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Wednesday, July 1, 2020
A new month and a new list. Before I even left home, I added Dark-eyed Junco, Feral Pigeon, House Finch, European Starling, and American Crow to my July list. I headed over to the Snoqualmie Valley, around Carnation. On the way I picked up American Robin, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, and Mallard. As I crossed the valley, I added Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Song Sparrow, and Cedar Waxwing. Here are two Cedar Waxwings on a wire.
There was a male Brown-headed Cowbird on a pole, and then a Northern Flicker flew across the road in front of me. There turned out to be four male Northern Flickers gathered together near the road, and two of them were performing some kind of ritual. Here are the two male Northern Flickers.
They were weaving back and forth, pointing their bills up, in what was almost like a dance performance.
I don't know what they were doing, but they kept it up for two or three minutes, while I watched. Interestingly, the bird on the right is an intergrade male - a hybrid of two subspecies of Northern Flicker. The red mark on the back of his neck identifies him as such. Our Northern Flickers around here are Orange-shafted ones, but east of the Rockies there are Yellow-shafted ones, with yellow where ours have orange. Yellow-shafted males have a black moustache, too, not a red one like the Orange-shafted have. I don't think I have ever seen a pure Yellow-shafted one around here, but I see hybrids, or intergrades, from time to time. Here is a shot of the intergrade male Northern Flicker.
At the pond at Chinook Bend, I pulled over to look for ducks, and a male Common Yellowthroat presented himself for pictures and for my July list.
As I turned off the main road just across the Snoqualmie River at Chinook Bend, I saw a bird flying that looked interesting. It might have been a robin, but I turned around and went down the little dead end road on the north side of the main road. My diligence paid off and I saw a female American Kestrel, a great one for my July list. I didn't see an American Kestrel in Western Washington until my last day of birding in June, and now I have it for July on the first day.
I stopped along 60th to use the outdoor bathroom, and while I was out of the car I noticed a Turkey Vulture in the distance. In Carnation, at the house with feeders, I soon added Eurasian Collared-Dove and got this picture of one.
American Goldfinches were going to the feeder and feeding on the ground. Here is a female American Goldfinch.
The usual Band-tailed Pigeons were sitting in the tops of the trees behind the house, and I got this picture of one.
A male Black-headed Grosbeak came to one of the feeders. Later there were three of them at the same time, around that feeder. Here is a shot of a male American Goldfinch and the first male Black-headed Grosbeak to show up.
Here is the male Black-headed Grosbeak on his own.
It was heavily overcast and drizzling or sprinkling much of the time today, so my pictures are pretty flat, with the low light levels. As I was leaving, some Red-winged Blackbirds came in to the feeders, so that one went on my list.
I picked up a ham and salami sandwich at the Carnation Market ($6.50 for a great sandwich) and stopped just south of Carnation at the bridge over the Tolt River. I was looking for American Dipper, one of my two main targets of the day, and I found one immediately. I had a good close look at it, but it flew across to the other side of the river before I could get a picture, unfortunately. Here are a couple of distant pictures of today's American Dipper.
I had been prepared to drive up to Tokul Creek to look for my dipper, and finding one at the Tolt River bridge saved me at least a half hour of driving. I headed north after that, going through Carnation and heading toward Duvall. I stopped at the Stillwater Access to the Snoqualmie Valley Wildlife Area and walked on the trail. I immediately heard a Swainson's Thrush singing, and I played its song, hoping to lure it in for a picture. A bird popped up, and I was sure it was the thrush, so I took a quick picture, but it turned out to only be another Song Sparrow, one of the most common birds I see in my travels. It came out decently, though, considering the lighting today, so here is the Song Sparrow that responded to my Swainson's Thrush song.
I was hoping for American Bittern or Brown Creeper, or maybe even an oriole, but I didn't get any of those. I did hear a Common Raven in the distance, though, and there were some Violet-green Swallows flying around with the Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows. At one point I was looking up and I noticed a bird swooping around high overhead. It turned out to be my first BLACK SWIFT of the year, an outstanding bird to get for my lists. I think there was as second one, too, but I didn't get a good look at that one. A flycatcher showed up, and I took some pictures in terrible light, looking almost straight up at the bird. I wasn't sure what it was, but after seeing my pictures, I now think it was a Western Wood-Pewee, and I have added it to my lists. Here is a poor picture of the Western Wood-Pewee, looking up at it.
That was a definite case of needing my camera to confirm an identification. As I was nearing my car, a couple of Mourning Doves flew by, so that one went on my list.
I ate my delicious sandwich and some chips at the Fay Road Access, and then I moved on to NE West Snoqualmie River Road, in Duvall. My second main target for the day, the uncommon (for this area) Western Kingbird, wasn’t in its usual place at the halal butcher's, so I drove on up the road to the end. Near the dairy at the end of the road I saw a Willow Flycatcher and got a couple of pictures.
There were House Sparrows around there, and here is a picture of a male House Sparrow.
I saw a couple of female Brewer's Blackbirds, and headed back toward the main road. The Western Kingbird was in its usual place on my way back, and I got this picture in the terrible light.
Near the main road, there was a Savannah Sparrow on a wire, and I got this picture.
Just as I was getting back to the main road, I saw a Red-tailed Hawk on a pole, where I have seen them before.
I drove up to the Tualco Loop in search of swallows, but I didn’t get any new species. I did see a couple of Bald Eagles, though, for my list. I headed for home, and as I drove down my driveway, I stopped to look at our bird feeder. I added Black-capped Chickadee to my list, and I got this picture of a male American Goldfinch.
I was out there for about 5 1/2 hours, driving around most of the time. The weather was lousy, but I had a good time adding birds to my new July list. I got 38 species. 24 of those were repeaters, ones I have for each month so far this year. Black Swift was new for the year for me, and now I have 198 species this year.
Thursday, July 2, 2020
The weather forecast was for overcast with a chance of drizzle or showers, and I didn't feel like a long day out. I started in Bothell, which is the next town north of where I live, looking for a Snow Goose that one of my readers had told me about. She had seen it on the Sammamish Slough yesterday. I went to the mobile home park where she had seen it, but I didn't see any birds on the water at all. I looked around, and then I spotted a group of Canada Geese about 100 or 150 yards upstream. I didn't see the Snow Goose at first, but then I saw it at the far end of the group of geese. It had its head tucked in, but it looked up just as I was taking pictures, and I got one distant shot of it before it tucked in again.
That was a great July bird, since they are rare here in the summer. I couldn't find any eBird reports for Snow Goose in the last 30 days, anywhere in Western Washington. Thanks for the tip, Kate.
It was drizzling a little with showers from time to time, but I drove up to the Brightwater Center, north of Woodinville. There are some ponds there, and I had seen an American Coot there last month, and I knew they had bred there last year. They are uncommon in the summer around here, but I immediately found one today, and as a bonus, there were two youngsters with it. Here are some pictures of the American Coot and one of the young ones.
The youngster was following the adult around, and the adult was feeding the young one from time to time.
As I was watching, a second chick appeared, and it was interesting. The first one gave way and swam off, and the second one followed the adult around and got fed. Here is the second coot chick, following the adult.
I don't know if there were more of them or if another adult was also around. My view was limited by bushes and trees, and I was looking through an opening. The rain increased, and I moved on.
Those were my two targets for the day, but since I was already in Woodinville, I stopped at Costco for some things I needed there. After that I was going home, but I decided to stop at the fire station road at Juanita Bay Park and get a start on what I call "little birds". My main target there today was Hairy Woodpecker, and I played the call. I never got any response, although a Downy Woodpecker flew in, and it could have been because of the calls I was playing That was one for my list, and here is a picture of the Downy Woodpecker.
There were lots of starlings around, but I had that one already. There were also a couple of Steller's Jays, making a lot of racket, so that one went on my list. I played the Virginia Rail call, and I got several responses. There were a lot of Marsh Wrens singing, too. At the end of the road, I got this picture of a female Wood Duck standing on a log.
She was stretching her wing and showing some of her colors on her wing. A Red-breasted Sapsucker showed up, so I took pictures of it, too.
I had seen lots of robins yesterday, but today I took these two pictures of juvenile American Robins, which look somewhat different from adult robins.
I tried playing Golden-crowned Kinglet calls, too, but didn't get any response. I drove across the road to the main part of the park and tried again, and this time a Golden-crowned Kinglet flew in, giving me a quick look. It flew off before I could get a picture.
I added 9 species to my July list today, and now I have 47 species this month. Six of them were repeaters, and now I have 30 species that I have seen (or heard) each month this year. We have one more potentially wet morning, and then the weather is supposed to get better, and I can range farther from home.
Friday, July 3, 2020
It was sprinkling this morning when I left, but it had stopped by the time I got to Marymoor Park. I drove through the community gardens in search of the Ring-necked Pheasant that hangs out there, but I didn’t find him today. I parked and walked along the slough. My first July bird of the day was a very distant Purple Finch. With my binoculars I could see the split tail, but it took my camera at full zoom and crop to make out the markings on the face that identified it as a Purple Finch, rather than a House Finch. Here is the very distant shot that helped me identify the female Purple Finch.
There wasn't much on offer along the slough, but as I got back to my car, I spotted an Osprey in a distant tree. That was another one for my July list. I drove over to the east parking lot for the dog park, and as I got out of my car, I noticed a couple of birders who were looking up into a tree. I asked them what they had, and they said they thought it might be an Orange-crowned Warbler. I got on it, and they offered me a look through their scope. Based on what I saw, I can't think of any other species it could have been, so I counted Orange-crowned Warbler for my July list. The eye ring seemed more pronounced than most Orange-crowned Warblers, but I found pictures online that were similar. The same couple pointed out a male Lazuli Bunting near the top a tree, and that was one I had especially wanted there today.
I went up on the viewing mound and tried to call up a Lazuli Bunting for a picture, but failed. I did see a female Rufous Hummingbird, which was a good one to tick off my list for July. I didn't see anything else I needed there, and on my way out of the park I stopped near the office to see if the feeder there had any seed in it. It did indeed have a little seed left in the bottom, so I parked and watched. A Chestnut-backed Chickadee came in, and I got this poor picture of it.
The chickadee came in several times, and a Red-breasted Nuthatch as well. Here is the nuthatch.
Here's a shot of both the Red-breasted Nuthatch and the Chestnut-backed Chickadee in the same frame.
Both of those species were new for July, and I ended up with 7 species today. Now I have 54 species this month. Two of the ones today were repeaters, and now I have 32 repeaters this month.
The rain is supposed to be gone now for a while, and tomorrow I'm thinking of going up to Edmonds to get some saltwater birds and other ones, too, possibly.
Saturday, July 4, 2020
I headed up to Edmonds today, on the coast of Puget Sound, about a half hour north of home. I stopped first at Kayu Kayu Ac Park in Richmond Beach and picked up Pigeon Guillemot and Glaucous-winged Gull for my July list. Next I stopped at my quail site in the town of Woodway. That turned into the highlight of my day. There were a couple of California Quail at the edge of the dead end street when I arrived, but they scurried into the bushes, as usual. I pulled around so I was looking out my window at the end of the road, and I just sat there for a couple of minutes, hoping they might venture back out. They cautiously did come out, and I started taking pictures. Here is a female California Quail.
Here's a picture of a male California Quail.
It was exciting to get pictures of quail, since they are very reclusive and usually disappear as soon as I see them. Then it got better. There were a couple of chicks with them. Here is a picture of the male and a chick.
Here he is with both chicks.
Here is the whole California Quail family.
Here are a couple more pictures of the male with the two chicks.
Here is the family again.
Here is the female on her own.
Here's mom and dad.
I think dad had the chicks under him in that last picture. I was thrilled to be getting all these pictures, but there were soft quail calls all the time, and they seemed very aware of me, although they kept feeding most of the time, stopping to look at me regularly.
Then it got even better, and I noticed two more quail families off to the left, a little farther away. One had three chicks and one had five. The youngsters would from time to time take shelter under one of the adults, perhaps called by the parent. I just kept snapping pictures, staying as still as I could.
That was the family with five chicks, and they were all under the parents, taking shelter. It is interesting that they never ran away, which they certainly could have easily done.
There are five chicks in that last picture. Here's the best picture I got of a chick.
That last picture was the first pair I had seen, and they sent the chicks into the bushes and were looking at me, I think. I just kept taking pictures, though.
Those were the chicks from the first pair, and I think they were the youngest of all the chicks.
After that, some of them drifted into the bushes, and I decided I had enough pictures and I should leave them alone. I sat there for about 15 minutes, taking pictures. It was very exciting and satisfying. It was also very surprising that they would stay out in the open like that for so long, even though they obviously were aware of me.
I moved on to the Edmonds waterfront, but it was kind of anticlimactic after that. The tide was as low as I have ever seen it at Edmonds, and there were tons of people on the waterfront, the pier, and the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day by then, warming up into the low 70's. Here is the low tide at Edmonds.
There were a lot of cars in line for the ferry, and in the time I was there, I never saw a ferry. I wonder if the tide was too low for the ferry to dock, and if they were waiting for it to come in a bit. Anyway, I walked out onto the pier and picked up Heermann's Gull. There were some Purple Martins around the nest boxes, which are on pilings out in the bay. I went up to Sunset Avenue and got Rhinoceros Auklet and California Gull, and then I headed for home. This afternoon I got Anna's Hummingbird in our yard. I ended up with 8 species for the day, and now I have 62 species in July. Six of my eight species today were repeaters, and I have 38 repeaters so far this month. The highlight of the day was the 15 minutes with the three California Quail families.
Monday, July 6, 2020
I drove a lot of miles today, but I didn't get all that many birds, partly because the places I stopped at were far apart. My first stop, after picking up a sandwich at Subway, was Fox Road, near the town of Clear Lake. I found a Cinnamon Teal, which I needed, in the flooded fields, and then I saw a single Northern Rough-winged Swallow perched in a dead tree. Here is the Northern Rough-winged Swallow, another species I needed.
I was hoping to find several difficult species, and at first I couldn't attract any of them with calls. I spotted a Cedar Waxwing in a dead tree, and I had to take a picture, of course.
I didn't need that one, nor the Violet-green Swallow that was sitting on a wire over the road, but here's a picture of the swallow.
Two of the difficult species I needed were Sora and Wilson's Snipe. I never could get a Sora to respond, but I did eventually hear a Wilson's Snipe calling. It flew up at one point, and I got a quick look at it, but then it flew off before I could get a picture. I didn't need the species, but two or three Virginia Rails were responding to my Sora calls, and a couple of them even came out into the open and ran across the road. I got these pictures of one of the Virginia Rails, a difficult species to see, let alone photograph.
I've heard Virginia Rail in every month so far this year, but this was the first time I had seen one out in the open this year, and I saw two different Virginia Rails run across the road today. That was all I got at Fox Road, and I moved on. My next stop was the Bank Swallow colony on the Skagit River in the town of Lyman, east of Sedro Woolley. The colony was still active, and I saw at least a dozen birds going into and coming out of the holes in the sandy bank. That was an excellent July bird, as Bank Swallow is uncommon in Western Washington. I picked up White-crowned Sparrow for my July list in Lyman, too.
I moved on to the house of a birding acquaintance by the name of Gary. He has a barn, and there are two Barn Owls that roost in the barn every day. I quietly went into the barn and saw one of them, then got out, so as not to disturb them. I talked with Gary briefly, and then he left to do some birding. I stayed on and sat in his yard and ate my lunch while watching his feeders. He has had Evening Grosbeaks lately, but none came while I was there. A few birds came to the feeders, but nothing I needed. I took some pictures. Here is a female American Goldfinch.
Here is a kind of puffy looking male American Goldfinch.
Here is another male American Goldfinch, a little later.
Both male and female Red-winged Blackbirds came to the feeders, and here is a picture of a female Red-winged Blackbird.
A male Black-headed Grosbeak came to one of the feeders, and I took this picture.
After I finished my sandwich, I drove north some more, all the way up to Fairhaven, in south Bellingham. My target there was Northwestern Crow, and I saw a number of them, as always. I had hoped for Black Oystercatcher, but didn't see any today. I headed back south and stopped at the house on Valentine Road where I had gotten House Wren the last two months, but I couldn't call one up today. I stopped briefly at Hayton Reserve, but I didn't see anything there, so I went on to Wylie Slough. It was very quiet there, but I did eventually see a Black Phoebe, which was my target there.
That was it for today. I drove 207 miles and was out there for 7 hours. I added 8 species to my July list, and now I have 70 this month. Three of them were repeaters, and now I have 42 repeaters this month. That includes the Northwestern Crow, which I hadn't counted as a repeater up until today.
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
This morning I went north. My first stop was in Marysville, at the house where I have seen California Scrub-Jays in the past. I struck out today, and I think that makes four times in a row I haven't gotten them there. I guess I'll have to go back to my site near the University of Washington, because they are pretty uncommon around here, and I usually have gotten them there.
After striking out there, I drove to the Everett sewage treatment ponds. I stopped at 12th St to check out the little wetlands there, and I saw three Greater Yellowlegs, one for my July list. There was a little shorebird with them, but it was too far away and flew off before I could identify it.
At the main pond, there were fewer ducks than I have ever seen there before. Ducks are thin on the ground around here in the summer. To my pleased surprise, there was a single male Ring-necked Duck, though, so it went on my July list. Then I spotted a single female Bufflehead, and that one went on my list as well. Then there was a scaup. There are two species of scaup around here. There turned out to be three male scaup, and I decided after a good look that they were Greater Scaup, another one for my list. I hadn't gotten any of those three duck species in June, and it is kind of amazing, actually, to get them all today. I didn't see any of the duck species I thought I might see, so maybe I'll go back later this month. There were hundreds of swallows flying around over the water, and some of them were Cliff Swallows, the last swallow species I needed for this month.
The tide was too far in for shorebirds, so I moved on. A stop at Gardner Bay, on the Everett waterfront, got me Caspian Tern and Ring-billed Gull. There were a lot of Ospreys around, and the nest I watched last year was active again this year. Here is a picture of the Osprey nest showing an adult and three youngsters.
They are pretty small still. They will get as big as the adult before they can fly. The adult bird was calling much of the time.
I suspect it was calling to its mate, which was on a nearby piling.
The adult on the nest flew off at one point and chased a Great Blue Heron for some reason. Here is the adult coming back to the nest.
After that I stopped by Mukilteo to look for Marbled Murrelets or cormorants, but I didn't find anything there, so I went home for lunch. After lunch I saw a flock of Bushtits at our suet feeder, and that was a good one for July for me. Here are a couple of pictures of Bushtits at the suet feeder.
I got 8 more species for July today, and now I have 78 species this month. Two of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 44 repeaters this month.
Thursday, July 9, 2020
My first stop this morning was St. Edward's State Park in Kenmore. I was looking for Pacific Wren, which I saw there the last two months. I couldn't call one up today, but I did manage to call in a Brown Creeper, another one I needed for July. I'll have to go back and try again, because there aren't many Pacific Wrens around here in the summer, and the park is only ten minutes from home.
Next I went to Juanita Bay Park and walked out on the east boardwalk. I couldn't call in a Hairy Woodpecker, and I didn't see anything else interesting, either. There were no Pied-billed Grebes around, but I did get Gadwall for my list. Here is a Gadwall duckling.
There turned out to be two ducklings on that stub of an old piling, and after they shifted around, I took another picture of the two of them.
Their mom was just sitting around nearby. Female Gadwall.
There were lots of Wood Ducks around. Here is a picture of a male Wood Duck in eclipse (non-breeding) plumage.
Here's a juvenile Wood Duck.
There were two or three Caspian Terns around, and one of them was hunting fish near where I was, so I tried for pictures. They are kind of blurry, but they show the Caspian Tern nicely, I think. I had gotten that species yesterday, for my July list, but today I got these two pictures.
I went across the road to the fire station road, but I didn't get anything else or any more pictures. I did something interesting, though. Yesterday I downloaded an app for my phone that is supposed to be able to identify birds from their calls. You start it up and record sounds by tapping the record button. Then you select the part of the sonogram (a graph of the sounds) you want, and it analyzes the sound. Then it tells you what species it might be. I tried it today on a bird that was repeatedly singing, and it told me that it was almost certainly a Purple Finch. I hadn't recognized the song, but once I had that hint, I realized that it was indeed a Purple Finch. I was rather surprised it worked at all, considering the background noises of the city. It will be interesting to try it more.
I added 2 more species to my July list today, and now I have 80 species. Both of the ones today were repeaters, and now I have 46 repeaters this month so far.
Friday, July 10, 2020
I crossed Puget Sound today, taking the 9:30 ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island. I picked up a tuna salad sandwich at Pickles Deli and drove straight to Crockett Lake. Normally, I stop at Deer Lagoon, but it is a bit of a walk and takes time, and the only species I was likely to get there that I wouldn't get elsewhere this month was American White Pelican. I gambled that I could get the pelican later in the day from the base of March Point, on Padilla Bay.
At Crockett Lake, I got this picture of an immature Bald Eagle sitting on some driftwood near the beach. It looks like a second or third year bird to me. Bald Eagles take four years to reach their adult plumage, with the white head and tail.
A short distance up the road, there was a mature Bald Eagle sitting on a stub of a branch or something, and I was able to get closer to it for this picture.
It was preening its tail feathers.
I was hoping for shorebirds on Crockett Lake. The other day someone reported 700 Western Sandpipers and 45 Least Sandpipers. I managed to find about 5 or 6 Least Sandpipers, but no Westerns. I needed Least Sandpiper, and I also picked up Killdeer for my July list.
On the old pier, south of the ferry landing, there were the usual cormorants. Most were Pelagic Cormorants, but there were at least two Double-crested Cormorants, too. I needed both of those species, but I missed getting the cormorant trifecta, and I didn't get Brandt's Cormorant.
One of the most common sea birds today was Pigeon Guillemot, which I already had this month. I saw them in numbers at almost every stop I made. Here is a picture of one in the little bay where the Port Townsend ferry docks.
I moved on up the island and at Libby Beach I picked up Common Loon for my list. On my way to Libby Beach I had tried Penn Cove for Black Oystercatcher, where I have seen them before, but today all that was there was a single Greater Yellowlegs, one I already had this month. From Libby Beach, I drove up to Hastie Lake Access, and I got Surf Scoter there. I saw more Surf Scoters and more Common Loons at West Beach county park, but nothing new. I ate my lunch at the pullout near Joseph Whidbey State Park, but I didn't see anything new there, either.
Next I drove to Dugualla Bay. There were some shorebirds there, and I added Western Sandpiper to my list. Here is a picture of a Western Sandpiper. Note the black legs, which is how one tells Least Sandpiper from Western Sandpiper. Least Sandpipers have yellowish legs. Here is a black-legged Western Sandpiper.
Western Sandpipers have more red on their backs and heads than Least Sandpipers do, too, in breeding plumage.
There were several Greater Yellowlegs there, too. Here is one of them.
Here are two Greater Yellowlegs.
I also got Spotted Sandpiper for my July list. Here's a rather distant shot of a Spotted Sandpiper.
After that I went to Rosario Beach, which is part of Deception Pass State Park. I took my scope and walked to where I could see the water and some rocks. I got lucky and spotted a couple of Black Oystercatchers on an island, much too far away for pictures. That was a great July bird, one that I only find in a few places. I had hoped for Brandt's Cormorant there, but didn't see one. It was pretty crowded on a sunny day in July, and I was glad to move on from there.
I stopped at March Point Road, at the base of Padilla Bay, hoping to find pelicans on the spoil islands offshore, but they weren't there today. The tide was pretty far out, and I looked around with my scope. I was just about ready to give it up when I spotted about 50 American White Pelicans way off in the distance, in shallow water. That was the species I presumably could have gotten at Deer Lagoon this morning, but I had skipped the walk, gambling that I would find them at this second site. There was so much heat distortion that I had to look closely to confirm the shimmering white blobs were American White Pelicans, but I was able to confirm it. I won my gamble.
I didn't have a lot of time at that point, but I detoured to Channel Drive to see if the tide was low enough for shorebirds at the end of the road. At first it didn't seem low enough, and I turned around to leave. Before I left I looked one more time, though, and I saw two little shorebirds in the distance. I got out my scope, and found that about 8 or 10 more had flown in just then. They were either Least Sandpipers or Western Sandpipers, and they were too far away to tell which one. Then I noticed some more shorebirds that must have just flown in. They were dowitchers, and with some careful looking, I decided that at least one of them was a Long-billed Dowitcher, and I presume they all were. That was another one for my list. Meanwhile, some Greater Yellowlegs had shown up. I was looking at them when I noticed that one was smaller than the others. With the Greater Yellowlegs and the dowitchers as size references, I could see that the smaller one was a Lesser Yellowlegs, an excellent species to get for July. It was very interesting because when I first got there, I didn't see any shorebirds and I thought the tide was too high. I could see it was going out, and I had gotten there just as it got shallow enough for the shorebirds to fly in to feed. If I had stuck around, I would have seen more, no doubt, but I had everything I could think of, so I moved on. For my own future reference, I want to note that when I was there, the tide level at nearby La Conner was about 1.2 feet and it was falling. Low tide was about an hour later, at 0.7 feet.
I headed toward home, but I stopped off on Valentine Road at the house called Rancho Valentine to try for House Wren. I had tried for it last week and missed, but today when I played the song, a House Wren showed up and sang back to me. Here are a couple of pictures of the House Wren, an excellent species for July, uncommon in Western Washington.
While I was working on getting those pictures, the owner came out and told me that the House Wrens had successfully raised one brood this summer, and now they were trying for a second one. That's good to know, because maybe they will still be around for my August list.
I stopped at the corner of Valentine Road and Dodge Valley Road to check out the house with feeders, but there wasn't much around. I moved on to Hayton Reserve, but I didn't get out of the car. I looked for ducks in the long freshwater pond on the way in, and I got this picture of a Savannah Sparrow, next to the parking lot.
I made one more stop, at Wylie Slough, to check the tide level there. There was mud there, and I saw three Least Sandpipers. Here is a picture of them, in the terrible backlight, but you can just about make out their yellowish legs.
Here is one more shot of a Least Sandpiper.
That was it for me today. The Friday afternoon traffic wasn't bad going south, and I got home just before 4:30. It was a pretty successful day, and I got most of what I expected and 2 or 3 nice surprises as well. I added 13 more species to my July list, and now I have 93. Six of those were repeaters, and now I have 52 repeaters this month.
Saturday, July 11, 2020
This morning I went up north to the Marysville/Everett area. My first stop was at my Marysville scrub-jay site, but I again didn't see one. Next I walked the Ebey Slough Trail to where I could see the Marysville sewage treatment ponds. I was hoping for ducks, and I did find some Northern Shovelers, which I needed, but nothing else but Mallards. Here is a female Northern Shoveler,
I tried the 12th St wetlands and the Everett Sewage ponds, but I found nothing there.
Northern Shoveler was a repeater, and now I have 93 species for July and 53 repeaters so far this month.
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Before I even left home this morning, I picked up Spotted Towhee for my July list, in our yard. It was surprising that I hadn't yet gotten this common bird. I drove over to my scrub-jay site at the University of Washington, on the ship canal. It was drizzling when I left home, and it kept it up, off and on for most of the morning. At my scrub-jay site, I got out of my car and walked a little, and managed to call up a California Scrub-Jay, which flew and landed on a light standard.
You can see it is wet from the overnight precipitation. Here is a front view of the wet California Scrub-Jay.
That makes two times in a row that I have gotten a scrub-jay there, while I have missed for five times in a row up in Marysville. I guess I'll forget about the Marysville site and keep going back to the U. of W. one each month.
Next I drove to the Montlake Fill, on the other side of the university. It was drizzling still, but I ventured out to see what I could find. I found two or three Pied-billed Grebes, one I needed still for July. Here is a Pied-billed Grebe.
There were a couple of juvenile Pied-billed Grebes, too, with their striped heads. Here is a juvie Pied-billed Grebe.
I spotted an excellent one I needed in the distance, in a dead tree. Here are a couple of distant pictures of a Cooper's Hawk.
I was looking for an American Wigeon that has been hanging around in what they call the Lagoon, and I thought I might have seen it. I took some distant pictures, and I can't quite convince myself it was the wigeon, which is too bad, because that would have been an excellent one. The bill color was wrong, so I didn't count it. I did get this picture of a male Wood Duck in eclipse (non-breeding) plumage.
I didn't need the Wood Duck or the American Coot I saw a couple of minutes later, but coots are uncommon here in the summer, so I took these two pictures of an American Coot.
You can see that the rain had started up again, fairly heavily, so I hustled back to my car, which fortunately wasn't very far away.
After that, I headed for home, but on the way I remembered that I had gotten an email about a week ago that told of two Merlin nest sites. The directions weren't real specific, but one of the nest sites was not much out of my way, so I detoured to look for Merlins. The rain stopped, which was great, and I got out at the location mentioned, and I looked around and listened. Young Merlins make a characteristic begging call when they have recently fledged and are being fed by their parents. I heard that call and looked around and spotted two juvenile Merlins at the top of a couple of trees nearby. That was a great one for my July list, one I hadn't really expected to get this month. Here are the two juvenile Merlins.
The birds flew around a little and kept calling. There were at least three of them. Here are more Merlin pictures.
While I was taking pictures of the juvenile Merlins, a flock of Bushtits flew into a tree right in front of me. It was difficult to stop watching the Merlins, but I took three pictures of a very wet Bushtit.
That is a female. Males have dark eyes, and females have light-colored eyes. The fluffy feathers of Bushtits don't seem to take to water very well. She sure looks scruffy. All the Bushtits seemed to be trying to dry themselves off, by preening and flapping their little wings.
That was it for today. I added 5 more species to my July list, and now I have 99 species this month. Three of the ones today were repeaters, and now I have 56 repeaters this month. I got 114 species in 2018 and 125 species in 2019. I expect to end up somewhere in between those two numbers this month. 125 seems well out of reach, unless I go over the mountains, which I didn't do in either 2018 or 2019 in July.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Today I went down to Lake Sammamish State Park, at the south end of Lake Sammamish. It is about 20 minutes southeast of here. I had two main targets, Common Merganser and Green Heron. I didn't get either one of those, but I did add Hooded Merganser to my July list. Here is a female Hooded Merganser.
I played the songs of several other species, but I never attracted any of them. At one point I did spot a little bird high in the trees, though, and I got a good binocular look at it. It was a female BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, my first one of the year. I tried for pictures, but warblers are very tough. Here is the best I could do, a shot of its back end.
A Bald Eagle was sitting on a snag, watching the lake, and I took this shot.
I headed for home, but I stopped at Marymoor Park and drove along the edge of the community gardens, looking and listening for Lonesome George, the male pheasant. No luck with that, so I walked along the slough. I didn't add anything there, either, but I did get this shot of an Osprey that was across the slough.
That was it for today. I added 2 more species to July, and now I have 101 species. Black-throated Gray Warbler was new for the year, and now I have 199 species in 2020. The merganser was a repeater, and now I have 57 repeaters this month so far.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
This morning I went over to Marymoor Park. I couldn't find the Ring-necked Pheasant in the community gardens or anywhere else. I walked along the slough, but didn't get anything until I got to the forest at the end of the dog park. I sat on the bench there and attracted a pair of Warbling Vireos for my list, but I couldn't get a picture. I also attracted a Yellow Warbler and had excellent looks at it, but I couldn't get a picture of it, either. I walked to the lake platform at the end of the boardwalk, but I didn't get anything I needed. That was it. No pictures worth showing today. I added 2 more species to my July list, and now I have 103 species.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
My first stop this morning was Saint Edwards State Park, which is only about 10 minutes from home. I was looking for Pacific Wren, which is difficult in the summer, but I have found them there before, including last month. I managed to call one up by playing the song, but it was too dark in the forest for a photo. That was a repeater that I especially wanted to get.
Next I drove up to Yost Memorial Park in Edmonds, which is about a half hour northeast of home. I had two main targets, Hairy Woodpecker and Wilson's Warbler, both of which I have gotten there before, multiple times. I parked at the east end of the park and walked on the trails through the woods. I played Hairy Woodpecker calls, but when I didn't get any response, I switched to Wilson's Warbler, although I wasn't yet to the place where I usually find them. A Wilson's Warbler flew in, and I started trying to get a photo. Like most warblers, it wouldn't sit still, and while I was still trying for a shot, a Hairy Woodpecker flew in and distracted me. I switched my efforts to the woodpecker, and I got these three pictures of the female Hairy Woodpecker, an excellent repeater I especially wanted to get.
When I had enough pictures of the woodpecker, I switched back to playing Wilson's Warbler, and it flew in again. While I was again trying for a picture, two other birds flew across the trail into a bush. One looked like a female Black-headed Grosbeak (which I didn't need for July), and I figured the other one was a male grosbeak. The other one turned out to be a female Western Tanager, though, one I very much needed. Here are a couple of pictures of the female Western Tanager.
She was eating those red berries. Here is the female Western Tanager reaching for another berry.
That was very cool, but I still wanted a picture of the Wilson's Warbler. I called it in again, and this time I got a picture of the male Wilson's Warbler.
Then I noticed that the female Black-headed Grosbeak was still around. She was also eating those red berries, and I got these two pictures of her.
While I was taking those pictures, still another bird flew through. This one turned out to be a Swainson's Thrush, one I already had this month. Here is the Swainson's Thrush, lurking in the bushes.
It was eating those same red berries.
That was quite a little flurry of action, and when it ended, I headed back to my car. On the way I played Pileated Woodpecker calls, because I thought I heard one, and I know they live in that park. I never saw one, and I didn't hear any more calls, but I did hear some loud drumming, and it was the characteristic drumming of Pileated Woodpecker, so I counted that one for my list. Near the entrance to the park a different Swainson's Thrush perched and posed for pictures. I think that it must have had a nest in the area, based on how it was acting. It was dark in the woods, but here is a picture of that Swainson's Thrush.
At home this afternoon, I took a couple of pictures of a pair of recently fledged Dark-eyed Juncos, feeding under our seed feeder.
They sure do bland in to the background, don't they?
I still wasn't done for the day, though. I knew we have a Bewick's Wren in our yard, and probably a pair of them. I still needed that one, so I played some calls. I got three responses, but I couldn't lure one out in the open. I think they lie low during nesting season, and I suspect they are nesting in our yard somewhere, now. Anyway, the calls I heard were distinctive enough that I am counting that one for my July list.
I ended up getting 6 more species for July, and 3 of them were repeaters. Now I have 109 species in July, and 60 of them are repeaters.
Friday, July 17, 2020
My first stop today was Tulalip Bay, which is about 40 minutes northwest of home, on Puget Sound. I scoped the bay, but I didn't see any of the water species I needed. Around on the west side of the bay, I soon spotted a Belted Kingfisher, my main target for the day. Here is a distant picture of a juvenile male Belted Kingfisher.
The brown breast band marks it as a juvenile, and the lack of a corresponding brown belly band marks it as a male. I also got a distant picture of a female Purple Martin, which I already had this month.
All of my pictures today are very distant, but that's all I got, and at least the birds can be identified.
Next I stopped at the Everett Sewage Treatment Ponds to look for ducks. As usual in the summer there were very few ducks at all, but in one group of about 6 Mallards, I picked out a smaller duck that I was able to identify as a male Blue-winged Teal in eclipse (non-breeding) plumage. Here is a distant picture of him.
I had a good look at him with my scope, and I didn't really consider any other species. When I saw my picture, though, I wondered if the bill looked more like a Northern Shoveler bill. A male Northern Shoveler in eclipse plumage would look very much like that, and I have been fooled before. I had some other pictures that were terrible, but they showed the Blue-winged Teal in the same frame as a Mallard, and from the size comparison, I confirmed my identification. It was another example of using my camera to identify a bird. Here is a distant picture of the Blue-winged Teal and a Mallard, for a size comparison..
A Northern Shoveler would be about midway between those two sizes. Here is another shot that is completely out of focus, but it also shows the size comparison. The teal is about 2/3 of the length of the Mallard.
That was it for today. I went out to lunch at Wendy's in Everett with a friend, and it was the first time I have eaten in a restaurant for over four months. Coronavirus cases here in Washington State are going up again, and restaurants could be closed again, but I had a Wendy's burger, anyway, so bring it on.
I added 2 more species to my July list, and now I have 111 species this month. The kingfisher was a repeater, and now I have 61 repeaters this month.
Saturday, July 18, 2020
Today I went over to the Montlake Fill, east of the University of Washington. I was looking for the male American Wigeon that has been hanging out there for a couple of weeks, and I found him. That was an excellent repeater, one I wouldn't have found anywhere else. I was hoping for Green Heron as well, but didn't see one.
Back at home, I read my book out on the porch, and to my pleased surprise, a Pine Siskin flew in to our feeder. I had been looking for one all month, and there it was. Here is my first July Pine Siskin.
Later a second one showed up briefly, too. Pine Siskin is a repeater, one I have seen in each month so far this year, but it wasn't on my list of potential repeaters. It is actually the third species I have added this month to my list of potential repeaters. The others were Northwestern Crow and Pileated Woodpecker. Including the three new ones for my repeater list, I now I have 64 repeaters this month, species I have counted in each month this year so far. My two new July birds today bring me to 113 species for the month.
Sunday, July 19, 2020
Today I drove over the mountains and birded in the area around the town of Cle Elum. It was about an 80 minute drive to my first stop, at Bullfrog Pond. It was very quiet there, but I managed to get a VEERY calling back to me, and that member of the thrush family went on my list. I'm not 100% certain it wasn't a Swainson's Thrush calling back to me, but I heard it repeatedly, and it sounded just like the Veery song on my phone, so I'm counting it. That was my first Veery of the year.
I moved on to what birders call the Railroad Ponds, in the town of Cle Elum. I was watching the river as I drove in, and I spotted two Barrow's Goldeneyes for my July list. Here are some pictures of the Barrow's Goldeneyes.
I see Barrow's Goldeneyes in the winter on the saltwater of Puget Sound, but they breed in the mountains and spend the summer there.
I played various bird calls and songs, but never actually attracted anything. I did spot a Cassin's Finch, though, which was a good one for my list. Here is the female Cassin's Finch.
I didn't get anything else there at the Railroad Ponds. July is just about the worst month for birds. The breeders are done and many have moved on, and the residents are very quiet in the middle of the hot days. They have the long, cool mornings, and the long evenings to feed. So they seem to hide away in the middle of the day. I drove through Cle Elum and along Red Bridge Road, I got this picture of another female Cassin's Finch.
At the time I thought it was a House Finch, but the straight top to the upper bill marks it as a Cassin's. Along Ballard Hill Road, I saw a Say's Phoebe, a flycatcher for my list that I didn't really expect to get today. Here is a distant picture of the Say's Phoebe.
At my Pygmy Nuthatch site on Ballard Hill Road, I managed to call up a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches. They never sat still for long, but here are two mediocre pictures of Pygmy Nuthatch.
Note the short, stubby tail of that species.
At the old Swauk Cemetery, there were Chipping Sparrows. Here are a couple of pictures of a juvenile Chipping Sparrow.
On Swauk Prairie Road, I added Western Bluebird to my July list. Then I spotted a bird on a wire, and it turned out to be a Vesper Sparrow, another one I hadn't expected to get today. Here is the Vesper Sparrow.
There were 6 or 8 Western Meadowlarks along Swauk Prairie Road, a family, I suspect. Here are a couple of pictures of that addition to my list.
That one had the brown prairie grass as a background, and this next one had the partly cloudy sky as background.
I tried for White-breasted Nuthatch and Mountain Chickadee at my site at the east end of Swauk Prairie Road, as it goes through some pine forest, but today I couldn't attract either species, in the heat of the day. Mountain Chickadee was the only species I had at over 50% in my estimates for today that I didn't get. I had it at 70%.
I drove up Bettas Road, although I had already gotten most of what I would have expected to see there in July. I got lucky, though, and as I came up out of the valley, I found three Black-billed Magpies in a tree. That was a good one for my list. Here is the only picture I could get of a Black-billed Magpie.
I drove up Hayward Road, looking for Mountain Bluebird or Horned Lark, but it is too late in the season, I think, and they have already left the area, having finished breeding for the year. I headed for home, and along Bettas Road, I got these last two pictures of a female Western Bluebird.
My drive home was longer than I had expected. Heavy traffic slowed the interstate west of Cle Elum, and I lost 45 minutes in that jam. It took me about an hour to go 15 miles. I lost another 15 minutes on the west side of the pass, because of an earlier accident that had been cleared, although a burned out bus was still sitting on the roadside. It made my day an hour longer, but at least it was a productive day. I added 10 species to my July list and one to my year list. Now I have 123 species in July and an even 200 for 2020. July isn't the best time to bird in the Cle Elum area, but at least I got some birds. My estimate indicated that I would get 7.8 species for my list today, and I got 10, so that was good.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Today I went over to Marymoor Park to try for the pheasant, Common Merganser, Green Heron, or Vaux's Swift. I struck out on all of them, but I got a few pictures. I ran into a small flock of juvenile Golden-crowned Kinglets, probably siblings. Here is one of them, preening.
I checked out the two Osprey nests, and it appears that one of them must have failed. The one on the light standard at the baseball fields had birds in it, though. I saw two pretty large juveniles and an adult there today. Here is the nest, and you can see one juvenile (on the left) and the adult.
The juveniles seemed a little smaller than the adult, but the best way to identify them is that juvenile Ospreys have white dots on their wings. Here are more shots of the nest, as the birds moved around.
That particular juvenile was flapping its wings a lot.
In that last shot, you can see the second juvenile - behind and on the left. Here is another one showing all three birds.
Here you can see the white dots on the two birds on the left.
To my eye, the adult on the right seems a bit larger than the other two. I wonder how much longer it will be until the two youngsters fly. Here is a shot that shows the whole nest, on top of the light standard.
That was it for today. Nothing for my list, and I remain at 123 species for July and 200 species for 2020, with 64 repeaters.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Today I went up to Skagit county, which is about an hour north of home. My first stop, after picking up a tuna sandwich at Subway, was Fox Road, just outside the small town of Clear Lake. My main target was an elusive rail called Sora, which is often very responsive to its calls. This was my second trip to Fox Road this month, and once again, I got no responses from Sora. I did spot an Eastern Kingbird on a wire, though, and that was an excellent July bird. It flew off after I got one quick distant shot for identification purposes.
At the edge of the forest, I saw a flycatcher and got some pictures. I keep saying how difficult flycatcher identification is, and I'm not 100% sure about this one. It was either a Willow Flycatcher or a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, and I ended up calling it a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, which was the one needed for this month. The habitat and behavior were both wrong for Willow Flycatcher, and perfect for Pacific-slope, and there are other points of identification I could see in my pictures, too. Here is what I am calling a Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
I think the back looks pretty greenish, and I think the peaked crown is right for Pacific-slope. The eye ring seems right, too. Here is a close up of the eye ring.
Here is one more shot of my Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
It was disappointing to not get the Sora, but both Eastern Kingbird and Pacific-slope Flycatcher were excellent compensation.
Next I drove across the county to Puget Sound, at Anacortes. I drove through Washington Park, hoping to find Marbled Murrelet, but I saw almost no sea birds. I ate half my sandwich on a bench overlooking the water, and when I finished, I took some pictures of birds that came around. Here is a Song Sparrow.
A Spotted Towhee came around, too.
So, after getting nothing I needed in Washington Park, I drove back to Channel Drive, which is along the Swinomish Channel. I was hoping for shorebirds, and I had timed it for low tide. There was lots of mud, as I had hoped, but the only shorebirds were too far away to be able to identify most of the species. I guess it is still a little early for the fall migration of shorebirds to be fully underway, so there aren't all that many going through now.
On the road away from Channel Drive, I got this picture of a Red-tailed Hawk with a little mouse or something.
It didn't like me watching, I guess, because it flew off down the road to another pole. On the next pole there was another Red-tailed Hawk, so I took its picture.
I moved on to Hayton Reserve, but the tide was way out and the only shorebirds I could see were Killdeer. I did spot a perched Peregrine Falcon in the distance, though, and that was an excellent July bird for my list. Then I saw a Northern Harrier swooping along over the ground, hunting. I had gone to Hayton Reserve 4 or 5 times in June, trying for Northern Harrier, and I never did get one in June. Now I have it for July, anyway, but it isn't a repeater any more, because I missed it in June, after getting it for 24 straight months. To be a repeater, I have to get a bird in each month of the year. Here are a couple of poor pictures of the female Northern Harrier I saw today.
In that last picture, you can see the characteristic white rump of the bird, which is the best way to identify a Northern Harrier.
I made one last stop after that, at Wylie Slough. The tide was out, as I had hoped, but I didn't see any shorebirds at all. I really struck out on shorebirds today, everywhere I went. The second batch of Black Phoebes had fledged, and they were following the adults around, hoping to get fed. Here are a couple of pictures of an adult Black Phoebe (on the left) and a youngster hoping for food.
The youngster kept opening its bill, and I imagine it was begging as well, although I was too far away to hear it.
That was it for the day. I missed several species I had hoped to get, but I got others I hadn't really expected. My total of 4 new species for July was great, and now I have 127 species this month. That exceeds my 2018 July total (114) and my 2019 July total (125). I still have 64 repeaters this month, and 200 species in 2020. There isn't much more to look for, but there are a few species I can chase, and there is lots of time left this month.
Thursday, July 23, 2020
I went over to Marymoor Park again this morning, to look again for Ring-necked Pheasant, Common Merganser, and a couple of other possible species. I didn't have any luck, but I did get some Osprey pictures. The youngsters I showed pictures of earlier this week had fledged, and one of the fledglings was perched on a light standard near the nest.
It was stretching its wings, flapping them but not taking off. I took this series of pictures of the recently fledged Osprey.
I moved on and drove through the Evans Creek Natural Area to the Redmond Retention Ponds. I was glad to see that the water level had dropped somewhat, and now there was a little habitat along the edges for shorebirds. I usually pick up some migrating shorebirds there in late July and August. Today there weren't any interesting ducks, and the only shorebirds I saw were Killdeer. Here are a couple of pictures of Killdeer.
Because of the feathers on the back, I think that was probably a juvenile Killdeer. Here is an adult, I think, and the feathers on the back are somewhat different.
I decided to go back to Marymoor to try again for the pheasant, and I'm glad I did. As I drove through the Evans Creek Natural Area on the 100 year old red brick road, I saw a bird take off from the marsh and fly away from me. I got my binoculars on it and watched it for maybe 5 seconds, as it flew away, and I believe it was a GREEN HERON, my first of the year. It wasn't a great look at it, but everything was right for Green Heron, and I couldn't think of anything else it could have been.
There was a Red-tailed Hawk in a dead tree as I went through the Evan Creek area, too, and I took these two pictures.
Back at Marymoor, I again dipped on the pheasant, but an adult Osprey was sitting on the nest, and I took this shot.
The fledgling I had taken pictures of earlier had moved to another light standard, or maybe it was another fledgling.
That was it for today. The Green Heron brings my July total to 128 species and my 2020 total to 201 species. I still have 64 repeaters. If I feel up to it tomorrow, I plan to go across Puget Sound to look for up to 4 repeaters, plus possibly a couple of other species. We'll see how I feel in the morning.
Friday, July 24, 2020
I felt pretty good this morning, so I headed up to Edmonds to catch the ferry across Puget Sound. That's when the day started to unravel. I was 20 minutes early, which I thought would be much more than enough, but I ended up being the second car in line when the ferry left. That made for a 45 minute delay to my plans for the day. When I finally got over to the other side, I picked up a sandwich at Subway and went to Point No Point. I had hoped for 2 or 3 species there, but all I got was Bonaparte's Gull, which was a repeater, at least. I went to Driftwood Key, where I thought I might get a couple of species, but there were No Trespassing signs on the vacant lot where I usually viewed the bay from. I respect No Trespassing signs, so I moved on.
My next real destination was Fort Flagler, although I stopped a couple of places briefly and got nothing.. I had hopes of 4 or 5 species at Fort Flagler, but I got nothing. Nada. There were tons of people there, but no birds. I hadn't gone there in the summer before, and I won't do it again. I underestimated the numbers of people and cars that would be out an about on a Friday in July, and I overestimated the birds that would be around in the summer. Lesson learned.
I headed for home, and I again was very surprised how many cars were waiting for the ferry back to Edmonds, but at least I made the ferry I was aiming for. I waited 40 minutes, but I had seen a lighted sign that said there was a one hour wait for the ferry at Kingston, so I was happy enough to make the ferry with a 40 minute wait.
It was a very disappointing day. I added Bonaparte's Gull, at least, and now I have 129 species in July and 65 repeaters so far this month. There isn't much more I can look for this month, but we will see. A week off sounds pretty good, actually.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Today I went up to Marysville, about a half hour north of home. I walked along Ebey Slough to the Marysville sewage treatment ponds, looking for Ruddy Duck. It was a species that I had gotten for 29 months in a row, and I hadn't found one yet this month. I had read that a couple of Ruddy Ducks had shown up at the Marysville Sewage ponds, and I found one of them today. Here is a rather distant picture of my male Ruddy Duck for July.
The Ruddy Duck is the smaller duck in front of the larger one. Since it is such a distant shot, here is a picture of a male Ruddy Duck that I took down in Texas in 2014.
That blue bill is amazing.
There was a Eurasian Collared-Dove, which I didn't need, foraging on the ground, and I took this picture of it.
A female Mallard with 7 ducklings swam in to view, so I took these next two pictures.
There was another group of older ducklings on the shore, all huddled up together. I guess they were Mallards, although some of them look kind of strange to me.
I tried to go to the Everett sewage ponds after that, but the road to where I view the main pond from was closed for some reason. I suspect it is connected to the COVID situation, because the road leads to popular Spencer Island, and maybe there were too many people going out there. It is within the sewage treatment plant, though, so maybe it is closed due to some kind of operational reason. Anyway, I couldn't view the main pond there, so I went to 12th St NE, which is just north of the sewage ponds. There is a small wetlands there, and there were a number of shorebirds there this morning.
I soon found what I think was a Solitary Sandpiper, an excellent species. It's a little on the early side for Solitary Sandpipers in migration, but I think that is what it was. Here are some pictures. There is a Greater Yellowlegs in each picture (the larger bird) and what I think was a Solitary Sandpiper.
I had a much better view that that with my scope, and what the pictures don't show is the bold white eye ring. The only other possible species would be Lesser Yellowlegs, and later there were a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs in that same area, but they didn't have the bold eye ring that this bird had. The pattern on the back was more consistent with Solitary Sandpiper, and the back and wings were more brown than gray, another indication for Solitary Sandpiper, over Lesser Yellowlegs. It seemed a bit large for Solitary Sandpiper, and the legs look too yellow (rather than greenish yellow), but I'm going to call it a Solitary Sandpiper and count it on my July list.
On the far side of the pond were more shorebirds. There were a couple more Greater Yellowlegs, some little peeps that were too far away to identify, and some dowitchers. There are two species of dowitcher, and I already had Long-billed Dowitcher this month. At that distance, I couldn't use my usual criteria to identify which species they were, but I could see that at least one of them was smaller than at least one other one. I decided that was enough to put SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER on my list, since Short-billed Dowitchers are smaller and have shorter legs than Long-billed Dowitchers. Here is a very distant picture that shows a smaller, shorter-legged, dowitcher between two larger ones.
I had a lot of good looks with my scope, too, and there were definitely two sizes of dowitcher out there. There were also some interesting looking smaller shorebirds, but they were just too far away to make any further identifications.
So, it turned out to be a very successful outing. I added 3 more species to my July list, and one more to my year list. Now I have 132 species for July and 202 species for 2020. Ruddy Duck was a very welcome repeater, too, and now I have 65 repeaters. There are 2 or 3 more species I could still find this month, and I hope to go out looking for them. The weather is supposed to be good for the rest of the month, although Monday is supposed to be hotter than I like.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Today I went up to Leque Island, at the birding spot referred to as Eide Road. It is just west of the town of Stanwood, almost on the border of Snohomish county and Island county (Camano Island). I was looking for a particular new shorebird for the year, and they had been reported there in good numbers in the last few days. I parked and walked out on the dike trail. It is a new wetlands that has been created in the last couple of years, but it is pretty good shorebird habitat, at least for the smaller species. There were some yellowlegs in the closest pond, both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, both of which I already had this month. I wanted a picture of the two species together, but the Lesser Yellowlegs disappeared before I could shoot it. Here is a juvenile Greater Yellowlegs.
I looked around with my scope and I saw hundreds of little peeps. The vast majority of them were Western Sandpipers, but there were probably some Least Sandpipers mixed in. I already had those two species this month, but then I spotted some SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS in the distance, and I had a new year bird, the species I as looking for today. Later I walked out on the dike trail and got closer views of Semipalmated Plovers. They were still very distant for pictures, but I gave it a shot. Here are two Semipalmated Plovers and another little peep. The Semipalmated Plovers are the ones with the dark band across their breast.
Here is a distant front view of one.
Here's one more distant shot of a Semipalmated Plover.
It's too bad they were all so far away, but at least I saw them and got those distant pictures. I was looking through the hundreds of Western Sandpipers, which kept flying around and landing in other spots, hoping to spot another species that would be a year bird. I saw a good candidate, and I managed to get one picture before they all flew off.
Okay, it is a lousy picture because you can't see the bird's head or bill, but I kept it because of the lack of red color on the back. The Western Sandpipers all were fairly red-brown, but this one wasn't like that. I suspect it might have been the species I was looking for because I also thought the bill looked rather short. Too bad it flew off before I could get more pictures. It will just have to go down as an unknown shorebird.
Here is a shot of another juvenile Greater Yellowlegs that I kind of like, because of the pose and the grass in the picture.
Here are some Western Sandpiper pictures, showing the length of their bills and their coloration.
Here is a shot of sandpiper that has a much shorter bill, along with a couple more Western Sandpipers. I think the bird in the lower left is a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.
Here is another bird, and this one is even more certainly a Semipalmated Sandpiper, I think.
Not only is the bill very short, you can actually make out the web between the toes that gives the species its name - semipalmated. Here is another Western Sandpiper for bill length comparison.
Here are a couple of shots of shorebirds foraging. They scurry around like bugs.
I was there for almost two hours, and the birds just kept moving around, while I chased them, up and down the dike trail. I added two more species to my month and year lists, and now I have 134 species in July and 204 species in 2020. There are still two or three July possibilities out there, and I'll keep looking to see if I can add more.
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Today I wanted to bird the northwest coast of Whidbey Island, mainly looking for Harlequin Duck, which was a repeater I wanted to get this month. Instead of taking the ferry across Puget Sound, though, I drove up through Skagit county and went on to Whidbey Island from the north, across the Deception Pass bridge. I stopped on my way in Skagit county at Hayton Reserve, but I didn't get anything.
My first stop on Whidbey Island was at Joseph Whidbey State Park, at the pullout along the water. I have seen Harlequin Ducks there before, but not today. I moved on, and there were dowitchers and little shorebirds on Swan Lake, but nothing I needed. At West Beach county park, I saw my first Red-necked Grebe of the fall/winter season, a species I didn't figure to get this month. They are just now starting to come back from their nesting sites to the north. I saw three Pacific Loons, too, also my first of the season. I had two species for my July list, and I hadn't expected either one of them.
I moved on to the Hastie Lake access, which is where I have had the best luck in the past with Harlequin Ducks. I scanned around a couple of times, but didn't see any Harlequin Ducks. There were a couple of Common Loons, but I had that one already this month. Then I saw three White-winged Scoters, and that was another one for my list that I hadn't expected. I took one more look to the south, to the area along the shore where I have most often seen Harlequin Ducks, and what do you know? I spotted a male Harlequin Duck close to shore. I don't know where it had been when I looked down that way several times a few minutes earlier - maybe on shore standing still, blending in with the rocks. Anyway, I had my main target species for the day, and an outstanding total of 4 species for my list.
I headed back toward home, retracing my steps, but I stopped at Dugualla Bay before I left Whidbey Island. There were shorebirds there. I didn't get anything I needed, but I did take some pictures. Here are some Long-billed Dowitchers.
Can you see all five Long-billed Dowitchers in that last shot? Then really blend in. Here are four more of them.
Here is a juvenile Greater Yellowlegs.
Here are four mature Greater Yellowlegs, sitting down and blending in with the beach.
Here is another mature Greater Yellowlegs.
There was a single Least Sandpiper on the beach, and I got this rather distant shot of it.
Here is a Killdeer.
Here is a juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs. Its bill is shorter, relative to the length of its head, than that of Greater Yellowlegs.
Compare the relative bill length of that Lesser Yellowlegs with the bills of these two Greater Yellowlegs.
The plumage differences are because the Greater Yellowlegs are mature birds that are molting into Winter Plumage and the Lesser Yellowlegs is a juvenile, hatched this year. Here is a Greater Yellowlegs that has caught some kind of prey.
Here is another shot of the juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs, with its shorter bill.
In addition to the relatively shorter bill, Lesser Yellowlegs is somewhat smaller than Greater Yellowlegs. Here's a picture of two Greater Yellowlegs (in the top half of the picture) and a Lesser Yellowlegs (in the bottom half).
I moved on after that and back on the mainland I stopped again at Hayton Reserve. The tide was coming in, which was ideal. I wanted Black-bellied Plover, which would have been a repeater. There were a lot of shorebirds around, but I never could find a Black-bellied Plover. While I was looking, a birding acquaintance by the name of Gary showed up, and we looked around together. He is more expert than I am, so I was pleased to have his company. We saw seven shorebird species, but no Black-bellied Plovers. One of those shorebird species was PECTORAL SANDPIPER, though, a year bird for me. Gary spotted it, and we concurred on the identification. It was much too far away for a picture, and it took a lot of looking through our scopes to be sure of the ID. Gary also spotted a group of six ducks that we decided were Green-winged Teal, another one I needed for July.
It ended up being an amazing day, in terms of numbers. I added a whopping 6 species to my July list, when I would have been pleased to have gotten 2. There was a definite possibility that I would have gotten skunked today. Now I have 140 species for July, easily beating 2018 (114) and 2019 (125). For comparison purposes, it is more fair to only count birds I saw in Western Washington this year, since I didn't go out of Western Washington in 2018 and 2019, and I got 10 in Eastern Washington this year, so my total of 130 in Western Washington this year still beats the heck out of those two earlier years.
Harlequin Duck was a repeater, and now I have 67 repeaters this month. I had 64 in 2018 after July, but in 2019 I had 70, so I am right in between this year. Pectoral Sandpiper brings me to 205 species for 2020.
A very successful day of birding, and the weather was perfect. I'll try for something more tomorrow, but I probably won't get anything, and this is likely the last report of the month.
Friday, July 31, 2020
Well, I did add another species to my July list today, so here is a report with a few pictures. I started my day at Lake Sammamish State Park, again looking for Common Merganser. There is a family of them there, and they have been reported on each day this week, but I can't find them, despite going there 3 or 4 times this week. Today I visited four separate places along the lake - Sunset Beach, Issaquah Creek, the boat launch, and another beach I hadn't been to before, on the west edge of the park. No Common Mergansers, and I couldn't call up a Red-eyed Vireo, either. There was a Spotted Sandpiper at Sunset Beach, but it kept walking away from me. I finally got these two shots of the Spotted Sandpiper, but it never stood still.
A second year Bald Eagle was sitting up on a snag along Issaquah Creek, and I got this picture.
It takes a Bald Eagle four years to get its adult plumage, with the white head and tail, and this bird would have been hatched in 2018, so it is two years old. Each year they have different plumage, until they reach adulthood.
I drove up the east side of Lake Sammamish and then through Marymoor Park, but I didn't see or hear the pheasant there. I had lunch in a park with a friend, in Everett, and after lunch I went up to Tulalip Bay for a last shot at Black-bellied Plover. I was pleased to see about 20 Black-bellied Plovers in various stages of molt, sitting on the spit, which was rapidly going underwater as the tide came in. Twenty or thirty minutes later, the place they were standing would have been underwater, and I don't know where they go to roost at high tide. My timing was perfect today. Black-bellied Plover was a repeater, one I have seen each month this year so far.
I'm ending July with 141 species for the month, 205 for the year, and 68 repeaters. Tomorrow it starts all over again with a new month and a new list.