Click here to return to 2020 Birding Reports:  http://www.barry15.com/2020_Birding_Reports

 

 

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

 

It's a new month, so I'm working on a new list.  I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so I didn't go birding, but I picked up a few birds in the yard for my December list.  I got Dark-eyed Junco, Feral Pigeon, and American Crow right away, from my bedroom.  A little later at the feeder, I saw House Finch and Pine Siskin.  Still later, an Anna's Hummingbird was around the sugar water feeder.  My big "find" of the day was a Downy Woodpecker that came to the suet feeder.  Here is the Downy Woodpecker at the suet.

 

I was able to slowly move in closer and get more pictures of the Downy Woodpecker.

 

 

Later I took a couple of pictures of a Pine Siskin on the seed feeder.

 

 

That was it for today.  It was a slow start to the month.  I put 7 species on my December list, and all of them were repeaters (ones I have seen in each month this year).

 

 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

 

I stayed home today again, because I had a friend coming over for lunch and some projects to work on.  As it turned out, I saw more species for December around the yard, though.  I added Bewick's Wren, European Starling, Song Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, and Spotted Towhee to my December list.  All 5 of those were repeaters, so now I have 12 species this month and all are repeaters.  I didn't bother with pictures.

 

 

Thursday, December 3, 2020

 

Today I went across Puget Sound to look for birds.  I caught the 9:35 ferry out of Edmonds, which is early for me.  From my car on the ferry, while waiting to leave the dock, I saw Surf Scoters, Pelagic Cormorants, and a Red-necked Grebe.  When we were pulling into Kingston, I added Glaucous-winged Gull and Barrow's Goldeneye to my list.  I picked up a sandwich in Kingston and drove to Point No Point.  As I approached the turn off to Point No Point, I saw some Eurasian Collared-doves on wires.

 

At the overflow parking lot for Point No Point, I saw a huge flock of Common Mergansers in the bay.  On Sunday when I was here, I saw a similar flock of Red-breasted Mergansers, but this one was Common Mergansers.  Here is a male Common Merganser.

 

Here are three female Common Mergansers.  Over 90% of the flock was females.

 

Here is a female and a male Common Merganser in the same shot.

 

There were a lot of Bonaparte's Gulls around, and here is one of them.

 

Here's a shot that shows a small part of the huge Common Merganser flock that was almost all females.

 

There were a few Red-breasted Mergansers in the flock, so that one went on my list, too.  I also added Double-crested Cormorant and Bufflehead there. 

 

At one point, Bonaparte's Gulls gathered close to shore and went into a feeding frenzy.  There must have been a school of little fish near shore.  Here are a couple of pictures of the Bonaparte's Gulls in their feeding frenzy.

 

 

Shortly after that, many of the Common Mergansers suddenly swam rapidly to the shore and some of them got out for a few minutes.  Here are some of the Common Mergansers standing on the shore.

 

Next I drove on to the lighthouse area of Point No Point.  As I came into the parking lot, I saw a bird in a distant tree, so I stopped to check it out.  By the time I had gotten my scope out, it had flown, but I managed to get my binoculars on it as it flew off, and it was a California Scrub-Jay, one of my main targets there today.  California Scrub-Jays are uncommon around here, but there has been a colony of them at Point No Point for several years, and I was hoping to see one today, to save me from having to go looking for one here at home this month.  Later, as I drove away, I saw a couple more California Scrub-Jays, and I got these next two pictures of one of them.

 

 

At Point No Point, I saw a couple of distant Common Murres, a Common Loon, and these two distant Marbled Murrelets.

 

I was hoping to find Ancient Murrelets because they have been reported there recently, but I missed that one, which would have been a year bird for me.

 

I gave it up there and moved on, planning to drive to Fort Flagler in search of some other species.  On the way I stopped at Port Gamble and added Horned Grebe, Pigeon Guillemot, Western Grebe, and Black Scoter.  I had hoped for White-winged Scoter there, but not today.  I also saw a Great Blue Heron on the rocky shore.

 

My next stop was Oak Bay county park.  I spotted a distant Black Oystercatcher, which was my main target there.  Here is a very distant shot of the Black Oystercatcher, an uncommon repeater that I was happy to get this early in the month.

 

I also added Mew Gull, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, and Hooded Merganser there.

 

While driving to Fort Flagler, at the tip of Marrowstone Island, I saw a Red-tailed Hawk in a tree and later some Mallards in a farm pond.  At the campground at Fort Flagler State Park, I saw a flock of Brant out in the bay.  Brant is a small saltwater goose that breeds in far north Canada and Alaska and spends the winter along the west and east coasts.  Here is a shot of some Brant.

 

Along the shore of the bay at the campground at Fort Flagler there were more Black Turnstones than I have ever before seen together at one time.  There must have been well over 100 of them.  Mixed in with them were Dunlin and Sanderlings, smaller shorebirds.  Sanderling was one of my target species there today.  It was only the second time this year that I have recorded Sanderling.  I scanned the turnstones again, and I was able to pick out one Surfbird, another excellent species to get for my list.  There were also a lot of Black-bellied Plovers mixed in with the other shorebirds.  I ate half my sandwich there, and by the time I had finished, some of the Black Turnstones had flown to a closer shore, so I took pictures of them.

 

 

After that I moved my car to another vantage point and took pictures of some shorebirds on the lawn.  Here is a picture that shows Dunlin and Black-bellied Plover.  The Dunlin are the two smaller birds with the longer, downcurved bills.  The Black Bellied Plover is the larger on one the right.

 

Here is a better picture of another Black-bellied Plover.

 

I ate the other half of my sandwich and looked around the strait to the north with my scope.  I added Common Goldeneye and Harlequin Duck to my list there.  I headed back toward home, and in the little town of Nordland I saw a Greater Yellowlegs and a little later there was an American Kestrel on a wire.  After that I drove straight back to the ferry at Kingston, just making the 2:30 ferry.  When I got over to Edmonds, I went up to Sunset Avenue, but I didn’t get anything new there.  I was hoping for Heermann's Gull, but no luck.  I will probably not get that one this month now, since they have mostly left for their wintering grounds in Mexico and Southern California.  I also stopped at my California Quail site in Woodway, since I was so close, but no quail today either.

 

It was a successful and enjoyable trip over the water today, and I added 38 species to my December list.  Now I have 50 species this month.  18 of those 38 were repeaters, too, and now I have 30 repeaters this month.

 

 

Friday, December 4, 2020

 

This morning I drove up to Everett to check out the ducks on the sewage treatment plant pond.  My first stop was at the little wetland at 12th St NE.  Even before I got that far, I saw a field with a flock of Canada Geese in it, so that one went on my list.  At the 12th St NE wetland,  there were a lot of Long-billed Dowitchers, and I was glad to get that one, since they will mostly be leaving soon.  I also added Green-winged Teal there.

 

I drove around to the south side of the main pond at the sewage works and set up my scope.  There were hundreds of Northern Shovelers there, so that one went on my list.  Here are two male Northern Shovelers sitting in the sun.

 

The one on the left has changed more into breeding plumage than the other one, which is still molting into full breeding plumage.  Here is a male Northern Pintail, a species I saw yesterday.

 

I easily added Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, and American Coot to my list.  There were lots of scaup, and I decided that some were Lesser Scaup and some were Greater Scaup, so both went on my list.  I had to look way across the pond to find the group of Canvasbacks, and I found one Ring-necked Duck near them.  Those were all the ducks I could expect, so I headed out.  On my way back to the main road, I saw a third year Bald Eagle in a tree with no leaves, so I pulled over and got this picture.

 

It takes Bald Eagles four years to get their adult plumage, with the white head and white tail, and each year they have a different plumage.  This bird would have been hatched in 2017 and next year it will get its white head and tail.  When I finished taking pictures of the eagle, I noticed some birds in a tree up the road.  They turned out to be Purple Finches, always a good species to get.  I got this more distant picture first, to confirm the identification.

 

After that I moved closer and took more pictures, as they ate the berries in that tree.  There were five of them, and they were all females.  Here are the female Purple Finches eating berries.

 

 

 

 

 

From there I drove to the Everett waterfront, at the 10th St boat launch.  I was looking for gulls, and gulls often gather there when they aren't actively feeding.  I added Ring-billed Gull, and here is a picture.

 

I saw a California Gull, too, but I didn't get a picture of that one.  I searched through the gulls and finally found a Herring Gull.

 

 

 

That was it for my birding today.  Here at home this afternoon, I saw a Chestnut-backed Chickadee at our suet feeder, so that one went on my December list, too.  There was a Northern Flicker on the suet, as well, and I slowly got into position to get a picture.  Just as I finally got in place and took a shot, the flicker flew off.  This is what you get when you are a fraction of a second too late on a shot.

 

That's the flicker on the right, showing his white rump and orange shafts on his tail feathers.

 

I added 17 more species to my December list today, and now I have 67 this month.  9 of those 17 were repeaters, and I have 39 repeaters so far this month.

 

 

Saturday, December 5, 2020

 

I didn't feel like taking a long trip today, so I went down to the fire station road at Juanita Bay Park, 2 or 3 miles from home.  I saw a Northern Flicker yesterday at our suet feeder, but I forgot that I didn't have that one yet this month, so I hadn't counted it.  I always see flickers at the fire station road, and today was no exception, so I counted that species today.  Here is a female Northern Flicker.

 

She was preening, and she showed her colorful underwing color in this next shot.

 

I saw a Golden-crowned Sparrow for my list, and I played Virginia Rail and got responses, so that was two more for December.  I tried for Hairy Woodpecker, like always there, and came up empty, as usual,  I tried playing Marsh Wren at the end of the road, but got no response on that one, either.  On my way back to my car, I tried White-throated Sparrow, not expecting to get that uncommon species, but to my surprise, one flew in and posed for me.  Here are some pictures of a White-throated Sparrow, a bird I think is very attractive.

 

 

 

 

There are two morphs of White-throated Sparrow, white and tan striped.  This was a white striped morph.

 

By the time that bird got tired of me and disappeared, another little bird was flitting around in the grass and bushes.  It turned out to be a Marsh Wren, in a place I had never seen Marsh Wren before.  It didn't stay still for long, and there wasn't much light, but here are a couple of poor pictures of the Marsh Wren in the frosty grass.

 

 

After that, I moved on across the road to the main part of the park, but the parking lot was so full that I gave it up.  I don't enjoy birding when there are lots of people around.  I thought about going over to Marymoor Park, but on this sunny day, I knew it would be even more overrun with people than Juanita Bay Park, so I just went home and spent most of the day reading.  During the afternoon, I noticed a bird under some bushes, scratching away like a Fox Sparrow, and soon it came out onto the walkway, and that is what it was.  I took some pictures through the dirty glass of the back door window, and despite the low light and the window, I got these recognizable shots of a Fox Sparrow.

 

 

 

I added 7 species to my December list, even though I was only out there for less than an hour, and now I have 74 this month.  Three of them were repeaters, and now I have 42 species that I have seen in each month of this year.  My 2020 list remains at 213 species.

 

 

Sunday, December 6, 2020

 

Today I went out to the Snoqualmie River Valley, around the town of Carnation.  As I drove across the valley, I stopped several places and played Lincoln's Sparrow songs.  I never attracted a Lincoln's Sparrow, but this immature White-crowned Sparrow posed for me.  It is kind of puffed up against the cold in this first shot.

 

Here it is more normal looking.

 

It thoughtfully turned around to show us its back.

 

At Sikes Lake, I added Trumpeter Swan to my list, and I got out and walked on the bridge.  I saw a Northern Harrier swooping over the fields, and in the distance, a Pied-billed Grebe.  All three of those species were ones for my list.

 

Across the valley, this juvenile Cooper's Hawk was in a tree.

 

There were three turkeys in a yard, but I think they must belong to the people in the house, because I have seen one there before.  I think they were the species called Wild Turkey, but I don't think they were actually wild, so I'm not counting the species for my list.  Here is a picture of one of them, though.  That red thing hanging down over its nose is called a snood.  In addition to the snood, it has quite a well developed wattle.

 

Note the little bundle of feathers sticking out of its chest, too.  Wild Turkeys have that feature.

 

Near the old Carnation dairy, I got this picture of a Red-tailed Hawk, a species I already had this month.

 

There were several species of ducks on the pond at Chinook Bend, but I had them all already.  One of them was a strange one that I think must have been a Mallard hybrid, probably crossed with an American Wigeon.  Here is that weirdo.

 

Here is a shot of the Mallard hybrid near a normal male American Wigeon.

 

Here is a female Northern Shoveler.

 

I stopped at the house in Carnation with feeders, but there wasn't much around.  I did add Steller's Jay, American Goldfinch, and American Robin there, anyway, but I soon moved on.  I picked up a sandwich at the Carnation Market and went to the Tolt River crossing, just south of Carnation.  I was looking for American Dipper, my main target of the day.  I didn't find one there today, so I drove down the west side of the river to Fall City.  On the way, I stopped and tried for Lincoln's Sparrow some more times, but I couldn't attract one there, either.  At one stop, I got this picture of a Spotted Towhee that was eating an apple.

 

I don't recall seeing a Spotted Towhee eating an apple before.  At that same stop, I got this picture of a Golden-crowned Sparrow.

 

I didn't need either of those two species, but I did need House Sparrow, and I saw several of those there.  A bit farther down the road, at the pond, I got this picture of a Belted Kingfisher, one I needed.

 

While I was taking that shot, I heard Common Ravens in the distance, and one flew over.  That was a December bird.  I drove up to Tokul Creek, on Fish Hatchery Road, and I got my American Dipper.  Here is a distant shot of the dipper, just for the record.

 

I drove back through Carnation, and there was more action at the feeder house this time.  I still didn't see Band-tailed Pigeon or Mourning Dove, but I got pictures of other birds I already had this month.  Here is a Pine Siskin and a couple of American Goldfinches.

 

I was surprised to see a pair of Purple Finches come in to the seed.  I don't remember seeing Purple finch at that house before.  Here is the male Purple Finch and an American Goldfinch.

 

Here is an American Goldfinch and the female Purple Finch.

 

Here is the male Purple Finch on his own.

 

I ate my sandwich there, and after that, as I drove home across the valley, there was a pair of American Kestrels on some wires, and they cooperated for pictures.  Here is the female American Kestrel checking me out.

 

Here is the male American Kestrel.  Note the blue on the wing.

 

Here is the female American Kestrel again.

 

And, finally, here is the male American Kestrel again.

 

It was a successful trip.  I got my main target, the American Dipper, and I picked up a couple of other good species, as well as a lot of pictures.  I added 12 more species to my December list today, and now I have 86.  9 of the 12 were repeaters, and now I have 51 repeaters this month.

 

 

Monday, December 7, 2020

 

Today I went up to Skagit and Whatcom counties.  I picked up a sandwich at Subway, and my first birding stop was at Wylie Slough, in Skagit county.  I didn't get anything there, not even any pictures.  I got back on the freeway and drove to Lyman, where a birding acquaintance by the name of Gary lives.  He has Barn Owls in his barn, and I go up there each month to get that species, which I don't think I have ever seen in Washington State, except in his barn.  Today it looked like this was going to be my first miss, but eventually I found one, up at the very top, in very poor light.  I had almost given up by then.

 

I drove on to Fairhaven, in south Bellingham (Whatcom county), to get Northwestern Crow.  I saw a couple of them, and I headed south.  That was presumably the last time I will ever get Northwestern Crow, since the Powers That Be of Birding have combined Northwestern Crow and American Crow into one species.  It has always been controversial, and now they have decided they are just one species.  Don't ask me how they determine that; there are endless discussions and arguments about what constitutes a species.  For me, it simply means I won't see Northwestern Crow ever again, unless they split them again in the future.

 

After I got my last ever Northwestern Crow (a repeater this year), I headed south down Chuckanut Drive to the Skagit Flats, in Skagit county.  As I left the tiny town of Edison on the Skagit Flats, I saw a small flock of American Wigeons, and I pulled over and looked through them.  I found one male Eurasian Wigeon, an uncommon vagrant here.  Here is a picture of some wigeons.

 

The male Eurasian Wigeon is the one with the red head, on the lower right.  A male American Wigeon is in front on the left, and the others are female American Wigeons.   Next I moved on to what birders call the East 90.  I saw a distant Short-eared Owl there, and that was one of my targets for the day.  I saw several Northern Harriers (which I already had this month) there, and I got this distant picture of a female Northern Harrier on the ground.

 

Later I got a distant picture of a male Northern Harrier, and I'll show it now for comparison to the female.

 

You can see they are completely different colors.  For some reason, one sees about 4 or 5 times as many female Northern Harrier as males.  Birders call the male Northern Harrier a gray ghost.  They swoop over the land, looking for little critters, and the males do look kind of ghostly.  They are beautiful birds.

 

I ate half my sandwich there and at the West 90, while looking for a better look at Short-eared Owl or a Rough-legged Hawk.  I didn't get either one of those, so I moved on to Samish Island, which isn't actually an island any more, since they did a lot of fill work over 100 years ago.  At the overlook I had three targets - Long-tailed Duck (formerly called Oldsquaw), Red-throated Loon, and White-winged Scoter.  I was very pleased to get all three of them.  Here are a couple of distant pictures of a female White-winged Scoter, which is a sea duck.

 

 

That pretty much takes care of my saltwater birds for the month.  I drove back to the West 90 and this time I took out my scope and looked around.  I found a distant Rough-legged Hawk, so that target went on my list.  I had almost everything I could get there, but I went back to the East 90 and ate the second half of my sandwich in the car, where I could watch the fields.  There were some Short-eared Owls flying around, along with the usual Northern Harriers, and there were photographers trying to take their pictures.  I noticed one of the photographers, who was way out in the fields, was coming back toward the road, and then he or she stopped at was pointing his or her camera at a point between us.  I looked closely, and there was a Short-eared Owl in a small leafless tree, not all that far away.  I hadn't noticed it fly in.  I put down my sandwich, grabbed my camera, and got out of my car and took pictures.  Here is a Short-eared Owl posing for me.

 

 

That was very exciting, but when I finished my sandwich, I moved on.  I drove down Valentine Road as I approached Fir Island, and I was rewarded with this Mourning Dove, one I needed.

 

As I drove on to Fir Island, I saw a huge flock of Snow Geese in the distance, and that was another December species for me.  Here is a shot of some of the thousands of Snow Geese in the flock, with the Cascades in the background.  The Snow Geese are the white blobs across the middle of the picture.

 

I like that shot better because you can see the mountains better, but this next one shows more of the huge flock of Snow Geese.

 

Usually I see Snow Geese in smaller flocks, but today they seem to have all gathered together.  I drove down Rawlins Road and Maupin Road, checking out swans, hoping to find a Tundra Swan among all the Trumpeter Swans, but I never did.  I stopped once more at Wylie Slough, but I didn't get anything there the second time today, either.  I headed for home and got home after over 7 hours and 215 miles on the road.  I had light rain for a couple of hours in the middle of the day, but it never interfered with my birding.

 

I added 10 more species to my December list today, and now I have 96 this month.  Two of them were repeaters, and now I have 53 of the possible 64 repeaters for the month.  I need to take a look at my list and make my plans for the rest of the month.  In 2018 I got 117 species here in Washington, but my month was shortened by 5 days due to a trip to Hawaii.  In 2019 I got 123 species, so that is my goal for this year.

 

 

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

 

This morning my plan was to go over to Woodway, just south of Edmonds, to look for California Quail and a couple of other species.  Before I left home I noticed a Red-winged Blackbird on our seed feeder, though, and that was a December bird for me.  It also reminded me that yesterday I had seen Brewer's Blackbird up in Skagit county, but I hadn't recorded it.  I added it to my list today instead.

 

On my way over to Woodway, I stopped at the house in Lake Forest Park that has Band-tailed Pigeons come to their feeders, and I spotted some in the top of a tall tree, so that one went on my December list.

 

No quail at my Woodway quail site, but I moved on to Deer Park in Woodway.  It was drizzling, but I walked in the woods anyway, and I was able to call up both Pacific Wren and Brown Creeper.  I didn't even try for pictures because of the very low light and the rain, which would have gotten on the camera lens and messed up any pictures.

 

So, I added 5 species to my December list and they all were repeaters.  Now I have 101 species this month and 58 repeaters.

 

 

Friday, December 11, 2020

 

After not getting out for a couple of days, today I went over to Marymoor Park in Redmond.  My first stop was the office, where I discovered that the feeders on the west side of the building had food in them.  Birds were coming in nonstop, and I soon had one of my target species, Red-breasted Nuthatch, a repeater.  Here's a picture of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee and a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

 

Here is another shot of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

 

There was at least one Black-capped Chickadee coming in, too, and here is a shot of the Black-capped Chickadee for comparison of the two chickadee species.

 

There were several Pine Siskins around, too.  Here is one of them on the neighboring feeder.

 

I like Red-breasted Nuthatches, and here are a couple more pictures of that species.

 

 

The birds were all taking turns, flying in and grabbing a seed and flying off again, except that Pine Siskins sometimes stuck around and sometimes chased other birds off.  I was taking pictures when suddenly a new species showed up.  Here is a Bushtit, another repeater, that came to the feeder.

 

That was a male Bushtit, which can be told from his dark eye.  I looked over at the suet block that was about 6 feet away, and more Bushtits were feeding there.  Here's a shot in which you can see two female Bushtits, with light colored eyes.

 

Soon the Bushtits were swarming around the suet feeder.  Here's a shot in which I count 16 Bushtits.

 

I took a lot of pictures, and here is one with 18 Bushtits, by my count.

 

I don't think I have ever before taken a shot with that many Bushtits in one picture.

 

Here is a Pine Siskin showing some attitude.

 

Pine Siskins are often aggressive at feeders, chasing other birds away.  Here is a Pine Siskin sharing the feeder with a Red-breasted Nuthatch, although I'm sure the nuthatch didn't stick around long because they never do.

 

Here is one more picture of a Black-capped Chickadee.

 

After that I drove around the park, looking for more birds.  I found a huge flock of Cackling Geese, and that was one I needed still.  Near the big flock of many hundreds of Cackling Geese, there was a small group of Canada Geese, with a few Cackling Geese mixed in with them.  Here is a shot of a little Cackling Goose (on the left) and a couple of much larger Canada Geese.  There is a second cackler looking out from behind the larger geese, too.

 

I looked for more species, but the only other one I found that I needed was Killdeer, another repeater.  There were four or five other possibilities, but that was it for me today at Marymoor.  Back at home, I spotted a male Downy Woodpecker at our suet feeder, and I got these two pictures of him.

 

 

I like the way he has himself braced with his tail against the board at the bottom of the feeder, which is there for just that purpose.

 

After lunch I actually ventured out again, looking for birds.  This time I went up to Woodway to my quail site, and although I didn't see any quail, when I played the call, I got responses right away.  I heard 7 or 8 of the distinctive calls of California Quail, so that one went on my list.  After that, I drove up to the Edmonds ferry landing and added Brandt's Cormorant to my December list.  I parked on Sunset Avenue and looked for my repeater, Rhinoceros Auklet, but I didn't find one.  I suspect I am going to miss that species this month, but there is still over half the month left, so I'm not giving up yet.

 

I ended up getting 6 more species for my December list today, and 4 of them were repeaters.  Now I have 107 species this month and 62 of the possible 64 repeaters that I had after November.  In addition to the Rhinoceros Auklet, I still need Wood Duck.  That repeater is very easy down at Juanita Beach Park, and I'll certainly pick it up this month.  I only had 61 repeaters in 2018, but I had 64 in 2019.  I have exceeded 2018's total, but the best I can do is tie 2019's, and that would mean finding a Rhinoceros Auklet.

 

 

Monday, December 14, 2020

 

It was likely to be showery today, but I headed up to Skagit county anyway.  I picked up a sandwich and my first birding stop was at Wylie Slough.  I didn't see anything I needed on a drive-through, but I did get these two pictures of a male Purple Finch eating dried up blackberries, presumably for the seeds.

 

 

A male House Finch flew in next to the Purple Finch, and here's a comparison picture of the male House Finch.

 

Note the streaks on the breast and flanks on the House Finch.

 

I parked and walked out on the dike trail.  I played Ruby-crowned Kinglet songs, and one flew in and so that one went on my December list.  Out on the trail, I spotted a very distant Northern Shrike, a great one for my December list.  Here are a couple of very distant pictures of the Northern Shrike, which is the first one I have seen since March.

 

 

There were Long-billed Dowitchers feeding, and here's a picture of one of them.

 

From the bird blind, I got these next two pictures of a pair of Ring-necked Ducks.  The male is the darker one with the light colored sides.

 

 

Here's a pair of Northern Shovelers, with their goofy bills.  The male is the more colorful one.

 

Here's a closer shot of the male Northern Shoveler on his own.

 

Here is a distant shot of a Belted Kingfisher.

 

I haven't shown a picture of a Great Blue Heron for a while, so here's one.

 

This Greater Yellowlegs had caught a little fish, and it was getting the fish in position to swallow it down.

 

I didn't find a Black Phoebe or a Cedar Waxwing, both of which I had hopes for, so I moved on.  Along Dry Slough Road, there was a fairly large flock of swans.  I still needed Tundra Swan, but Trumpeter Swans are much more common, so I had to search through the swans to find a Tundra Swan.  Here is a Trumpeter Swan, the more common species around there by far.

 

What I was looking for to identify a Tundra Swan was a yellow dash on the bill, just in front of the eye.  I found several Tundra Swans, the species I needed for my list, and here is a Tundra Swan, showing its yellow dash on the bill.

 

The shape of the head is different, too, but the yellow dash is the easiest thing to look for.  Here are three Tundra Swans in a row (actually, the fourth one in the back is also a Tundra Swan, but it is so out of focus you might not be able to tell).  The one on the left in front, showing only the head, is a Trumpeter Swan, and the Tundra Swans are lined up down the middle of the picture.

 

Tundra Swan was my main target today, so that was satisfying.  I ate the first half of my sandwich at Hayton Reserve, but I didn't see anything I needed or get any pictures there on that visit.  I drove to Rawlins Road, in the hopes of finding a Western Meadowlark.  I ate the other half of my sandwich in the car, while watching for meadowlarks.  While I was eating, a male Northern Harrier flew in and perched on a fence post up the road.  I had that species already this month, but pictures are always desirable, and male Northern Harriers are really pretty.  I snuck up on him in the car, and got pictures out of my window.  Here are the best two pictures I got of the male Northern Harrier.

 

 

I think that last picture is probably the best one I have ever gotten of a Northern Harrier.

 

I drove on up Rawlins Road and found a huge flock of Snow Geese.  Here is a small part of the flock, which came almost to the side of the road.

 

The pure white birds are adult Snow Geese, and the darker ones are juveniles, hatched this year.  Here is a closer shot of an adult Snow Goose, with some juveniles around it.

 

The brown color on the face is from rooting in the dirt.  I think they eat vegetation, like grass.  At one point, something spooked them, and the whole flock took off and flew around.  Here is one part of the flock, not the whole thing.

 

I headed back toward home and stopped at Hayton Reserve again.  This time a lovely Peregrine Falcon, a species I needed for December, was perched on one of the "eagle trees", where the eagles have their nest.

 

Continuing toward home, I stopped at Wylie Slough again, and at the entrance, I spotted a little raptor in the distance.  Here is a distant shot of a Sharp-shinned Hawk, another December bird.

 

The brown color and the white spots on the wings indicate it is a juvenile.  Both Peregrine Falcon and Sharp-shinned Hawk are uncommon birds, and I was very surprised and pleased to get them both, one right after the other.  I drove through Wylie Slough, but I didn't see anything else.  As I left, I stopped at my regular "outdoor bathroom" spot to drain the tank before hitting the freeway, and before getting back in the car, I played Lincoln's Sparrow songs, just for the heck of it.  To my surprise, one flew in.  My camera was in the car, and I retrieved it, saying some words.  The sparrow stuck around, and I managed to get this picture of the Lincoln's Sparrow, another December bird.

 

It rained off and on all day, but it never impacted my birding.  I only got out of the car a few times, and it never rained at those times.  I added 6 more species to my December list, and now I have 113 species this month.  There is lots of time left in the month, but there aren't all that many species I still need, and the weather looks bad for the next ten days, so we'll see how it goes.  Maybe I can sneak out in between showers.

 

 

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

 

The weather forecast was lousy for today, but it wasn't actually raining when I finished my breakfast, so I went down to Juanita Beach Park.  Not Juanita Bay Park, where I usually go, but the park on the north side of the bay, Juanita Beach Park.  It started to rain lightly as I drove there, but I kept going, and I took my scope out onto the dock in the light rain.  I got Wood Duck (repeater) and a couple of snoozing Wilson's Snipe in the distance along the shore.  That was enough for today, and I gave it up.

 

I added 2 more species to my December list and one of them was a repeater.  Now I have 115 species this month and 63 repeaters.  I have half the month left, but very little to look for and a lousy weather forecast for the next week.

 

 

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

 

There was a break in the rain this morning for a few hours, so I went over to Marymoor Park.  I drove around, but I couldn't find a Greater White-fronted Goose among all the Cackling Geese and Canada Geese.  I spent some time at the viewing mound, bringing up my scope after a while.  I managed to spot a Western Meadowlark at the south end of the East Meadow, and that was one of the few species I still needed.  Then I heard the resident Ring-necked Pheasant call a couple of times.  I never spotted it, although it sounded pretty close, but it went on my list as a "heard only" species for December.  That was it for today.  I added 2 more species to my December list, and now I have 117 species this month.  I have 63 repeaters, and the only one left is Rhinoceros Auklet.  That is a saltwater bird, and they are uncommon in the winter, but if and when the weather gives me another break, and it isn't too windy, maybe I'll go over to Puget Sound and see if I can find one.

 

 

Sunday, December 20, 2020

 

Finally I have pictures again.  I went out once or twice in the last few days, but the weather has been bad and I had other things to take care of.  I didn't get any birds I needed or any pictures.

 

Today it was heavily overcast, but not actually raining, so I went over to Magnuson Park in search of Cedar Waxwings.  Cedar Waxwings mostly migrate south in the winter, but there is a large field of hawthorn trees in Magnuson Park, and they usually have a heavy load of berries in the winter, which attracts the waxwings (and other birds).

 

As I drove into the park, I saw some birds in the near distance, so I stopped and looked through the windshield at them.  Most of them were robins or starlings, but one looked like a Cedar Waxwing.  I pulled up closer and stopped in the middle of the road and got partly out of the car to take a look.  Sure, enough, I had my Cedar Waxwing already.  Here is a distant picture of a Cedar Waxwing.

 

I will say right up front that all my pictures today are mediocre because of the very low and very flat light.  I decided to see if the waxwings were around the hawthorn trees, so I parked and walked a bit.  No sign of any birds feeding on the hawthorn berries, but I walked around the field.  On the east side of the field I saw some sparrows in the grass, so I approached them and started taking pictures.  Approaching them scared them up into a hawthorn tree, and I got some pictures of them eating the hawthorn berries.  Golden-crowned Sparrows.

 

 

 

 

Here is a Golden-crowned Sparrow taking a bath in a puddle.

 

I saw some ducks out on the lake (Lake Washington), so I took pictures in the poor light.  Here is a male American Wigeon.

 

This is a female American Wigeon, for comparison.

 

Most of the ducks were scaup, some were Greater Scaup and some were Lesser Scaup, I think.  Here is a picture of what I think were Greater Scaup.  A couple of them had something they were eating that they had caught while diving, and the one in front is just starting a dive.

 

There was one male Common Goldeneye diving, too.

 

Golden-crowned Sparrows continued to feed on the ground around me, and also in some of the small hawthorn trees.  Here is another Golden-crowned Sparrow eating hawthorn berries.

 

A Golden-crowned Kinglet came through, too, and I got this picture.

 

I missed getting pictures of Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, and a Bewick's Wren, partly because I spotted this Fox Sparrow and concentrated on it for a minute or two.

 

 

I looked back at the field with all the hawthorns, and the Cedar Waxwings and robins had moved in.  Here is a picture of a Cedar Waxwing.

 

Here's a shot showing three Cedar Waxwings.

 

This next one is a juvenile Cedar Waxwing, which can be identified by the streaks on the breast and flanks.

 

All the birds flew off, and I noticed this Cooper's Hawk in one of the hawthorn trees.

 

Cooper's Hawks prey on smaller birds, so it wasn't surprising that all the birds vamoosed.  Here are two more shots of the Cooper's Hawk.

 

 

That was enough birding for me today, and I headed for home and the Seahawks football game that I was recording on our DVR.

 

I added one more species to my December list today, and now I have 118 species this month.  I still have 63 repeaters and 213 species this year.  We have one more day of poor weather, and then maybe three days of decent weather but there just aren't all that many species left for me to look for.

 

 

Monday, December 28, 2020

 

I had several things that took up my time last week, including a significant car problem and a phone problem, and along with the weather being pretty poor, I didn't do much birding in the last week.  Finally I had the time, and the weather cooperated today, so I went down to my local park, Juanita Bay Park.  I found nothing at the fire station road, so I went over to the main part of the park and walked a bit.  It was frosty and cold, but it was pleasant in the sun, and I walked and sat.  There weren't many birds around, and there weren't many left I still needed for December, but I did spot a Red-breasted Sapsucker in some trees a little distance away.  I needed that one for December still.  Here is a rather distant picture of the Red-breasted Sapsucker, partially obscured by a branch.

 

I watched it for a while, but it mostly kept to the other side of the tree, and eventually I moved on and walked out on the west boardwalk.  Here's a distant picture of a Pied-billed Grebe, taken from the end of the west boardwalk.

 

There were a couple of Trumpeter Swans feeding offshore, and here is one of them.

 

It was hard to get a picture of both of them because one or the other always seemed to have its head under water, or it was looking away, but finally I got a decent picture of the two Trumpeter Swans.

 

A pair of Wood Ducks flew in, and I managed to get pictures of them, although the light was coming from the wrong direction and they weren't very close.  Here is the male Wood Duck, in all his gaudy finery.

 

Here is his "plain Jane" mate.

 

All the other ducks were too far away, so I headed back toward the car.  I found the Red-breasted Sapsucker again, and got better pictures of it.  Male and female Red-breasted Sapsuckers look the same, so I don't know what the gender was.

 

 

A male Downy Woodpecker showed up, and I got these next two pictures of him.

 

 

That was it for today.  There weren't many birds around, but I did manage to add one more to my December list, and now I have 119 species this month.  I have 63 repeaters and 213 species for 2020.  I'm hoping to get out one more time tomorrow, ahead of the week or more of rainy weather they are forecasting.