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Friday, January 1, 2021

 

It's a new year, and my lists start over.  As a reminder, the first time I record a particular species in 2021, I will use ALL CAPS.

 

My first bird this morning was DARK-EYED JUNCO.  I soon added PINE SISKIN, HOUSE SPARROW, AMERICAN CROW, and HOUSE FINCH to my list.  Five MALLARDS flew in. Mallards show up in the winter and Christina feeds them cracked corn.  It used to be just two of them, a male and a female, but I guess they told their friends, because recently there have been as many as 7 of them.  Christina threw out some peanuts for the crows, and the STELLER'S JAYS showed up, too, as usual.  Finally, the FERAL PIGEONS got here, to eat all the seed she put out for the little birds.

 

So, with those species under my belt, I headed out to the Snoqualmie Valley.  There is a series of storms hitting us this weekend, but there was some time between storms, and the timing was perfect for a little birding today.  I picked up TRUMPETER SWAN and AMERICAN WIGEON as I drove down the west side of the valley.  As I drove across the valley, I added RED-TAILED HAWK and BALD EAGLE.  At Sikes Lake I saw a male COMMON MERGANSER and a PIED-BILLED GREBE, and on the south side of the lake I got this picture of my second Red-tailed Hawk of the day.

 

As I drove past the old Carnation Dairy buildings, there were birds in the fields across the road, and I added CANADA GOOSE, CACKLING GOOSE, GREAT BLUE HERON, and NORTHERN PINTAIL to my list.  I couldn't find either of the kestrels that hang out on the east side of the river, but I saw a NORTHERN FLICKER at the top of a power pole soon after that.  There weren't many birds around at the house in Carnation that has feeders, but I sat there a while and chatted with the owner while picking up AMERICAN GOLDFINCH, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE and MOURNING DOVE.  An ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD came to the hummingbird feeder while I was there, too.

 

The Tolt River was too high to look for dipper there, so I moved on and drove down the west side of the river to Fall City.  I stopped at a spot where I have seen sparrows in the past, and I got GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.  I played the song and attracted an uncommon WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, too.  I chased that last one around and got these pictures.

 

 

 

White-throated Sparrows come in two color morphs, with slightly different plumage.  This one is a "tan morph", which means the stripe above the eye is tan in color.  There is also a white morph with a white stripe.

 

I didn't get anything else along that stretch, so I moved on up to Tokul Creek to look for my main target of the day.  There were men fishing in the creek and standing on the bridge, and one of them told me that my target species had been there ten minutes ago.  I couldn't find one, but I stuck around and walked a little on the road.  I picked up RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET there, and back at the bridge I found my AMERICAN DIPPER, my primary target species for today.  Here are some American Dipper pictures.

 

 

Here the dipper has its head under water, looking for food.

 

Back down in the valley, I detoured onto Neal Road and picked up RING-NECKED DUCK in a pond.  Here is a male Ring-necked Duck.

 

Here is a picture of a female Ring-necked Duck and three males.

 

At the end of Neal Road, I got out and used my scope to look at the blackbirds across the river at the dairy.  Most of them were EUROPEAN STARLINGS, with some BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS mixed in.  I was hoping to find a Brown-headed Cowbird, but I didn't find one.  No Red-winged Blackbirds, either.  A COMMON RAVEN flew into the adjacent field, so it went on my list.

 

Back in Carnation, there were no birds at all around the feeders.  I ate my humble lunch in the car while waiting for them to show up.  The owner mentioned earlier that a hawk had been around a lot, and I figured that was why the birds weren't there.  While eating, I noticed a hawk in a tree, and it turned out to be a juvenile COOPER'S HAWK, and it was eating a little bird.  It allowed me to get quite close for pictures.  Here is the juvenile Cooper's Hawk enjoying its lunch.

 

 

When it finished its meal, it moved on up the branch to a higher vantage point.  Here it is, moving up the branch.

 

 

 

 

By that time, the little birds had cautiously started to return to the seed on the fence.  Here is a male Dark-eyed Junco.

 

Here are some Pine Siskins eating seeds.

 

The birds were pretty skittish, for good reason.  The Cooper's Hawk was sitting in a tree across the street watching them.

 

The hawk ejected some poop and I knew that was an indication that it was about to take off.  Raptors often do that just before taking off.

 

As soon as the hawk took off, all the little birds immediately scattered, so they were keeping an eye on the hawk.  The hawk didn't chase any of them, it just flew off across some yards and out of sight.

 

When I finished my lunch, I headed back across the valley toward home.  At the pond at Chinook Bend, I added GADWALL, HOODED MERGANSER, and DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT to my list.  Here is a picture of a male Hooded Merganser.

 

As I reached the west side of the valley, I saw one last Red-tailed Hawk for the day, and I got this picture.

 

That was it for my birding trip, but when I got home I filled the empty suet feeder, and by the time I got back in the house, a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE had found it.  I stood at the back door for a couple of minutes, and a CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE showed up at the seed feeder, my last bird for the day.  I started the year off with 39 species today, but the most important thing was that I got my dipper, and now I don't have to look for that one again this month.  The White-throated Sparrow was the second best bird of the day, and I enjoyed getting all the pictures of the juvenile Cooper's Hawk.  Considering that we are in the middle of 3 or 4 rainy days in a row, I did fine today.  It rained lightly a few times, but mostly it was dry.

 

 

Saturday, January 2, 2021

 

It rained all day today, and I stayed home.  From time to time, I kept a watch on our feeders and walkways, though, from the back porch.  At various times of the day, I added SONG SPARROW, SPOTTED TOWHEE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, and even RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH to my January and year lists.  No pictures, sorry to say.  The four species brought me to 43 species this year.  The rain storms continue to come in, but it looks like there might be a short opening tomorrow, and maybe I can get out.

 

 

Monday, January 4, 2021

 

It continued to rain for the last couple of days, especially in the mornings, when I go out birding.  I continued to keep watch out the back door for yard birds.  Nothing new yesterday, but today I got a couple of mediocre pictures, anyway.  The light was very low, due to the clouds and rain, but here is a distant shot of a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the suet feeder.

 

I had that one on Saturday, but pictures are always welcome and Red-breasted Nuthatches are not all that common here at home and I think they are attractive.  Here is a shot of a Spotted Towhee, another one I got on Saturday.

 

That picture looks bright because of the camera settings, but it was very gloomy out there.  Later I spotted what I call the "little wren" that hangs out here.  I did need that one still.  Here is a picture of the BEWICK'S WREN, taken through the dirty back door window, in the very low light.

 

Here is another shot of the Bewick's Wren, which was moving its bill unfortunately.

 

That was it for today.  If the weather forecast holds, maybe I can get out tomorrow morning for a little birding, although it is supposed to be fairly windy.  The Bewick's Wren brings me to 44 species for January and 2021.

 

 

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

 

The weather forecast was kind of iffy this morning, but I felt like getting out of the house, so I drove north to Tulalip Bay for my first stop.  I was hoping to find the rare (for this area) Ruddy Turnstone that is wintering there, but all I could come up with was six BLACK TURNSTONES, spread out along the log boom on the outer edge of the marina.  Here is a very distant picture of one of the Black Turnstones.

 

I added MEW GULL and GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, and then a male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE showed up inside the marina itself.  Here is a picture of the male Barrow's Goldeneye from the back.

 

Here is a more conventional side shot of the male Barrow's Goldeneye.

 

It was sprinkling and was very dark with the heavy cloud cover, so all my pictures are marginal today.  I drove around to the west side of the bay and added SURF SCOTER to my list.  Here is a male Surf Scoter.

 

I got HORNED GREBE and then I spotted this male COMMON GOLDENEYE.

 

There was a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes, and here is the male.

 

Here is the female Barrow's Goldeneye.

 

I usually see Belted Kingfisher there, but not today.  I moved on to the Everett sewage treatment plant area next.  The tide was so high that there weren't any birds at all at the 12th St NE wetlands.  I had been hoping for Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, and Green-winged Teal there, but I should be able to get those species somewhere else this month.  I drove around to the main pond at the sewage works and picked up some ducks.  There were tons of NORTHERN SHOVELERS and LESSER SCAUP, and there were some GREATER SCAUP mixed in as well.  There was a nice showing of RUDDY DUCKS, a species I don't see many places, but one that is extremely reliable at that particular pond.  Way across the big pond I saw a few CANVASBACKS, an uncommon species I am always glad to get.  There were a few AMERICAN COOTS in the mix, too.  Along the concrete edge, on the west side, there were hundreds of DUNLIN (a small shorebird), with some BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS in with them.  It was sprinkling harder than ever by then, but I stood in the rain and ticked off the species.  When I was finished there, I drove to the 10th St boat launch parking lot, where gulls roost at high tide.  Before I got there, though, I spotted a group of 6 or 7 Canvasbacks on Gardner Bay, reasonably close to shore.  Here's a shot of male (in front) and female Canvasbacks.

 

Here are two female Canvasbacks.

 

At the gull roost, I drove close and looked at them through the open window, trying to keep the falling rain out of my car.  Here is a Mew Gull, one I had seen up at Tulalip Bay earlier.

 

Mew Gull is a small gull with yellow legs and a small, chisel-like bill.

 

I added CALIFORNIA GULL.  Note the greenish legs and the red and black spots on the bill.

 

Almost all the local gulls get that smudgy look on their heads and necks in the winter.  Here is a RING-BILLED GULL, with its distinctive bill with the black ring near the tip, yellow eyes, and yellow legs.

 

I was looking for a Herring Gull, an uncommon species around here, and a yellow eye is the most distinctive feature, for me.  I didn't find one, but I took this picture of a gull with a brownish-yellow eye, meaning to look at it in detail on the computer.

 

Here's a close up that shows the eye.

 

I decided that the eye color was too dark to be a Herring Gull, but I also decided to call it a WESTERN GULL, another uncommon gull around here. It has several features that make me call it a Western Gull - the eye color, the pink legs, the size, and especially the thickness of the bill, with its red spot.  The bill almost looks bulbous, which is a distinctive feature of Western Gull.  It also has a white "skirt" along the back edge of the wing.  The only feature that is a bit lacking is that I would like the back to be darker for Western Gull.  Western Gull hybridizes with Glaucous-winged Gull around here, and this one might have some Glaucous-winged Gull in its ancestry, but I'm going with Western Gull, on the balance of the evidence.  I realize that none of my readers care about all that, but I am recording it for my own information in the future.  These reports are mostly for my own use, and I refer to them surprisingly often.

 

So, I got rained on, but I also got out of the house and I picked up 20 more species for January, thus giving me 64 now this month and year.  The rain storms continue to head our way, but I'll continue to try to find openings in the string of storms to get out birding.

 

 

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

 

We had a break in the series of storms today, and I went up to Edmonds.  On the way, I stopped in Lake Forest Park and got BAND-TAILED PIGEON at the house with feeders.  My next stop was my quail site in Woodway.  I saw nothing at first, but I stopped the car and listened and looked for a few minutes.  A group of 4 or 5 CALIFORNIA QUAIL came out of the bushes and scurried to where the feeders are located (out of sight of where I can get to without going on to private property).  Here's a quick shot I took of four of them scurrying.

 

From time to time I could see one or two of them, and I managed to get once decent shot of a male California Quail when it came out into the open briefly.

 

Next I went to a little park in Woodway called Deer Park.  It is one of my go-to sites for Pacific Wren and Brown Creeper.  I managed to call up a creeper, but I never got Pacific Wren.  Here is a BROWN CREEPER going up a tree trunk.

 

While I was trying to attract a Pacific Wren or a Brown Creeper, I spotted a woodpecker high up in a tree.  Here is a male HAIRY WOODPECKER.

 

I could tell it was a Hairy Woodpecker, rather than a Downy Woodpecker because of its size.  I played its call, and it flew over three or four times, and eventually I got a couple more pictures of it near the top a snag.

 

 

While I was trying for pictures of the Hairy Woodpecker, a VARIED THRUSH showed up.  That was a great bird; I don't see them often.  The light was terrible, but here are three Varied Thrush pictures.  I think it was two different birds, and the pictures were taken a few minutes apart.

 

 

I think those two were the same bird, and this last shot is a different Varied Thrush.

 

Next I drove to Sunset Avenue in Edmonds.  I soon added PELAGIC CORMORANT and BRANDT'S CORMORANT to my list.  Then I spotted a distant COMMON MURRE, an excellent bird I don't see often.  There were PIGEON GUILLEMOTS and RED-NECKED GREBES out there, too, and later I saw a PACIFIC LOON.  A pair of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS showed themselves, too.  When I arrived there, I saw some small shorebirds on the floating log offshore, but I had thought they were Dunlin, a species I had gotten yesterday in Everett.  They had their heads tucked in, so I couldn't see their bills.  Later they woke up and I realized they were actually SANDERLINGS, an excellent species to get.  Here's a very distant picture of the Sanderlings on the floating log.

 

I moved up the street and found a pair of BLACK SCOTERS near shore, but too far for pictures.  I also saw a distant male HARLEQUIN DUCK.  After that, I drove around to Ocean Avenue, and I got this picture of a male Common Goldeneye.

 

I didn't add any more birds to my lists, but I got this distant picture of a pair of Surf Scoters, another species I had seen yesterday.  The male is the one on the left.

 

I got 15 more species for my January list today, and now I have 79 in January and 2021.

 

 

Thursday, January 7, 2021

 

We had another dry day today, and I went down to Juanita Bay Park, which is my local patch, as the Brits say.  On the fire station road, I got this picture of a male Northern Flicker.  I show a lot of flicker pictures, because I think they are very attractive.

 

I played the call on my phone and got responses from a VIRGINIA RAIL, which is just about guaranteed in that location.  I didn't get anything else on the fire station road, though.  Across the road in the main part of the park, I walked out onto the east boardwalk.  Looking across the little bay, I spotted a WILSON'S SNIPE.  Here's a distant picture.

 

I counted 34 Pied-billed Grebes around the bay, and here is one of them.

 

That might be the highest number of Pied-billed Grebes that I have ever seen at one time.  The sun came out for a while, and here's a winter shot of the little bay, looking west from the east boardwalk.

 

I added GREEN-WINGED TEAL to my January list, and here is a picture of a pair of them.  The male is the more colorful one, as usual.

 

I also added WOOD DUCK to my list, and here is a photo of a pair of Wood Ducks, with the male in front.

 

Here is a colorful male Wood Duck on his own.

 

Continuing the duck theme, here is a picture of a pair of Buffleheads.

 

Here are two female Buffleheads.

 

Here is a male Bufflehead in the sun, showing off his iridescence.

 

In most light, male Buffleheads just look black and white.  I had the sun coming from behind me, to show the iridescence.

 

Here is a pair of Gadwalls, with the male closer to the camera.

 

I didn't get anything else at the park today, until I got back to my car.  Just before I left, I got a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET to respond to its call, at my kinglet spot near the parking lot.  I hadn't been able to call one up when I got there, but it showed up as I left.  Here are a couple of pictures of the cute little Golden-crowned Kinglet that wouldn't sit still.

 

 

I drove home, but my birding wasn't over for the day after all.  When I got home, a DOWNY WOODPECKER was at our suet feeder, and I added one more to my list.  Here are a couple of pictures of the Downy Woodpecker, which I think was a juvenile female, based on the tiny bit of red on its nape.

 

 

So, I added 6 more species to my January and 2021 lists today.  Now I have 85 species this month.  Considering the weather so far this month, that's not bad.  Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy again, but Saturday looks good (knock on wood).

 

 

Saturday, January 9, 2021

 

It was forecasted to be dry today, so I headed north, to Skagit county.  It was foggy in various places, but it looked like it would burn off eventually.  I picked up a Subway sandwich and my first birding stop was my birding buddy Gary's barn, in Lyman.  I found a BARN OWL, like I always have, and I moved on.  It is a bit out of the way, but so far it has been a reliable way to add a species I never see anywhere else. 

 

From there I headed west to the Samish Flats.  I didn't see anything at all at the East 90, other than tons of eagles, and I didn't get anything at the West 90, either.  I moved on to Samish Island, and the overlook was right on the edge of the fog.  The visibility was limited, but I saw 8 or 10 BRANT, 6 or 7 LONG-TAILED DUCKS (excellent bird!), and one COMMON LOON.  I had hoped for White-winged Scoter, but I didn't see one today.  There were other possibilities, too, but there weren't many birds out there at all, and the fog limited the distance I could see.

 

I went back down to the flats, and as I approached the West 90, I saw a hawk in the distance, high in a tree.  It turned out to be a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, one of my targets for today, and I got this distant picture.

 

Also near the West 90, I saw a couple of Bald Eagles in a field, and one of them was partially leucistic, meaning it lacked pigment on its wing and back feathers.  Here is a distant picture of the leucistic Bald Eagle next to a normal one.

 

Next I drove to the East 90 and ate my sandwich in the car, while looking for owls.  The fog moved in and out as I ate.  Eventually, I spotted two SHORT-EARED OWLS in the distance, interacting with each other.  Here is a distant shot of the two Short-eared Owls.

 

I got this picture of a female NORTHERN HARRIER there, too.

 

When a Northern Harrier is flying, it looks a lot like a Short-eared Owl, but the bright white rump gives it away and marks it as a harrier.

 

I added AMERICAN KESTREL to my list while I ate lunch, too.  My pictures are too distant to bother with, partly because of the fog.

 

When I finished my sandwich, I drove south to the Skagit Flats and Fir Island.  On the Rawlins Road/Maupin Road loop, I saw some swans, and I checked them out, like I had been checking out swans all day.  This time I finally got lucky and found a couple of TUNDRA SWANS, in with the much more common Trumpeter Swans.  Here are a couple of pictures of a Tundra Swan, with the yellow marking on the bill, in front of the eye, which is the identifying mark for the species, compared to Trumpeter Swan.

 

 

In that second picture, you can see another Tundra Swan in the back, on the left.  It's yellow mark is smaller.  Here is a Trumpeter Swan for comparison, without a yellow mark on the bill.

 

I drove through the Hayton Reserve parking lot, but there were tons of people there today, so I moved on.  I saw lots of people everywhere I went today.  I guess a dry Saturday, after all the rain we have had lately, really got people to come outside.  I drove up Dry Slough Road and got this picture of some swans in a field with Mount Baker in the background.

 

Near Wylie Slough, I took this picture of some Mourning Doves, a species I already had this month.

 

I already had Brewer's Blackbird and Red-winged Blackbird, too, but I like this picture showing both species.

 

The two birds on the left are Brewer's Blackbirds - the male is the black one, and the lighter one is the female - and the two on the right are female or juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds.

 

As I approached the reserve, I saw a half dozen GREATER YELLOWLEGS at a pond in a partially flooded field, too far away for a good picture.

 

At Wylie Slough itself, I finally saw one of the rare (for this area) BLACK PHOEBES.  It was the first time I had seen one there since September, after seeing them in each of the first nine months of 2020.  They had been really reliable, but then they just disappeared as far as I was concerned, although other people reported them in the last three months of last year.  The bird was nice and close this time, and here are some Black Phoebe pictures.  It was hawking insects over the water.

 

 

 

 

That was it for today.  It didn't seem like I saw many birds at all today, but I ended up getting most of the ones I was looking for.  I added 11 species to my January list, and now I have 96 species this month and year.  I drove almost 200 miles and was out there for about six hours.  We have more rainy days coming this week, but it looks like tomorrow might be dry enough to do some birding, if I feel up to going out.

 

 

Sunday, January 10, 2021

 

Today I drove over to north Seattle.  My main targets were Eurasian Wigeon (Matthews Beach) and Cedar Waxwing (Magnuson Park).  If I had time, I planned to also try for Redhead at the Montlake Fill, next to the University of Washington sports complex.

 

I saw some wigeons at Matthews Park, but no Eurasian Wigeon.  At Magnuson Park, I drove along the lake front and got out my scope at one point to look at a flock of ducks way out on the lake.  They turned out to be scaup, but since I had my scope out, I scanned around.  I spotted a very distant WESTERN GREBE, one for my list.

 

After that, I parked, with the plan to visit the field with hawthorns, where Cedar Waxwings feed in the winter.  As I got out of the car I spotted a smallish hawk in a tree on the other side of the parking lot.  It was clearly an accipiter, either a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk.  I got close and got this picture.

 

The size was ambiguous, but the head looked to me like a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  When I got home and looked at my pictures on the computer, I wavered back and forth, but eventually decided to call it a Cooper's Hawk, which I had already counted this month.  The head still looks like a Sharp-shinned Hawk to me, but the tail says Cooper's, and I ended up going with that.  The nape would be the same color as the crown in a Sharp-shinned Hawk, too, and this one had a darker crown, compared to the nape.  Cooper's Hawks nest in Magnuson Park and are common there, but Sharp-shinned would be possible, too.

 

I moved on to the hawthorn field, but there weren't any waxwings around today.  While I was looking, another smallish raptor flew across the field and landed in a tree down the path.  I approached, thinking it might be the same hawk I had seen already, but it turned out to be a different bird.  The first one was an adult, and this one was a juvenile accipiter.  Again I took pictures and weighed the evidence.  When I left, I thought it might also be a Sharp-shinned Hawk (which is what I thought the first one was, at the time).  Here are some pictures of the juvenile accipiter.

 

 

 

Again I was torn.  The head looked like a Sharp-shinned Hawk to me, but the tail and other things said Cooper's.  I decided to call it a Cooper's Hawk, but I'm not completely sure.  The head sure looks more like a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

 

I gave up on the Cedar Waxwings, and drove to the Montlake Fill, behind Husky Stadium.  I set up my scope and looked at the ducks in the bay, and I found three male REDHEADS, an uncommon species that I hadn't expected to get this month.  There were two or three hundred American Wigeons, too, and I scanned them 2 or 3 times, but I couldn't find a Eurasian Wigeon in with them.  I walked a bit on the western edge of the Montlake Fill, but I saw only ducks I already had.  Here is a male Northern Shoveler.

 

Here is a male Northern Shoveler using his large bill to preen his feathers.

 

Here is a female Northern Shoveler.

 

Here is a different view of another female Northern Shoveler  This one has an orange bill.

 

At about that point, I added MARSH WREN to my January list.  I had played the song and one popped up and I got an excellent look at it.  Unfortunately, it didn't stick around for a picture, and I couldn't get it to show up a second time.  It was a nice one to get, though.

 

Here is a Pied-billed Grebe that was resting right next to the shore.

 

I gave it up after that and went home.  As I came in the driveway, there was a male Downy Woodpecker at the suet feeder.  I like this next picture because it shows how the bird uses its tail to brace itself on the feeder.  Woodpeckers have especially strong tail feathers, just so they can brace themselves while feeding on tree trunks (works for feeders, too).

 

A couple of Pine Siskins were feeding on one of the walkways, so I took their picture, too.

 

It has been a really huge year for Pine Siskins around this area.  Everyone has been reporting large flocks of them, and I see them everywhere I go this winter.  Pine Siskins are well known for their "irruptions", and this is an irruption year for them in the Pacific Northwest.

 

I added 3 more species to my January list today, and now I have 99 species for January and 2021.

 

 

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

 

It was sunny and windy this morning, and I went over to Marymoor Park for the first time this month.  I drove through the park, and as I was coming back through, I spotted a NORTHERN SHRIKE in a leafless tree.  I parked my car quickly and went back and got a couple of pictures of the Northern Shrike.

 

 

The light was coming from behind the bird, and I wanted to get closer, anyway, so I approached the tree.  I had to take my eye off the bird to negotiate a ditch, and when I looked up again, the bird was gone.  I was never able to locate it again, but I had my Northern Shrike for January.

 

I drove around some more and came on a group of KILLDEER, another one I still needed this month.  Here are some pictures of Killdeer, from quite close range.

 

 

I like this last one because it shows the caramel color of the rump.

 

Next I bought a parking ticket and went up on the viewing mound.  I was hoping for Western Meadowlark, Lincoln's Sparrow, or Purple Finch, all of which I have seen from there recently, but I saw none of them today.  Eventually I gave that up and drove to the community gardens, the second time I had driven through there today.  The male pheasant hangs out there a lot, but not today, I guess.

 

I drove down the north side of the gardens, and I thought the habitat looked possible for Lincoln's Sparrow or Pacific Wren, so I stopped two or three places and played those songs on my phone.  I never attracted a Lincoln's Sparrow, but at one stop, after I quit playing Pacific Wren songs, I heard a response.  I looked around, and I saw a PACIFIC WREN calling back to me.  Usually when I see Pacific Wren, I'm deep in a forest, and there isn't enough light for decent pictures, but today the bird was right out in the sun.  To make it even better, I was sitting in my car, so I could hold the camera steadier than if I was free standing.  I got some of the best pictures I have ever gotten of Pacific Wren.

 

Note the relatively short bill, the short tail, and the faint eyebrow.

 

 

 

I continued to play the song, and eventually a Bewick's Wren showed up as well.  Note the longer bill, the prominent eyebrow, the white throat, and the longer tail, compared to the Pacific Wren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was it for today.  Fittingly, it was Wrensday today, and I got pictures of two wren species.  I added 3 more species to my January and year lists, and now I have 102.  The weather is supposed to be good again tomorrow, and I hope to go across Puget Sound to the Kitsap Peninsula to look for sea birds.

 

 

Thursday, January 14, 2021

 

I got away "early" (for me) at about 8:45 this morning.  I caught the 9:35 ferry to the Kitsap Peninsula, and after picking up a sandwich at Subway in Kingston, I was at Point No Point about 10:30.  As I drove in, I saw a CALIFORNIA SCRUB-JAY, which was great.  California Scrub-Jays are uncommon in the Puget Sound region, but there has been a colony of them at Point No Point for several years.

 

I parked and looked out over the water.  There were hundreds of BONAPARTE'S GULLS out there, so that one went on my list.  Later I got this picture of a Bonaparte's Gull.

 

It is by far the smallest gull we get around here regularly.  In the summer they have black heads, but this is the winter plumage, with just that spot behind and below the eye.

 

I saw several pairs of MARBLED MURRELETS, too far out for pictures, and 2 or 3 RHINOCEROS AUKLETS as well.  There were lots of Horned Grebes around, a species I already had.  I saw a couple of little grebes that I thought looked different.  It is a difficult identification, and I am not certain of it, but I am calling those two little grebes EARED GREBES.  Here are some grebe pictures for comparison.  First, here is a Horned Grebe.

 

Here are some pictures of the ones I am calling Eared Grebes. The differences are in the head.

 

 

 

 

Here is another pair that I'm sure are Horned Grebes.

 

Here is one more Horned Grebe.

 

The heads of the Horned Grebes are longer, with shallower foreheads than those of the Eared Grebes, which are more rounded with steeper foreheads.  As I said, it is a close call, but I'm going with Eared Grebe for my lists.

 

Before I left Point No Point, I got this picture of a Bald Eagle in the sun.

 

Next I drove to Port Gamble and looked out over the water there.  I didn’t find any White-winged Scoters or Red-throated Loons, so I moved on across the Hood Canal Bridge to Oak Bay county park.  I couldn't find a Black Oystercatcher there, so I drove around to Indian Island county park and tried there.  No Black Oystercatcher there, either, but I did see a BELTED KINGFISHER on some jetty rocks, watching the channel.  I drove over to Marrowstone Island and up to Fort Flagler, hoping for Black Oystercatcher there.  No luck with that or anything else.  I headed back for the Kingston ferry, stopping again at Port Gamble and again coming up empty there.  I caught the 3:10 ferry out of Kingston and got home about 4:15.

 

I added 6 species to my January list, and now I have 108 species this month.

 

 

Friday, January 15, 2021

 

It rained overnight, but the rain was stopping by the time I headed out about 9:30.  My destination was Everett, about 25 minutes north of here.  A rare member of the woodpecker family has been seen at a particular spot for several weeks, and I decided to try for it.  Arriving at the site, I immediately spotted a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER for my list, but not the rare (for Washington state) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that people have been reporting.  I had read that both sapsuckers were using the sap wells on the same tree, but that the Red-breasted one usually chased away the Yellow-bellied one if they were both there.  Here is the Red-breasted Sapsucker.

 

 

I hung around for 30 or 40 minutes, but never saw the rarity.  Another birder and two photographers showed up, too; it is a well documented rarity by now.  After I gave that up, intending to come back later, I drove to the 10th St boat launch area, to look for a relatively uncommon (around here) gull I still needed.  Gulls roost in the parking lot at high tide, and some guys in a truck were feeding bread to the gulls, so I positioned myself to take a look at the gulls.  I was looking for a gull with light colored eyes, and this one got my attention.

 

 

That gull's eye is definitely lighter than most of the similar gulls' eyes, but I decided it wasn't quite light enough for me to count my target gull.  Later I spotted another gull with a sufficiently light colored eye, and I am calling it a HERRING GULL.

 

 

As for the first one, it might have been a Herring Gull, too, but more likely it was some kind of hybrid, since Herring Gulls hybridize with Glaucous-winged Gulls, and you can get all kinds of combinations of characteristics.  Anyway, I was quite pleased to add Herring Gull to my list.

 

I used the rest room there, and when I came out, I noticed an immature Bald Eagle perched over the rest room, being harassed by gulls.

 

 

I think it was a third year bird, meaning it was hatched in 2018.  It will get its white head and tail next year, in 2022.  Bald Eagles take four years to reach full maturity, and each year they have a different plumage.

 

While I was taking pictures of the eagle, I noticed a flock of BUSHTITS in a nearby tree.  That was another species I still needed.  They were in the sun, with the light behind me, and they stuck around a lot longer than Bushtits usually do.  I couldn't stop taking pictures, so here they are.

 

I think that one was a male, with a dark eye, although it is difficult to really see the eye color.  Here is a female Bushtit, with light colored eyes.

 

Here's a female Bushtit preening, showing her wing feathers.

 

Here's another female.

 

They feed in all kinds of positions, frequently hanging from branches.

 

 

Here is a male Bushtit, with dark eyes.

 

Here is another female.

 

Some of the Bushtits flew to the next tree, which was leafless.  Here are a couple of shots of a male Bushtit out in the open.

 

 

OK, enough with the Bushtits, you are thinking, so here is one final picture of a female Bushtit.

 

I finally tore myself away, and I drove back to the sapsucker site.  Unfortunately, the Red-breasted Sapsucker was still hanging around, and I didn't see the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker today.  Here are two more pictures of the Red-breasted Sapsucker.

 

 

So, I didn't get the rarity I was hoping for, but the Red-breasted Sapsucker was a nice consolation prize, and both Herring Gull and Bushtit were nice to get, too.  I added 3 species to my January list, and now I have 111 species this month.  I was pleased to get all the Bushtit pictures, too, as I find them to be very cute little birds.

 

 

Saturday, January 16, 2021

 

Today I went north again, up to Skagit county and north Whidbey Island.  My first birding stop was at Wylie Slough.  I tried for and didn't get Lincoln's Sparrow in my usual spot, but the Black Phoebe (which I got last week) was in its old spot near the entrance.  It's interesting because I was getting Black Phoebe every month until suddenly in October I couldn't find one at Wylie Slough.  I went many times to look, but never saw one in October, November, or December.  I would guess I unsuccessfully looked for one more than twenty times in those months.  Now in January, I have gone there twice and gotten it both times.  Go figure.  Here is a Black Phoebe, not a new one for January, but still it was nice to find it.

 

I did add a bird to my January and year lists, though - BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD.  I found one in a mixed flock of blackbirds and starlings, just outside the entrance to Wylie Slough.  As I drove up Wylie Road, leaving the reserve, there were some shorebirds in a partially flooded field.  My pictures of Greater Yellowlegs didn't come out, but here is a distant picture of a pair of Dunlin.

 

My next stop was Hayton Reserve.  I took my scope up on the dike and looked around.  I was hoping for shorebirds, since the tide was high, but I didn't see any.  I also didn't see any Snow Geese or a Peregrine Falcon, which I had been hoping for.  There were hundreds of American Wigeons there, and I scanned through them until I eventually found a male EURASIAN WIGEON, a vagrant that should be in Asia at this time of year.  As I drove out of Hayton Reserve, I stopped 2 or 3 times and played Lincoln's Sparrow songs, and at the last place I stopped, a LINCOLN'S SPARROW popped up and posed for me.

 

It was incredibly crowded everywhere I went today.  I suspect the pandemic has people getting out in nature at every opportunity, and they were out in force today, at every park and reserve I went to.  Cars kept coming by as I was trying to get pictures of the Lincoln's Sparrow, but the bird kept coming back, because I kept playing the song.  Here are a couple of more pictures of the Lincoln's Sparrow, taken between cars.

 

 

Next I drove to the house on the corner of Dodge Valley Road and Valentine Road, hoping to see Purple Finch.  On my way, along Dodge Valley Road, I spotted a raptor high in a tree, and I stopped to check it out.  I expected it to be a Red-tailed Hawk, but you never know, and you have to check everything.  It turned out to be a PEREGRINE FALCON, of all things.  I took some pictures, but the distance and the terrible light ruined almost all of them.  This was the only one I could salvage, with a lot of processing, and it is still poor.  Peregrine Falcon.

 

I saw House Finches at the feeder house, but no Purple Finches.  There wasn’t food in the feeders, but there were still some birds around, just no Purple Finches.  I had been watching for Snow Geese all day, and I never found a flock of them, nor any flying overhead.  That makes twice this month that I have been up there, and no Snow Geese.  Very unusual.  I wonder where they are hanging out these days.  There are thousands of them in the area, no doubt, but they tend to gather in very large flocks, and I haven't happened upon them yet this month.

 

Next I drove to the north end of Whidbey Island, looking for sea birds.  At Deception Pass State Park, there weren't any Black Oystercatchers, but there were many dozens of RED-THROATED LOONS out on the water.  I visited a place I hadn't ever been before, Moran Beach county park, but I didn't find my target species there.  The only sea bird I still needed was White-winged Scoter, other than Black Oystercatcher.  After eating my lunch, I moved on to West Beach county park, which is my best site on Whidbey for the scoter.  I looked around, but all I saw were Surf Scoters, grebes, loons, and a couple of Long-tailed Ducks (an excellent bird, but I already had it this month).  Eventually, when I was about to give it up, I spotted a distant male WHITE-WINGED SCOTER.  It was right at the limit of my scope, and I had to watch it for a couple of minutes before I got a clear look at its eye and bill, which made the identification for me.

 

I headed back toward home and stopped at Rosario Beach State Park in hopes of finding a Black Oystercatcher.  It was more crowded there than I have ever seen it, even in the summer, but I endured the crowds to look for the oystercatcher.  No luck.

 

I tried one more time on the way home, driving around March Point.  No luck there on the oystercatcher, either.  I had it every month last year, and I guess I'll have to go up to Skagit county and north Whidbey again this month, to try once more for it.  At March Point, I took this picture of a pair of Hooded Mergansers.  The male is the more colorful one.

 

I stopped again at the house on the corner of Dodge Valley Road and Valentine Road, but again didn't get Purple Finch.  I took this picture of a Golden-crowned Sparrow, though.

 

Here is a White-crowned Sparrow.

 

For the first year, at least, young White-crowned Sparrows have very different coloration on their heads.  Here are two pictures of immature White-crowned Sparrows.

 

 

I stopped once more at Wylie Slough, but I didn't get anything else.  I added 6 species to my January list, and now I have 117 species this month.  There aren't very many more that I am likely to get this month, but I can try for a few.  In 2018, I got 133 species in January, but there were a lot of rarities around that month, and I got 10 or 12 of them.  In 2019, I got 131 species, with only 2 or 3 rarities, but I don't know how I did that.  I need to take a look and compare that month to this month.  Last year, I had 118 species, and I should be able to get a couple more this month to beat that, anyway.  I need to make some target lists and plan where to go.  It appears we have a stretch of good weather for the next several days, so maybe I can get something.

 

 

Monday, January 18, 2021

 

Today I went north again, to Skagit county and north Whidbey Island.  My main goal was Black Oystercatcher, and I had four sites to check for that species.  After picking up a sandwich at Subway, my first stop was Wylie Slough.  I saw a Black Phoebe there, the third time this month, after not finding one for the last three months of 2020.  I also got this picture of a group of Dunlin in a field.

 

My next stop was the house on the corner of Dodge Valley Road and Valentine Road.  I was looking for Purple Finch, but the closest I came was House Finch.  Here is a picture of two members of the finch family, a Pine Siskin on the left and a male House Finch on the right.

 

There were some California Quail around, but they kept moving quickly and were almost always hidden from view.  I managed to get just one picture of a male California Quail, and it is only his head, sticking up over the ridge of a little hill.

 

From there I drove to Deception Pass State Park, with a quick stop near Padilla Bay to look for a rare Prairie Falcon that has been reported there.  I dipped on the falcon, but at West Beach in the state park, I found BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS.  I counted 7 of them, but after a while they starting calling loudly and then took off and flew away.  I counted 9 of them as they flew off.  Here are some Black Oystercatcher pictures.

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the rock just offshore where the oystercatchers were hanging out.

 

It was great to get the oystercatcher at my first site for them, because then I had extra time to look for a rarity later in the afternoon.  Skipping my other oystercatcher sites, I drove by the Prairie Falcon site, but again I missed it.  I tried the Valentine Road house again, and this time I got lucky and found this male PURPLE FINCH.

 

For comparison, here is a male House Finch, which is similar.

 

Here is a picture of a pair of Purple Finches.  The female is the brown bird on the right.

 

I stopped at Hayton Reserve and went up on the dike, but I didn't find anything I needed.  The tide was going out, and there were many hundreds of Dunlin on the mud, but I couldn't find any other shorebirds with them.  I drove to Wylie Slough and again found a Black Phoebe.  This time I got some good pictures.

 

 

 

 

Because I had found the Black Oystercatcher so easily at my first site, I had extra time, and I used it to look for Snow Geese and a rarity around Stanwood.  I found the large flock of SNOW GEESE just west of Stanwood, so that one went on my list.  I drove to Eide Road to look for the "toasted marshmallow" rarity that has been hanging out around there.  They have refurbished the area and built a nice walkway along a dike.  There were lots of people out there walking today.  Here is a shot of the dike trail, which is about 0.6 miles each way.

 

The bay on the right used to be a field, but they opened the old dike and now it is a tidal bay.  The tide was medium high today.  In the late summer, it is an excellent place for shorebirds.  The rarity I was looking for has been found about 3/4 of the way out on the trail, so I walked a bit.  As I got closer, it was easy to see where the bird was - all I had to do was look for the photographers.

 

I imagine there were photographers there all day today, and all weekend as well.  When I got there, they pointed out the bird to me, and at first I had a hard time seeing it.  The reason I had a hard time is that it was so close!  It was maybe only 8 or 10 feet off the path, just eating grass seeds and calmly moving around, while people snapped pictures and looked at it.  It was completely unfazed by the attention it was getting.  I stuck around for about ten minutes, taking pictures, and I took about 50 of them.  Here are five of my best shots of the "toasted marshmallow" rare (for this area) SNOW BUNTING.

 

 

 

 

 

Is that a little cutie, or what?

 

So, it was a very successful day, considering how many species I already had this month.  I added 4 more species to my January list today, and now I have 121 species this month.  There are 3 or 4 species I have a reasonable chance to add still this month, but I don't know if I will even bother going out looking, as none of them is exactly likely.  We'll see if I feel like chasing something.