had 128, so maybe I can match that number after all.  I had just about given up on that.

 

I added 9 more to my overall April list, exceeding my expectations for the day there, too.  I have 195 species in April now this year, which already beats last year, when I had 192 in April.  There are a few more I can hope to get, too, and 10 more days to get them.

 

I also added 12 species to my 2019 Skagit county list, to give me 102 species now this year in Skagit county.  I have114 species in King county (where I live) and 99 in Snohomish county, which is located between King county and Skagit county.

 

I still have 237 species this year, and last year I had 242 at the end of April.  I hope to add a very few more to my year list still, in April, but not many.

 

 

Easter Sunday, Aril 21, 2019

 

We had an Easter brunch here this morning, so I didn't get out birding.  This afternoon I went down to Juanita Bay Park, mainly to check out the Red-winged Blackbird nest I had seen on Thursday, and also to look for Wilson's Snipe, which had been reported in the same area.  No snipe, and the nest appeared to have been abandoned.  Oh well, a blackbird's life is a hard one.  Maybe she got a better offer from a male in a neighboring territory.

 

While I was there, I did see a few birds, though.  There were chickadees, a Downy Woodpecker, and a single Bushtit.  I needed the Bushtit for my Washington April list.  I also heard a kingfisher.  Kingfishers call when they fly, so I looked around and spotted a Belted Kingfisher fly across the little bay and land in a tree on the other side.  My distant pictures aren't very good, so I won't bother to show them, but it was a second bird for my Washington April list.  My two species today brought my total for Washington in April to 121 species.  Last year I had 128 in April in Washington, so I could still catch up with that total, but it's going to be close.  I might have to take a ferry ride again or do something drastic, but I'll give it a shot.

 

 

Monday, April 22, 2019

 

I had an early lunch appointment up in Everett today, but I went down to the south Kirkland waterfront first.  At Houghton Beach Park, I scanned the water of Lake Washington with my scope, and I saw a large group of many dozens of Western Grebes, as had been reported there.  That was a Washington April bird.

 

Next I drove around to a park on the hill above the waterfront that I hadn't been to before.  I parked at Carillon Woods Park and walked down the paved path.  The park is heavily wooded, and I don't generally do well in forests.  I heard some birds, but I didn't see anything at first.  I sat on a bench in the middle of the woods and looked at the tree tops.  Eventually I saw a few birds.  There were a couple of Chestnut-backed Chickadees around, but I didn't need that one.  I saw a bird high in a tree that I decided eventually was a Yellow-rumped Warbler, another one I didn't need.  Then I saw another bird, and it was a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, my first of the year.  It hit all my lists, of course, since it was the first one I had seen this year, and I was within 5 miles of home.  That was one of the ones that had been reported there.  I missed seeing several others I needed, but that wasn't surprising to me, since I do so poorly in woods.  I heard a lot of bird calls, and maybe if I were expert enough, I would have been able to count more species.

 

I was happy with my Black-throated Gray Warbler, and I left.  I had about 20 minutes to spare, though, so I stopped at Juanita Bay Park to try again for Wilson's Snipe there.  There were other species I could possibly see, too.  As I approached the west boardwalk, which is where the snipe had been reported last week, I saw a Northern Flicker, which I didn't actually need, of course.  Here are a couple of pictures of the male Northern Flicker.

 

 

I walked out onto the west boardwalk, and just as I was thinking that no self-respecting snipe would be hanging out there, because so many people walked on the boardwalk (and snipe are quite shy), when a Wilson's Snipe flushed ahead of me and flew low across the water right in front of me.  I saw where it went, and when I got farther out on the boardwalk, I could see it across the little bay.

 

It stood perfectly still for the whole time I watched it, and I got this picture from a different angle.

 

Wilson's Snipe was an overall April bird for me.  While I was there, I checked the Red-winged Blackbird nest again, and it still was empty, with no activity around it.  I had to leave then, to get to my lunch appointment.  After lunch I tried the boat launch area at the Everett waterfront, looking for a couple of gull species I still need for April, but there were no gulls at all where they typically roost.  I guess they were all out feeding, which makes sense, since the tide was quite low.

 

So, I got three more species for my Washington April list today, to give me 124 in Washington in April.  Last year I had 128 in April, so I'm getting close, with over a week left in the month.  Of course, there isn't a whole lot left to find, but migrants are returning now, so I have hope.  I could also take a ferry across Puget Sound and probably get 3 to 5 more species, depending on where I went, and for how long.  I haven't yet decided whether to do that, and I'm watching the weather forecasts.

 

Two of today's birds were new for my overall April list, and now I have 197 species in April this year.  Last year I had only 192 in April.  Maybe I can get to 200 this year.

 

Black-throated Gray Warbler was new for 2019, and now I have 238 species this year so far.  Last year I had 242 species for the year, at the end of April, and that would be tough to match.  If I can find some returning migrants, though, it's possible I could catch that total.

 

Of course, Black-throated Gray Warbler was new for my 2019 King county list, too, and now I have 115 species in King county this year.  It also gives me 81 species for my 5MR list this year.

 

Too many lists!

 

 

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

 

I went over to Marymoor Park this morning.  First I stopped at the rowing club pond, looking for Green Heron.  I didn't find one.  I walked down to the slough, and I saw a couple of Red-breasted Sapsuckers on a dead tree.  One of them was working on a nest hole.

 

Woodpeckers make new nest holes every year, and other species sometimes use the old holes in subsequent years.  Here is another picture of one of the Red-breasted Sapsuckers.

 

There were a few other birds, and one of them was a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, an excellent Washington April bird.  They are just now starting to come back from their annual migration, and I hadn't expected to find one this month.  I had seen one in Southern California this month, so it wasn't new for the year.

 

I saw three or four Spotted Towhees there, too.  I show a lot of pictures of Spotted Towhees because I think they are striking looking.  Here are a couple of shots of a Spotted Towhee in somewhat different poses from the usual.

 

 

I drove around to the main part of the park, and went to the northwest corner of the park, because that corner is in my 5 mile radius circle.  I wish the rest of the park was within my circle, but almost all of it is just over 5 miles from home.  I saw some sparrows, and they turned out to be Savannah Sparrows, not one I needed for April, but one for my 5MR list.  Here are some pictures of Savannah Sparrows.

 

 

 

I drove through the community garden, but I didn't find anything there.  I parked and walked along the slough.  Here's a picture of a male Common Merganser.

 

There was a Killdeer down by the slough.

 

A flock of swallows flew overhead, and I stood there and looked at them.  I was looking to see if there were any swifts in with the swallows.  Eventually I got a good long binocular look at my first VAUX'S SWIFT of the year.  They are also just back from migration, and there have only been a small handful of reports so far this year, so I was surprised and pleased to find one today.

 

A Great Blue Heron was standing down by the water, and I thought it looked good, so I took a picture of it.

 

While I was watching it, a female Red-winged Blackbird flew at it, as if trying to drive it away.  I assume the blackbird had a nest nearby.  The blackbird kept flying at the heron, almost landing on its back sometimes.  Here's a picture of the Great Blue Heron and the harassing female Red-winged Blackbird (lower right corner).

 

The heron didn't seem to pay any attention to the blackbird, and the poor blackbird (on the right) just kept trying.

 

Finally, the blackbird landed and just looked at the heron.

 

When I left, the Great Blue Heron was still just standing there, as if nothing had happened at all.

 

There was a Bald Eagle in a tree across the slough.  It was a difficult shot with the bright background, and this was the best I could do.

 

I think that male Gadwalls have interesting patterns on them, and here are a couple of pictures of one.

 

 

Here's a shot of a female Gadwall.

 

I drove to the east side of the park and looked at the new Osprey nest.  There is a platform on a pole for Ospreys to nest on, and they have used it for several years.  Last year another pair of Ospreys started to build another nest, on the top of a tall light pole at one of the baseball fields.  This year they seem to be finishing the nest, and I expect they will use it.  Here's a picture of the pair of Ospreys in the new nest.

 

Here's a shot that shows the lights at the top of the pole, with the nest stuck on top of them.

 

Here's a closer shot of one of the Ospreys.

 

If they succeed in hatching a brood this year, it will be interesting to see them raise them.  This nest is much easier to view than the old one on the nesting platform, which is also occupied this year.

 

I went to the viewing mound and spent some time there.  I saw a few birds, but nothing I needed.  A crow flew in and I got this picture of an American Crow.

 

It's always a challenge to get the feather detail of black birds.

 

After that, I drove to the view point I discovered along Lake Sammamish, from which I can see some Purple Martin nest boxes at the north end of the lake.  Purple Martins are also just now starting to return from migration.  I saw some swallows flying around one of the nest boxes, so I got my scope out to check them out.  They turned out to be Tree Swallows, though.  I'll have to keep looking for Purple Martins, and it is going to be a challenge to get that species this month.  They should be back any time now, though, so we will see.

 

On my way home, I stopped at the stormwater retention pond along NE 90th St, on the north side of downtown Redmond.  I saw a Green Heron there earlier this year, so thought I might as well stop and check.  I didn't see a Green Heron, but a male Northern Flicker was working on a nest hole in a snag.

 

He was working away and throwing wood chips out of the hole as he chipped away.  Here he is with his head in the hole, working on the inside.

 

He would look around from time to time.

 

As he kept working on the hole, I realized how far along it was.

 

The inside cavity has to be large enough for 3 or 4 young flickers, who won't leave the nest until they are as large as the adults.  If the nest is successful, it will be fun to watch when the youngsters get big enough to stick their heads out of the nest.  The hole is right in the open, only maybe 25 feet from the sidewalk of the bridge approach, which would put the viewer at the same level as the nest hole.  I was down on the path to the river trail when I took these pictures, but the sidewalk above would give a great view.  I'll definitely be watching the progress of the nest.

 

I hadn't really expected to get anything new today, but I got two species that are just now returning from migration.  That gives me 126 species for my Washington April list (I had 128 in Washington in April last year, so I'm getting close).  One of those was good for my overall April list (which includes my California trip), and now I have 198 on that list (I had 192 in 2018 in April).  Vaux's Swift was new for 2019, and now I have 239 species in 2019.  Last year I had 242 species at the end of April, and I probably won't match that this year, but I'm close.

 

In other news, I added 2 to my 2019 King county list, which stands at 117 now.  Savannah Sparrow was new for my 5 mile radius list, too, and now I have 82 species within 5 miles of home.  Whew!  Where did I ever the idea to keep so many lists this year?

 

 

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

 

Fair warning - my pictures from today aren't up to par, mainly because of difficult shooting conditions - distance, wrong light direction, and heat haze all created problems.

 

I started the day up at Edmonds, on Puget Sound.  There are some Purple Martin nest boxes there, and I had hoped the birds might be back from migration.  Just as at Lake Sammamish yesterday, though, I didn't see any Purple Martins.  It is still early, but one can always hope.  I also looked for three gull species I need for April (Ring-billed, California, and Bonaparte's), but there were very few gulls around.  I hadn't realized the extent to which gulls disappear around here at this time of year.  I don’t know where they go, but eBird reports for most of the gull species are all way down in April and May.  I did see three pairs of Rhinoceros Auklets offshore at Edmonds, but I already had that one for April.

 

I moved on up to Mukilteo, with the intention of taking the ferry over to Whidbey Island.  First I checked for gulls, but had no luck with that.  Then I went to Edgewater Beach in the hopes of seeing Marbled Murrelet.  I didn't have much hope, though, because I hadn't seen one since January, despite checking there many times.  Today I got lucky, though, and I got a good scope view of a single Marbled Murrelet in breeding plumage (meaning it was mostly brown, rather than black and white).  That was a great April bird, and one I hadn't expected to get.

 

I took the ferry to Whidbey Island, and the first place I went was Crockett Lake.  I had read a report that a couple of American White Pelicans had been seen there a few days ago, but I didn't see any today.  The other species I was looking for there was Purple Martin.  I hadn't seen any Purple Martins at Marymoor yesterday or any at Edmonds today, but there had been a report a few days ago of one at Crockett Lake.  I checked out the Purple Martin nest boxes, but all I saw around there were a few Tree Swallows.  They nest in a different kind of nest box, and I got a picture of a couple of them at a nest box.  One  is on top of the box, and the other Tree Swallow was poking its head out of the box (in the lower right of the picture).

 

I drove on to the parking area by the Keystone ferry landing and used the rest room there, and started back.  I stopped again at the Purple Martin nest boxes, and this time there were a couple of PURPLE MARTINS at one set of boxes.  I tried for pictures, but they were distant and there was a lot of heat haze, unfortunately.  Eventually several other Purple Martins showed up, and these are the best two pictures I could get.

 

 

The males are dark purple and the females are lighter colored, with white on their fronts.

 

With that success, I headed back south to Deer Lagoon.  I had timed it so the tide was out, because I was looking for three shorebird species that had been reported there at low tide over the weekend.  On the walk to where you can see the mud flats, I saw a Bushtit and tried for pictures.  Bushtits never stay still, and I mostly failed.  I got one picture, though, that is kind of interesting, even though it is blurry.  Here is a Bushtit just taking off.

 

American White Pelicans had been reported at Deer Lagoon, too, recently, but I didn’t see any.  I did find my three shorebird species, though.  Here is a distant picture of a Black-bellied Plover in near-breeding plumage.

 

That was an overall April bird, and one of only two Black-bellied Plovers that I saw there today.  I also found just two Dunlin, also almost in breeding plumage.  Here is a distant picture of them.

 

That was a Washington April bird, since I had seen Dunlin in California in April.  There were also two or three Greater Yellowlegs around.  I didn't need that one, but here is a picture of a Greater Yellowlegs.

 

Most exciting of all was that there were 6 or 8 Whimbrels there.  That was only a Washington April bird, since I had seen them in San Diego this month, but it was the first time I had ever seen a Whimbrel in Washington State.  It was my 285th species in Washington.  Here are some distant Whimbrel pictures.

 

 

 

Here's a picture with a Black-bellied Plover on the left and two Whimbrels on the right.

 

There were a lot of ducks at Deer Lagoon, and I hope to get back there next week when May begins, because most of the ducks will be leaving this area very soon.  Already there are not many around.  After seeing all three of my shorebird targets, I headed back to the ferry.  As we came into Mukilteo, there was a Brant's Cormorant in breeding plumage on one of the pilings, and I took this picture in bad light (coming from behind).

 

The blue throat and the white plumes on the neck and back are only present during the breeding season.

 

I far exceeded my expectation today.  I added 5 more species to my Washington April list, to bring it to 131 species, thus blowing away last year's total of 128.  I never thought I would match last year, but I just kept finding birds.  There is a whole week left in the month, too.  I got those 131 species in just 13 days, since I was in California for the first 11 days of the month.

 

I also added 3 more species to my overall April list, including California and Oregon birds, and now I have 201 species this month, with a week to go still.  Last year I had only 192, with the same California trip.

 

Purple Martin was new for the year, and now I have 240 species in 2019.  Last year I had 242 at the end of April, but I won't catch up with that number unless some rarities show up or some migrants come back early.

 

In addition to all that, I got five more species for my Island county list that I started keeping in 2012.  Now I have 93 species in Island county since 2012.

 

There are a few more species I can go looking for this month, to add to my April numbers, and the weather forecast looks promising.

 

 

Thursday, April 25, 2019

 

I went over to Seattle today, looking for California Scrub-Jay in the neighborhood near the University of Washington where I see them regularly.  Today I had no luck, though, and I didn't enjoy it.  I usually go there on a weekend, Sunday preferably, and today there were a whole lot of people, cars, trucks, and noise in the neighborhood.  I like the quiet of Sunday much better.  I gave it a try, and I walked around and played scrub-jay calls, but I never saw or heard any.

 

After that, I drove to Magnuson Park, which is located on Lake Washington in north Seattle.  I was looking for Cooper's Hawk.  I found a nest last year, following directions I got from a guy online, and I was told they were back this year at the same nest.  I missed the turn to the parking place where I would be able to walk to the nest without going uphill, so I went to the parking area below the nest and walked up the hill.  It took me a while, but I eventually found the nest.  All I could see was the end of a tail, but it looked like a Cooper's Hawk tail.

 

I was ready to count Cooper's Hawk based on that, but I wanted more.  I hung around the area, and walked around a bit, hoping I'd get a better view.  My best hope was that the mate would fly in to the nest.  I assumed that the female was sitting on eggs, or maybe on nestlings.  While I was hanging around, I got this picture of a singing Spotted Towhee.

 

A couple of Chestnut-backed Chickadees showed up, and I got this picture of one of them.

 

I went back to the nest, and more of the tail was showing.  Cooper's Hawks have very long tails.

 

While I was watching the nest and taking pictures, the mate flew in to the nest.  I wasn't able to get any pictures while it was at the nest, but it soon flew out, right past me.  I watched it land nearby, and I got this picture, thus confirming Cooper's Hawk.

 

I was prepared to count it from the view of the tail, but it was much better to see the whole bird.  It was an overall April bird for me.  It flew on to another perch a little farther away.  It sat there and preened its feathers for several minutes, while I took pictures.  Here are some shots of a Cooper's Hawk.

 

 

 

 

 

After that success, I drove through the park, looking for gulls.  Just as I have found in other places recently, there were no gulls at all, in places where there had always been gulls in the winter and early spring.  The other species I was looking for at Magnuson was Cliff Swallow.  They nest there, and I drove to the area where they nest.  I soon saw some Cliff Swallows flying around, and that was a Washington April bird.  It was within my 5 mile radius, too, so it went on to my 5MR list.  Of course, it was also a first for King county this year, since it was a first for Washington, so it went on that list, too.

 

I had 2 Washington April birds today, and now I have 133 in April this year.  Cooper's Hawk was an overall April bird, and now I have 202 in April.  My King county list for 2019 now stands at 118, and my 5MR list is now at 83.

 

 

Friday, April 26, 2019

 

Today I went over to Marymoor Park.  On the way I stopped at the NE 90th St pond in Redmond, to look for Green Heron and to check on the Northern Flicker nest hole I saw being made on Tuesday.  I didn't find a Green Heron, but as I approached the snag with the nest hole, I saw the male Northern Flicker stick his head out of the hole.  It turned out that he was throwing wood chips out of the nest hole.  Here he is, looking out after just tossing a bunch of wood chips.

 

Here he is with a beakful of chips, ready to toss them out.

 

In this next picture, you can see him flinging another beakful of chips.

 

I watched him get rid of at least a dozen loads of chips.

 

I looked it up, and both sexes of Northern Flickers work on the nest, but both times I've been there, I have only seen the male.  I read that the female lays 5 to 8 eggs, and it takes 11 to 13 days for them to hatch.  That hole must be pretty big, if it is going to hold up to 8 flickers.  Even 5 of them would take a lot of room.  I'll keep checking on the nest.

 

I went on to the rowing club pond at Marymoor Park, but I didn't see any Green Herons there, either.  There were ducks on the pond, though.  Here is a male Hooded Merganser with his crest raised.

 

Here's a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and both of them have their "hoods" down.

 

Here's a male Wood Duck.

 

Check out that crazy red-orange eye.

 

I walked down to the slough, and on the way I saw a Hermit Thrush, an excellent overall April bird.

 

I didn't see anything else of interest there, so I went around to the west parking lot for the dog park and walked along the slough a bit.  One of the species I was looking for was Spotted Sandpiper.  There was a report of one there yesterday, one of the first ones seen in this area this year.  They are due back from migration soon, but it is still a bit early.  I didn't find anything of interest there, either, so I moved on to the viewing mound at the end of the East Meadow.  As I drove into the parking lot there, I saw the Ring-necked Pheasant that has been hanging out at Marymoor for weeks.  I had missed it on every visit until today.  That was another excellent overall April bird.  Here are a couple of pictures of the colorful male Ring-necked Pheasant, which was new for King county for me this year.

 

 

I went up on the viewing mound, but I didn't see anything I needed from there.  After that I headed for home, but I decided to stop by the Redmond Retention Ponds on NE 95th St on the way.  The ponds are very full of water, but I was hoping that a Spotted Sandpiper might be there.  Last year there were several there, and they hung around all summer.  The problem with the ponds being full of water is that there is very little mud around the edges, which is what shorebirds like.  There was a little mud between the two ponds, though, and I saw some little shorebirds there.  It turned out that there were more than 20 Least Sandpipers foraging along the shore.  I didn't need that one for either April list, but it was new for my 2019 King county list.  Here is a Least Sandpiper.

 

As I was watching the Least Sandpipers and taking pictures, I spotted a larger shorebird.  It was an early returning Spotted Sandpiper, which was what I was hoping to find there.  The Least Sandpipers are just passing through, on their way from their wintering grounds in California or Mexico to their breeding grounds in the far north.  Spotted Sandpiper breeds here and some of them will spend the whole summer in this area.  Here is the Spotted Sandpiper, another new King county bird for me this year.

 

 

Spotted Sandpiper was a Washington April bird, but I had seen one in Southern California earlier this month.  While I was there at the ponds, I heard a California Quail call several times.  I didn’t need that one for either April list, but it was an excellent one for my 2019 King county list.

 

Considering how many birds I had already seen this month, I did very well today.  I added 3 more species to my Washington April list, and now I have 136 species in Washington this month.  Two of those were new for my overall April list, and now I have 204 species in April.  I added 4 species to my 2019 King county list, too, and now I have 122 species this year in my home county.

 

Migrants are continuing to return.  I see reports, and maybe I can see some of those returning migrants (like the Spotted Sandpiper today).

 

 

Saturday, April 27, 2019

 

I stopped at Juanita Beach Park today and then drove down the Kirkland waterfront, looking for gulls.  I didn't find any.  I wonder where all the California Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls go at this time of year.  I went to Carillon Woods Park in Houghton, looking mainly for warblers.  At the end of the paved path, I saw a Hermit Thrush.  It wasn't a species I needed for any list, but I don't see them often, and I got a picture.  Oddly, I had seen one just yesterday at Marymoor Park.  Here is a poor picture of a Hermit Thrush.

 

I sat on four different benches and watched the tops of the trees.  I saw warblers, but almost all of them were Yellow-rumped Warblers.  There were also both Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees around, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  Eventually I did manage to see an Orange-crowned Warbler, which was good for my Washington April, 2019 King county, and 5MR lists.  The trees were tall, and getting a decent view of a warbler up high in the leaves is very tough.  Pictures are almost out of the question.  At one point I thought I might have a Townsend's Warbler, which has been reported there, but I didn't get a good enough view to count it.  When I got tired of that and my neck was sore from looking up, I headed for home.

 

I stopped at the fire station road at Juanita Bay Park.  Workers are restoring the wetland adjacent to the road, and it was interesting to see what they have done so far.  They tore out a lot of non-native bushes and have planted other things.  There is even an irrigation system, to get the new plants started.  I walked to the end of the short road, and headed back toward my car.  I hadn't really expected to see anything, but some migrants are returning now and others are moving through here.  No matter where I go, there is always a chance of seeing something on the move.  In this case, I spotted a little brown bird and I tracked it down.  It turned out to be a Lincoln's Sparrow, one I needed for my overall April list and my 5 MR list.  We have Lincoln's Sparrows here all winter, but more of them move through here at this time of year, heading for their breeding grounds to the north.  In a few weeks, they will disappear from this area until the fall.  Here are a couple of pictures of today's Lincoln's Sparrow.

 

 

On my way back to my car I took this picture of a male Northern Flicker on a power pole.

 

That was it for today.  I didn't go far from home, and I didn't see a lot of birds, but I did manage to add some to my lists.  With 2 species for my Washington April list today, I now have 138 this month in Washington.  Those same 2 added to my 5 mile radius list, and now I have 85 species within 5 miles of home this year.  Lincoln's Sparrow was new for my overall April list, and now I have 205 species in April.  The Orange-crowned Warbler was new for my 2019 King county list, and now that list stands at 123 species.  I find it quite surprising how I just keep adding to my lists, when it seems like there is so little left to see.  Can I possibly find anything else this month?

 

 

Sunday, April 28, 2019

 

Today I headed over to Marymoor Park again, hoping to find something good.  Some summer residents are returning, and there are others I still need as well, although everything that's left is difficult.  My first stop was at the rowing club pond, hoping for Green Heron.  As usual, I missed on it.  I walked down to the slough and got this picture of a Black-capped Chickadee that I like.

 

Back at the pond, on the way back to my car, there were some ducks on the pond that hadn't been there when I went by originally.  Here is a picture of the first ducklings I've seen locally this year - a mama Mallard and her brood of nine.

 

She climbed out onto a log, and the ducklings followed her.

 

Here is a male Ring-necked Duck.

 

Here's a pair of Ring-necked Ducks, female and male.

 

Next I drove around to the main part of the park.  I drove through the large parking area north of the East Meadow, then through the model airplane field parking lot, but I didn't find anything of interest.  I parked near the viewing mound and I saw a birding couple I know, down the trail to the lake.  I caught up with Hank and Karen, and they asked me if I had seen the rare (for this area) sparrow.  I had read of it, but I hadn't yet looked for it.  They gave me directions, and I went back to try to find it.

 

I found some sparrows, right where they had said to look, but all I saw were White-crowned Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows.  Here is a White-crowned Sparrow.

 

Here's a Savannah Sparrow.

 

I got too close, I guess, and the sparrows all took off, before I could find the rare one.  I gave that up for the time being, and went over to the viewing mound.  There were a couple of Golden-crowned Sparrows in breeding plumage there, and I got these two pictures of one of them.

 

 

After looking around a bit, I sat on one of the benches on the viewing mound and watched the area where the sparrows had been.  After a while I spotted the rare (for this area) VESPER SPARROW.  Here's a distant picture of it.

 

That was good enough to count it, but I wanted better pictures.  I walked around to where I could see where it had gone, but I didn't find it again.  I walked around the compost piles and hung out for another 15 or 20 minutes, and finally I was rewarded when the Vesper Sparrow came out in to the open, not too far away.  I proceeded to take a lot of pictures and here are some of the best ones of the first Vesper Sparrow I have ever seen in Western Washington.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, that is a lot of pictures of a little brown bird, but it was a great one to see, so I went overboard.  I hadn't expected to find a year-bird today.

 

After that success, I left Marymoor, and on my way home I stopped by the Redmond Retention Ponds on NE 90th St.  On my way there, I drove on the old brick road through Evans Creek Natural Area.  At the pond just before the creek crossing, I saw some shorebirds in the shallow pond there.  There were three Wilson's Snipe and two Least Sandpipers.  Here are shots of two of the Wilson's Snipe.

 

 

I went on to the retention ponds on 90th, but all I found there were four Least Sandpipers.  Here are a couple of shots of one of the Least Sandpipers.

 

 

That was it for today.  The only bird I got for any lists was the Vesper Sparrow, but it was good for a bunch of my lists.  I now have 241 species this year, 206 in April, and 139 in Washington in April.  It also gives me 124 species in King county this year and 188 species in King county since I started keeping track of Washington county lists in 2012.

 

I have three [correction - 2] more days left in April, and maybe I can find some more species, but it will be tough.

 

 

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

 

I didn't do any birding on Monday because of a couple of appointments and other things I had to take care of.  Today I had a dentist appointment at 11:30, but I went down to Juanita Bay Park first, figuring maybe I could get some birds for my 5 mile radius list.  It was incredibly quiet there.  There were only a couple of Mallards and a couple of Pied-billed Grebes on the lake.  I did see a Red-breasted Sapsucker when I first got there, though, and I got some pictures I like.

 

 

 

Since there was nothing there, I drove around the bay to Juanita Beach Park.  There wasn’t much there, either, but I did see a male Brown-headed Cowbird, which was one I needed for my 5MR list.  Here is the male Brown-headed Cowbird.

 

That picture is a great example of the problem when the light is coming from behind the subject.  I was looking right into the sun on that picture.  It was a problem that just kept happening today - many of the birds I shot pictures of were between me and the sun.  There were a couple of Killdeer on a dock there, too, and I took these two pictures looking into the sun.

 

 

After my dentist appointment and lunch, I went to a tiny park on the Sammamish Slough in Kenmore, called Squire's Landing.  I had read a report of swallows there, and I needed swallows for my 5MR list.  I did see a couple of swallows, but they flew off right away, and I didn't see them well enough to identify them.  There were some Canada Geese on the shore, and they had a batch of goslings.

 

When I approached, they took to the water.

 

I sat in a chair in the sun and enjoyed the beautiful day for a while.  A pair of Wood Ducks came along, and I got another picture that is an example of backlighting.

 

They went into the shade, and I got this picture.

 

I was looking around, and I spotted an Osprey flying overhead.  That was another one for my 5MR list.  Later a Bald Eagle flew over, but I already had that one within five miles of home.  I moved on up 73rd Ave NE and stopped at the small pond on Wallace Swamp Creek.  There was a female Mallard there with her brood.  Again I was looking into the sun, though.

 

 

I went on to Wallace Swamp Creek Park and walked around.  It was very quiet there, and I hadn't seen anything interesting at all, but then I ran into Linda, a birder I have met a number of times.  She lives very near the park and is the expert there.  She walked with me for a while and showed me bird nests.  Here's an American Robin on her nest, incubating her eggs.

 

She showed me two Anna's Hummingbird nests, but both were pretty high in trees.  Here's a picture of one of them, with the female hummingbird sitting on her nest.

 

She showed me a Red-breasted Sapsucker nest hole, but there wasn't any activity around it.  Late she showed me a chickadee nest, but there wasn't anything happening there, either.  Nests in holes aren't really very interesting usually, because the birds sitting on the nests are out of sight.  Later when they are feeding young, it is more interesting.  There was also a Brown Creeper nest, but creepers build their nests behind a flap of loose bark, so there isn't much to see there, either.  I did see a creeper go into the nest, but no pictures.  In the same area as the chickadee nest and the creeper nest was a Hairy Woodpecker nest hole.  While we were watching, a male Hairy Woodpecker flew in and I got one picture of it outside of the nest hole.

 

The nest isn't finished inside, evidently, because he went in and threw out some wood chips, then he sat in the hole and looked at us.

 

So, I finished up April without getting any more April birds.  My two 5MR birds today give me 87 species within five miles of home this year.  I finished up April with 206 birds in April, and that compares to 192 that I got in April in 2018.  I had 139 of those in Washington this month, and last year I had only 128 in Washington in April.  It was an excellent month.  I have 241 species so far this year, and last year I had 242 at the end of April.