November 2021

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Monday, November 1, 2021

A new month and a new list. I got Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Steller's Jay, and American Crow here at home before I left to head north to the Everett area, which is about 20 minutes north of home. My first stop was the 12 St NE wetland, just north of the Everett Sewage Treatment Plant ponds. The wetland had dried out last month, due to our dry summer, and I am glad to report that it is filling up with water again. No shorebirds there today, but I added Green-winged Teal to my November list. I also saw a Northern Flicker there. On my way to the main pond of the treatment plant, I saw some Eurasian Collared-Doves on wires.

At the main pond, when I got out of my car to scan for ducks, a Northern Harrier flew over. With my scope, I added a lot of ducks - Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Mallard, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Duck. I also got Bonaparte's Gull and American Coot. Since I had had good luck with Marsh Wren yesterday in Edmonds, I tried playing Marsh Wren songs in several places. In about the 4th or 5th place I tried today, a Marsh Wren flew in and posed for me.

The poses in the first and third picture are almost identical, but they are two separate shots, taken about a minute apart. I was pleased to get Marsh Wren, since that species is difficult for me to get in the fall and winter. As I drove away from there, I saw some Canada Geese in a field, so that one went on my list. A group of five of the Canada Geese seemed smaller to me, so I took pictures. There used to be 9 subspecies of Canada Goose in this country. They varied in size and other characteristics. A few years ago, the species was split, and the 6 largest subspecies continued to be called Canada Goose, while the three smallest species became a new species called Cackling Goose. I think the smaller geese I saw today were small Canada Geese, as opposed to Cackling Geese, but I took pictures in case I learn something new someday. Here is the group of smaller Canada Geese.

Those five were calling, and they took off as a group and flew away. Here are two of the larger Canada Geese that stayed behind. Both pictures are the same scale, shown full frame, so the size comparison is fair.

The five geese are definitely smaller than the two larger ones, but I think they were all Canada Geese, just different subspecies. Cackling Geese would be smaller still and would have shorter necks and bills than either one of these groups.

On the way to my next stop, Port Gardner Bay, I saw a couple of Bald Eagles on a tower. At the bay, I added Double Crested Cormorant and Dunlin, a small shorebird. There was a larger flock of Dunlin that kept flying around. I also saw some American Wigeons, another species of duck.

At the boat launch parking lot, there were some gulls roosting, as usual, so I looked through them to identify species. I know they are all just "seagulls" to most people, but the various gull species aren't that hard to identify for the most part, although gulls are complicated by the fact that they take 3 or 4 years to reach maturity and have different plumage each year. Mostly I ignore the immature ones. Anyway, today I found at least one Herring Gull, an uncommon species around here that I have to see closely to identify. I identify them by their size, their pink legs, their black wing tips, and by the fact that they have light yellow eyes. Here is what I believe is a Herring Gull.

Here is a close-up shot of the eye, with its light color and yellowish-orange orbital ring.

Here is a California Gull, with yellow legs, medium size, and a bill with both a red and black spot on it.

The black smudging on both of those species is part of their winter plumage. In the summer, they would have all white heads. Here is a Ring-billed Gull, with a yellow eye, yellow legs, and a ring around the end of its bill.

There is one local species of gull that I have a difficult time with, and that's what is now called Iceland Gull. It used to be two species, Thayer's Gull and Iceland Gull, and they were combined a few years ago and are all called Iceland Gulls now. Here is a gull that I think might be an Iceland Gull, but I'm not sure enough of it to count it.

I don't know what else it could be other than an Iceland Gull, unless it is a hybrid of some kind, but I'm not counting it.

Here is another gull I'm not sure of.

It could be a Herring Gull or maybe a hybrid between Herring Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull. Here is a close-up of its head.

The eye is light colored, but not as light as the Herring Gull I showed before. Here is another picture of what I do think is a Herring Gull.

I think that is the same Herring Gull I showed earlier.

Here is an immature gull that I am calling a third winter Iceland Gull.

The short legs, the short horn-colored bill with the sub-terminal dark band, and the rounded head are what I am looking at in calling it an Iceland Gull. The legs are supposed to be pink, but everything else looks like Iceland Gull to me, in its third winter, which means it was hatched in the summer of 2019. I don't normally even try to identify immature gulls, but this one seemed so different to me that I looked it up.

Here is one more immature gull, which I normally wouldn't even pay any attention to.

I think it is a juvenile Herring Gull, meaning it was hatched in the summer of 2021. It could be a juvenile Iceland Gull, though. Fortunately, it doesn't matter because I saw both of those species today, anyway, and I feel good about both of those identifications.

I said earlier that local gulls are fairly easy to identify, and it is ironic that I then saw both local species that I have difficulty with - Herring Gull and Iceland Gull. Both are uncommon around here, and I don't see either one of them very often. It is only the third time I have identified Iceland Gull this year, and only the fourth time I have identified Herring Gull. The six common gull species I see here are much easier for me to identify, at least in their adult plumages.

So, I ended up with 30 species today, to start my November list. Marsh Wren, Herring Gull, and Iceland Gull are all excellent ones to get, so I think it was a successful start to the month. We have some rainy weather coming up again, but I hope to fit in some birding in between storms.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Today I went on my monthly quest for American Dipper. I only see them two places locally, and sometimes it takes a couple, or even three visits to see one, so I like to do it early in the month. I drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley, near the town of Carnation. As I drove across the valley, I added Golden-crowned Sparrow to my list, and then some Trumpeter Swans flew over and called, so I knew which of our two swan species they were. I saw a couple of Great Blue Herons flying, so that one went on my list, too.

Approaching Sikes Lake, there were two or three dozen gulls in a flooded field, and they turned out to be Short-billed Gulls. That was one of the two local gull species I still needed, after my gull-fest yesterday up in Everett. Here is a Short-billed Gull (formerly called Mew Gull).

There was a large flock of blackbirds there, too, and I added Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, and European Starling to my list. At the pond at Chinook Bend, I added Ring-necked Duck to my list. My pictures taken there were poor, but I got a couple of pictures of the species later in the day, and I'll show them later in the report.

At one point, a Spotted Towhee flew across the road, and I added that one to my list. I got nothing at the house in Carnation with feeders. I assume a hawk had been around, and all the birds had taken shelter. I picked up a sandwich at the Carnation Market and drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River, after fruitlessly stopping at the Tolt River bridge in an attempt to see a dipper. At the Blue Heron golf course, I got the pictures of Ring-necked Ducks that I had referred to earlier in the report. They swam away from me when I got out of the car to take their picture, and here are two male Ring-necked Ducks swimming away from me.

Here are all four male Ring-necked Ducks as they swam away. Note that one of them kept snoozing with his head under his wing, as he kept up with the others.

There were a couple of Pied-billed Grebes there, too, so that one went on my list. Here is a Pied-billed Grebe.

The pond along that road had much higher water than I have ever seen there before, and there were three male Hooded Mergansers there. Here are two pictures of male Hooded Mergansers, another species for my list.

I stopped a couple of times and played sparrow songs, but all I could attract was a Pacific Wren, which surprised me. I have never seen one in that habitat before, but I was glad to put it on my list.

I drove up to Tokul Creek, my best site for American Dipper. I didn't see any, though, after hanging around for ten or fifteen minutes. Last month I had missed seeing them at first, too, but I had eaten my lunch in the car and after I ate, I saw a dipper. I tried the same strategy today, and I ate my delicious ham and salami sandwich in my car. After I ate, I went back to the bridge. At first I saw nothing, but then I spotted a dipper flying, way upstream. It landed once so I could be certain of my identification, and then another one joined it, and they both flew down the creek and under the bridge I was standing on, then out of sight downstream. At least I thought they had both flown downstream. Then I noticed a dipper not too far downstream of the bridge. I don’t know if it was one of the two that had flown down the creek or another one, but I watched it as it made its way upstream, back toward me. Here are some pictures I took as it approached the bridge.

As it approached it kept foraging for food, under the water. Here is a picture of it with its head underwater, looking for food.

It kept getting closer, and I kept taking pictures.

Eventually it was almost right underneath me.

It flew off upstream, under the bridge, and I moved on. It was great that my eating lunch strategy had worked a second time. Now superstition will require me to do that every time I miss it from now on. I'll have to be sure to have a lunch with me when I go there. It's great to have that one under my belt, because it's almost an hour's drive to get to that location, and now I won't have to go back this month.

As I drove back up to Carnation, there was a flock of two or three dozen Snow Geese next to the road. I'll see them up in Skagit county, I'm sure, but now that species is on my November list. Back at the house in Carnation with feeders, I picked up House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, and Anna's Hummingbird for my list. It started to rain as I headed across the valley towards home, but I got House Sparrow near the river crossing. Just north of Sikes Lake there was an American Kestrel on a wire, but it was raining too much to try for a picture. I don't mind a little rain coming into the car, but if I had turned my camera lens up to get a picture of it, I would have had rain drops on the lens. I drove home in the rain, and here at home I added both Black-capped Chickadee and Chestnut-backed Chickadee to my list, at our feeder.

Most of the ones I got today were common birds, but I had a nice outing, and my dipper quest was successful, so it was a good day. I added 21 species to my November list, and now I have 51 species this month. It looks like the rain storm today will be gone by tomorrow morning, and I hope to have another little interval between storms to do some birding tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

We had another little storm overnight, but again it was dry this morning. I took advantage of the interlude between storms and went up to the Edmonds area today. I stopped at the house in Lake Forest Park where I have traditionally gotten Band-tailed Pigeons, but not today. More on that later.

Next I stopped at Deer Creek Park in the town of Woodway and played Brown Creeper songs. No luck with that, either. I moved on to my quail site in Woodway. I got nothing there, either. I was 0 for 3.

I drove to the Edmonds waterfront and walked out on the pier with my scope. My main target there was Surfbird, an uncommon shorebird that hangs out on rocky shores. I had seen three of them there last week. I soon added Horned Grebe and Red-necked Grebe to my November list. Here is a Horned Grebe.

Here is a slightly larger Red-necked Grebe.

I still needed one local gull, and I added Heermann's Gull to my list and got this next picture.

I guess I don't have Western Gull, either, but it is pretty uncommon around here, and I haven't seen one since February. I added Rhinoceros Auklet to my list, and got these next two pictures.

There were some Surf Scoters, too, over near the ferry dock. I also added Pelagic Cormorant. Then I spotted my target species, Surfbird. There were some Black Turnstones with them, too. They were foraging on the breakwater, near the end of the pier. I ended up seeing at least 6 Surfbirds and at least 3 Black Turnstones. Here is a Surfbird.

Here is a Black Turnstone.

Here is a Surfbird and a Black Turnstone in the same picture.

Here's a shot of two Black Turnstones and a Surfbird.

Here is another picture of a Surfbird.

Here are two Surfbirds.

And here is one final image of a Surfbird.

I went back to my car and drove up to Sunset Avenue. There I added Red-breasted Merganser, Harlequin Duck, and Pigeon Guillemot. There were two or three dozen Pacific Loons out there, too, in groups of 5 or 10 or so. Pacific Loons seem to hang out in groups, maybe only when they are migrating, like they are now. They were in various stages of molting from breeding plumage to winter plumage.

I drove up to Ocean Avenue, but all I added there was a single female Common Merganser. Here is a distant picture of her.

I could have headed for home then, but instead I went back to my quail site in Woodway. A small flock of small birds flew away from the feeders there and landed in a small tree. They turned out to be Pine Siskins, a species that was very common last winter, but I hadn't seen them much lately. Here are a couple of Pine Siskins, one I was happy to add to my list.

I got back in my car and was about ready to leave when a single California Quail came scurrying across the grass from the feeder area to the shrubs. Success! I have had that species every month so far this year, but it is never easy, and I am always glad to get it. Before I left, I pulled into the driveway and took these next pictures of one of the feeders. Here are Pine Siskins.

Here is a male House Finch, a species I already had this month.

My last picture today is another Pine Siskin.

I made one more stop, at Kayu Kayu Ac Park in Richmond Beach. I was hoping for Barrow's Goldeneye, but didn't see any. I got a distant view of a Belted Kingfisher at the oil pier, and later I saw a Common Loon out on the water. Those were the last two species I added to my list today.

I made one more stop on the way home at the house in Lake Forest Park where I have seen Band-tailed Pigeons so often. I got nothing again. It looks like there is a structure of some kind, maybe a garden shed, where they had their bird feeding table that attracted the Band-tailed Pigeons, and I suspect they don’t put out seed for the pigeons any more. If that is the case, then I have lost my best place to get that species, and I won't be getting it as often. I see them in Carnation at the house there with feeders, but not so much in the winter. They used to be year round in Lake Forest Park. I rarely see them anywhere else but those two feeder houses, so it is going to be tough going forward, I'm afraid.

I ended up with 17 species today, and now I have 68 this month so far. I think tomorrow is going to be too rainy for birding, and maybe the next day or two after that, but we will see.

Friday, November 5, 2021

We had another little break in the series of rainstorms this morning, and I went over to Marymoor Park. I drove along the edge of the community gardens and then walked along the slough a bit, but it was cold and windy and I saw nothing interesting. I drove over to the east parking lot for the dog park and saw a flock of hundreds of Cackling Geese out on one of the soccer fields.

I don't know if you can see the geese in that picture, so here's a zoomed shot of part of the flock.

In addition to Cackling Goose, I added Killdeer to my November list on that field. I walked up on the viewing mound and saw a Western Meadowlark at the top of a tree, and that was another one for my list.

I played sparrow songs and a male Spotted Towhee perched up for me. I had that one already, but here is a picture.

A Fox Sparrow responded to its song, and I got this picture of another species I needed.

The meadowlark hung around, but the bright sky behind it made pictures difficult, so I walked down off the mound and around closer to the tree. Here are three more pictures of the Western Meadowlark from various angles.

That was all I got today. I added 4 more species to my November list, and now I have 72 species this month. More rain is on the way, for the next week.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Today I went north to Skagit county, which is about an hour north of home. My first stop was Wylie Slough. As I approached the reserve, I saw a Common Raven (which I needed for November still) being harassed by a couple of raptors. One of them turned out to be a female Northern Harrier, and I got this picture when she landed.

I already had the harrier this month, but the other raptor turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon, and I needed that one still. Here is the Peregrine Falcon.

It was nice of both of them to land and pose for me like that. I looked for Black Phoebe at Wylie Slough, but I didn’t find one today. The tide was very high and it was windy, so I didn't stick around long. I didn't see anything at Hayton Reserve either, and again the wind make using my scope difficult. As I left, I got this picture I like of an immature Bald Eagle at the top of a tree.

I drove along Maupin Road, and as I was approaching Rawlins Road, there were some swans fairly near the road. Both species of swan that we get here are just starting to come back now, and I had Trumpeter Swan (the more common one) already this month. The little flock on Maupin Road were Tundra Swans, though, and I was happy to get that one. Now I don't have to stop and scrutinize every swan I see to determine which species it is, for the rest of this month. Here are a couple of Tundra Swans, with their telltale little yellow mark on the bill, just in front of the eye.

I got out at the north fork access to look for Northern Shrike and Short-eared Owl, but I saw nothing of interest there. On the way back up Rawlins Road, I got this picture of a male American Kestrel, which I already had this month.

Next I drove to the house at the corner of Valentine Road and Dodge Valley Road to check out the feeders there. I saw a Mourning Dove for my list, but not a Purple Finch, as I had hoped. Here's a picture of a White-crowned Sparrow, which I didn't need.

I saw Red-tailed Hawks several times today, and I needed that one. At the house on Valentine Road (Rancho Valentine), the big suet feeder was full, and birds were coming to it. Here is a Black-capped Chickadee.

Here's a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Here is another Black-capped Chickadee picture.

A Northern Flicker flew to the suet. It was an intergrade male, a cross between the two subspecies of Northern Flicker we get here. Almost all of the flickers I see around here are red-shafted ones, but there are yellow-shafted ones east of the Rockies and up in Alaska. This one is a mixture of the two subspecies. The red mark on the back of its head is the difference.

A pure yellow-shafted one would have a black malar stripe, rather than the red one that this one has. It would also be yellow under the tail and wings, rather than orange, like this one.

I had the chickadees and the flicker already, but I got Red-breasted Nuthatch there for my list, and also Downy Woodpecker. Here is a female Downy Woodpecker.

Here is a male Downy Woodpecker.

I moved on from there, heading up to the Samish Flats. On the way I noticed that the valley was in the shade of the clouds, but the sun was shining on Mount Baker, so I took this picture.

There was a small flock of Snow Geese in a field along the road on the Samish Flats, and I took this picture of some Snow Geese coming in for a landing.

The darker birds are juveniles, hatched this year up in the arctic, and the white ones are adults. I saw a very dark goose, and got this picture of it.

There is a dark morph of Snow Goose, but they have a white head. I learned today that juvenile dark morph Snow Geese look like this bird. I only see dark morph Snow Geese about once a year, if that often, so it was notable to see a juvenile one today.

At the East 90, I parked and watched the fields while I ate half my sandwich. I was rewarded when a Short-eared Owl came along. Here is a picture of it flying away from me.

You can't see its head in that picture, but that is partly because when they fly, they look like they don't even have a head. Here is a picture of that same Short-eared Owl flying right across my field of view.

It looks like it doesn't even have a neck or head - the face seems to be on the front of a barrel shaped body. You can see the yellow feet in the back. Here is another picture.

I needed that species, and I was very glad to get it because they aren't very common. They hunt in the day time, though, so if you go to the right place, you can see them if you are patient.

There is a well-known, very visible, very large Bald Eagle nest near the East 90, and two eagles seem to have staked a claim to it for the upcoming breeding season.

Bald Eagles usually lay their eggs in January around here, but I have noticed eagles laying claim to nests all around the area already. I don't know how they work out who gets to use which nest. That particular nest has been there for many years, getting bigger all the time.

I headed back toward the West 90 and Samish Island, and found another one of my targets along the way. Here is a Rough-legged Hawk.

Note the feathers on the legs, which give the species its common name. I noticed when I processed the pictures that the bird has a band on its right leg. Here is a close crop, showing the feathers on the legs and the band on the right leg.

I drove on to Samish Island and looked for sea birds from the overlook park. I added White-winged Scoter to my list, and I got this picture of a female.

I saw a few other birds on the water, but the only other one I needed was a distant flock of Brant, which is a small goose that is just now starting to return from its breeding grounds.

I headed back toward home and as I approached the West 90, I saw a hawk on a pole. I thought it was probably a Red-tailed Hawk, but it seemed kind of thin and long for that. I also saw the streaking on the breast, and it didn't look right for Red-tailed Hawk either. I pulled over to try for a picture, but before I could get the shot, the hawk took off. When it did, I could see the long tail, and I realized it was a Cooper's Hawk, another species I needed. That was the last species I got for my list today, but I got some more pictures at Rancho Valentine and at the house on the corner of Valentine Road and Dodge Valley Road. Here is a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Here's a Fox Sparrow.

Some California Quail came around, too. I have seen them there before a couple of times, but not often. The light was pretty low, with the end of daylight savings time, but I got some low light pictures of the quail. Here is a female California Quail.

Here is a male California Quail, looking back over his shoulder.

I stopped again at Wylie Slough, but I still couldn't find a Black Phoebe. It seemed to me like I didn't see many birds today, but I still managed to get a number of species I needed. I added 12 more species today, and now I have 84 species this month. We have more rain and wind in the forecast, but I'll continue to try to find intervals to look for birds.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Yesterday was quite windy in the morning and the afternoon had more wind and also showers. I had a lunch appointment up in Everett, and I stopped at the Everett Sewage Treatment ponds, in spite of the winds. The tide was high, and Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers roost along one side of the main pond at high tide, so I picked up Black-bellied Plover for my list. That brought me to 85 species this month, after yesterday.

Today I drove up to Skagit county again, with the intention of driving around to the north end of Whidbey Island. At Wylie Slough, I again couldn't find a Black Phoebe, but I did see an American Robin, a species I still hadn't seen yet this month. I got nothing at either house with feeders on Valentine Road, and I drove to Whidbey Island. On the way, I took this picture of a Red-tailed Hawk, while I was waiting for the traffic light at Best Road and Highway 20.

Once on Whidbey Island, at Deception Pass State Park, Black Oystercatchers were roosting on the rock where I have seen them before at high tide. Black Oystercatcher was one of my primary targets for the day. I counted 51 Black Oystercatchers there, most of them snoozing. I can't remember ever seeing anywhere near that many Black Oystercatchers in one place before. Here are three pictures of some of the Black Oystercatchers.

Here's a shot of the rock they were roosting on, waiting for the tide to go out so they could forage for food again.

I set up my scope and looked around, and there were birds out on the water. I added Red-throated Loon and Common Murre to my list - two excellent species. I hadn't seen Common Murre since February and Red-throated Loon since May.

Next I drove to Dugualla Bay. From Frostad Road, I spotted the rare (for this area) Great Egret that has been reported there recently, another excellent one for my list. That was another one of my primary targets for the day. Here is a distant picture of the Great Egret.

From Dike Road, I saw 8 Greater Yellowlegs, with a dozen or so Dunlin. I needed Greater Yellowlegs, but I had Dunlin already.

I drove to what I call the west coast of north Whidbey Island. From the pullout near Joseph Whidbey State Park, I saw a couple of Long-tailed Ducks, another excellent one to get for my list. I didn't add anything new at West Beach county park or Hastie Lake county park beach access, but I ate the first half of my Subway tuna sandwich. At Libbey Beach I saw a couple more Long-tailed Ducks, and I also added Brandt's Cormorant to my list. After that I headed back toward the mainland and home, eating the second half of my sandwich as I drove.

On my way across the Skagit Flats, I detoured along Valentine Road. At the house called Rancho Valentine, I didn't see anything I needed, but I took some pictures. Here is a Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Here's a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Here's the Red-breasted Nuthatch with both local chickadee species, Chestnut-backed on the left and Black-capped on the right.

At Hayton Reserve, there were many hundreds of Dunlin busily foraging in the mud as the tide went out. I looked through them for other shorebirds, but didn't find anything but Dunlin, which I already had. Here are four Dunlin.

I searched through the many American Wigeons in the bay, but I couldn't find any Eurasian Wigeons. As I was leaving Hayton Reserve, I thought I could see a bird at the top of a tree. I got my binoculars on it, and it turned out to be a juvenile Northern Shrike, another excellent one for my list. Here are two distant pictures of the juvenile Northern Shrike.

I tried again for Black Phoebe at Wylie Slough, and I dipped on it again. I got this picture of a Bald Eagle in the afternoon sunshine, though.

All day long I had been searching through the large flocks of starlings for Brown-headed Cowbird, and there was a large flock on the way to the freeway. Over 95% of the flocks were always starlings, but there were usually a few Red-winged Blackbirds and a few Brewer's Blackbirds mixed in with them. Finally I spotted a male Brown-headed Cowbird on a wire. The lighting was terrible, but I got this picture of my first Brown-headed Cowbird of the month.

Brown-headed Cowbirds are quite uncommon around here in the winter, so I was happy to find one today.

I ended up driving 195 miles today, and I was out there for about 7 hours. I added 10 more to my November list, which was an excellent total for this stage of the month. With the Black-bellied Plover from yesterday and today's 10 species, I now have 95 species in November. There is still more rain in the forecast, and I'll continue to try to find openings between the storms to get out there to look for birds.

Friday, November 12, 2021

Yesterday, Thursday, it rained all day. I didn't go out, but a Bewick's Wren came to our suet feeder, and I happened to be looking out the window at the right time. That was one for my November list, and it brought me to 96 species this month, at the end of the day yesterday.

Today it rained all day again, but I was tired of sitting in the house, and I drove through Marymoor Park and out to the Snoqualmie Valley. I didn't add anything at Marymoor. Going across the valley, I saw a Cooper's Hawk and a very wet American Kestrel, but I had those two species already this month, and they didn't sit still for pictures. At the house in Carnation with the feeders, there wasn't much around, but I sat in the car and waited. Just as I saw a single American Goldfinch (which I needed), a flock of a couple of dozen Pine Siskins flew in. Here is a picture of two of the Pine Siskins and the American Goldfinch at the big seed feeder.

In case you can't tell, the goldfinch is the one on the right. Here is another shot of Pine Siskins and the American Goldfinch.

The goldfinch is in the upper right in that picture. Here's a shot of Pine Siskins, who are very aggressive around feeders.

This next picture shows three members of the finch family.

The bird in the middle is a male House Finch, and the one in the lower left is the American Goldfinch. The others are Pine Siskins, which are also finches. Here is another shot taken right after that last one.

I had been hoping to see Band-tailed Pigeons there, but they have probably all gone south for the winter. A Cooper's Hawk came dashing through, and all the birds took off. I think the Cooper's Hawk had a small bird in its talons as it flew off, but I'm not sure.

I gave it up after that and drove home. This afternoon I happened to be looking at the suet feeder when at least 2 or 3 Bushtits showed up. I got one terrible picture to record that November species for my list.

The birds are learning to eat from the suet feeder, and I watched Dark-eyed Juncos and Black-capped Chickadees coming to it. Here is a Black-capped Chickadee at the suet feeder.

A male Northern Flicker came in and ate for a while, too.

That was it for today. I added two more species to my list today, which is pretty good for a rainy day. I saw two Cooper's Hawks, too, which is notable. After two days of rainy day birding, I now I have 98 species this month. Tomorrow morning there is supposed to be a break in the rain storms, but then the next two days after that are supposed to be solid rain again. I'll see if I can something I need tomorrow morning.

Saturday, November 13, 2021

We had our forecasted break in the rain today, so I went over to Seattle. My first stop was the house in Lake Forest Park where I have always gone for Band-tailed Pigeon. I missed them the last few times I was there, and I was thinking maybe the people had stopped feeding them. I went by today anyway, and by golly, there they were. Band-tailed Pigeons were at the top of one of the tall evergreen trees behind the house. Here is a mediocre picture of one of them preening, showing its tail with the black band that gives the species their name

I moved on to Matthews Beach, on Lake Washington in Northeast Seattle. I was looking for Eurasian Wigeon, but I didn't find one. Here is a male American Wigeon.

A Eurasian Wigeon would have a red head. I moved on to Magnuson Park, just down the road. I spotted a single Western Grebe way out on the lake, so that one went on my list. I walked around and used my scope, but I wasn't able to add anything else there. I had been hoping for Cedar Waxwing there, as well as a number of other possible species I need still. From the north shore beach, I took this picture of a Horned Grebe.

I thought it might have been an Eared Grebe, but I think it was only the more common Horned Grebe.

I stopped again at Matthews Beach on the way home, but there still wasn't a Eurasian Wigeon around. This afternoon, after lunch, I went down to Juanita Beach Park and picked up Wilson's Snipe and Wood Duck for my list. Here is a female Wood Duck.

Here is a male Wood Duck in breeding plumage.

I couldn't see anything else out on the lake, so I drove over to the fire station road at Juanita Bay Park. I couldn't call up a Virginia Rail, but I did see a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets for my list.

It was a gloomy, dark day, but I added 5 more species to my November list today, and now I have 103 species this month. Now we are supposed to get two more days of solid rain, all day long. After that, I should be able to get out there again.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Sunday was a rainy day, but I ventured out, anyway. I stopped at Matthews Beach to look for Eurasian Wigeon, but dipped. At Magnuson Park, the rain had turned to drizzle, and although it was quite windy, I walked around looking for Cedar Waxwings and ducks. I took this picture of people flying kites in the drizzle, on the aptly named Kite Hill at Magnuson Park.

I didn't see much at all there, so I drove to the University of Washington marina and looked out over Union Bay for ducks. There was a large raft of ducks out there, and I scanned through them, ignoring the drizzle. My scope has an extendable hood, and with the wind coming from behind me, I was able to search through the ducks. I didn't find any of the species I needed, but I did see a hybrid wigeon that seemed to be a cross between an American Wigeon and a Eurasian Wigeon. Hybrids aren't separate species, thought, so I don’t count them. After that I gave it up and went home.

On Monday it was very windy and rainy again. I went up to Everett to have lunch with a friend, but it was just too windy and rainy to look for birds either before or after lunch. In the afternoon at home, you could see a beautiful rainbow from our back porch. The picture doesn't begin to do it justice, but here it is.

The other end of the rainbow was visible from my bedroom, and here is a picture taken through the dirty window. Again, the rainbow was much brighter and more vivid than the picture.

So, no birds on Sunday or Monday. Today I went up to the Edmonds area. My first stop was Deer Creek Park in the town of Woodway. I played Brown Creeper songs and walked in the woods. Eventually I saw a Brown Creeper for my November list. The light was very poor in the woods, but here is my best shot of the Brown Creeper.

I saw a Douglas Squirrel and took its picture.

Douglas Squirrel is a native to this area, unlike the non-native Eastern Gray Squirrels that are very common around here. It is somewhat smaller than the Eastern Gray Squirrel and it is much browner. They aren't very common and I don’t see them often.

As I was leaving, I noticed this buck near the parking lot.

A doe was nearby, too.

They seemed to be very accustomed to people and watched me, but didn't run away or even move away.

I drove to Kayu Kayu Ac Park in Richmond Beach. I was hoping for Barrow's Goldeneye there, but didn't see any. There were birds out on the water, though, and I spotted a distant one that looked interesting. The waves were moving it up and down, and it was diving, but after watching it for 5 minutes or so, I decided it was a Marbled Murrelet, a very good one to get for my November list. I have other places to look for Barrow's Goldeneye, and getting the murrelet was an excellent tradeoff for me.

Next I drove to Sunset Avenue, just north of the ferry terminal in Edmonds. I missed Barrow's Goldeneye there, too, but I did see three Black Scoters in the distance. That is about my only place to get Black Scoter, and it was a good one to add to my November list. I shouldn't have to go back to Edmonds again now, this month.

I drove up to Ocean Avenue, and I found another one for my list. Here is a picture of two female Common Goldeneyes and a Brant, which is a small goose that is a winter resident here. I had Brant already this month, but Common Goldeneye was an excellent one to get.

There were four Common Goldeneyes, and here are three of them taking off, with two Brant in the background.

I had Bufflehead already this month, but I took some pictures. Here are two male Buffleheads and a female.

Here is a different pair of Buffleheads.

It was nice to get out in the sun, after the series of rain storms we have had. I added 4 more species to my November list today, and now I have 107 species. My goal is to reach 120 this month, and it is going to be a challenge.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The rain is gone, and we had sunny weather today, although it was only 31 degrees outside when I got up.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning, but after that I went down to Juanita Bay Park. I walked the fire station road and got a response from a Virginia Rail to my playback of its call. That was one for my list.

After that, I drove across the street to the main parking lot and played Golden-crowned Kinglet calls just west of the parking lot. Two Golden-crowned Kinglets flew in, so that one went on my list, too. I tried for pictures, but they never stayed still enough, and eventually I gave up. Those two species bring me to 109 this month.

Thursday, November 18, 2021

It was dry this morning, so I went over to northeast Seattle. I stopped at Matthews Beach and this time I found a male Eurasian Wigeon in the flock of coots and wigeons. I needed that one. Here's a shot of a male American Wigeon and a male Eurasian Wigeon, along with some American Coots.

The American Wigeon is the duck with the green stripe on his head on the left, and the Eurasian Wigeon n the right has a red head. Here is another picture of the two species.

In this shot, the American Wigeon is closer to the camera, with his bill in the water, and the Eurasian Wigeon is on the far side of him.

I looked out over the lake with my scope and spotted 15 or 20 Barrow's Goldeneyes, both males and female. Most of them were snoozing, with their heads tucked under their wings, but one male looked up and gave me a good look at the crescent shaped white patch on his face. I was quite pleased to be leaving there with two species for my list. I don't recall seeing Barrow's Goldeneye on Lake Washington before, but a birder I saw at Matthews Beach last week told me that he lives on the lake near there, and he feeds a flock of Barrow's Goldeneyes, so I was looking for them. He said they had been around for about three weeks.

I drove next door to Magnuson Park. I went down the road towards the off-leash dog park, and I saw some robins and Cedar Waxwings in the trees. Cedar Waxwings have mostly migrated south by now, but a few stick around for the winter. I needed that one for my November list, so I had species number three for the day. I couldn't get a good picture of a Cedar Waxwing, but here are two that have the head partially obscured.

I drove over to the swimming beach, in the main part of the park. There was a flock of Scaup out on the water, so I looked at them and took pictures. Here is a picture of what I think was a couple of male Lesser Scaup.

The one in front has progressed further into breeding plumage, so the side is whiter. There are two species of scaup locally, Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup. The differences are minor, and I always struggle to identify the two species. I think this next picture has at least one Greater Scaup in it - the one with the white side.

The shape of the head is the main way to tell the difference between the two species, although at this time of year, Greater Scaup has whiter sides, I think. Anyway, after looking at a lot of pictures in my field guides and online, I am counting Greater Scaup today, for my November list. I looked on eBird tonight, and another birder had counted 2 Greater Scaup there this morning, along with Lesser Scaup, so I felt better about my call. Other birder have counted a few Greater Scaup there too, recently.

I put my scope in the car and walked around, looking for Lincoln's Sparrow and hoping to get better pictures of Cedar Waxwings. I got neither of those things, but I had a nice walk around part of the park. Here is a female House Finch.

Later I took this picture of a Golden-crowned Sparrow.

I saw a couple of Fox Sparrows at one point, but they wouldn't come out of the brush for a picture. As I came back to my car, I saw a long-tailed hawk in a tree. It was medium size, so it could have been either a female Sharp-shinned Hawk or a male Cooper's Hawk. (In both species, females are significantly larger than males.) As I got closer, I took pictures, but the light was poor and I was still pretty far away.

That picture looks to me more like a Sharp-shinned Hawk than a Cooper's Hawk. The tail seems to have squared off corners; the head is rounded, not flat; and the forehead is steep, meeting the bill at an angle, rather than forming a continuous line. Here is my best shot, from closer.

In that one the tail seems more rounded, but the forehead is still steep and the head still looks more rounded than flat. Overall, I think it looks more like a Sharp-shinned Hawk than a Cooper's Hawk, so I'm counting it as such for my November list. It has more of a "wide-eyed" look than a "fierce" look, I think, which is another thing to look for.

That was it for today. It was time to head for home, and I stopped on the way and got my car washed, only the second time I have done that since I got it in late July. It will soon get dirty, with our winter weather, but at least it will be clean for a few days, according to the weather forecast and my plans.

I'm not completely happy with my Greater Scaup identification, but I hope to see more Greater Scaup tomorrow. I'm unlikely to see another Sharp-shinned Hawk, but I feel reasonably good about that identification. With those two semi-questionable calls, I got 5 species for my list today, which was outstanding. Now I have 114 species this month. My goal is still 120, and it will still be a challenge, but getting Sharp-shinned Hawk will help. I hadn't expected that one this month.

Friday, November 19, 2021

Today I went north to the Marysville/Everett area, which is about a half hour north of home. My first stop was Tulalip Bay, on the coast of Puget Sound. I was looking for Ruddy Turnstone, a rare (for this area) shorebird that feeds on rocky shores. There have been one or two of them reported there for a month or more. I had found one in October, my first Ruddy Turnstone of the year.

First I tried from the place on the shore at the youth center. I could see Black Turnstones across the bay, with some Dunlin mixed in with them. I couldn't find a Ruddy Turnstone, but they look a lot like Black Turnstones, and the distance was great. I moved on to the marina, but it was the same story - I could make out Black Turnstones, but I wasn't sure I would have been able to distinguish a Ruddy Turnstone at that distance, even if I found one. I tried one more place, with the same results. I decided to drive around to the other side of the bay, in the hopes they would be visible from there.

On the other side of the bay, I was indeed able to see at least some of the Black Turnstones and Dunlin, and they were quite a bit closer. Eventually I found one Ruddy Turnstone, so that very desirable bird went on my November list.

As I was leaving the area, I was scanning the tops of evergreen trees because I had seen a Merlin there a couple of months ago. I saw a bird at the top of one of the tall evergreen trees, so I turned around and parked where I could get a view of it. I figured it would be robin, but it was indeed a cute little Merlin. Here is a distant picture of the Merlin in challenging light.

That was another excellent one for my November list. It flew off, and as I pulled away, I noticed an eagle, lower down in the same tree. Here is a shot of the immature Bald Eagle.

With those two excellent birds under my belt, I headed back into Marysville. At Jennings Park, where I have seen California Scrub-Jay in the past, although not so often recently, I parked and executed my plan. I had seen a woman feeding peanuts to jays there last month - both Steller's Jays and a California Scrub-Jay. I had brought along a baggie of peanuts in the shell today, and I sat on the same bench the woman had sat on and threw a few peanuts out on the grass. I also played some jay calls. It only took a couple of minutes, and a couple of Steller's Jays flew in and cautiously took the peanuts. I took pictures and threw out more peanuts as needed, hoping a California Scrub-Jay would come along. Here are some pictures of Steller's Jays.

One of the things that Steller's Jays do is pick up a peanut, move it around in their bill, and then discard it and pick up another one. Maybe they are just looking for one they like, but I wonder if they are looking for one they can hold just right so they can pick up two peanuts and fly off with them. The way the jay in that last picture is holding the peanut, it looks to me like it wants to pick up a second one.

One of the jays flew into a nearby tree and posed for me, while it waited for me to throw more peanuts.

It was partly cloudy, and the last pictures were in the sun. Here is a picture of a Steller's Jay on the ground in the sun.

After about fifteen minutes or so, I was getting ready to give it up and leave, and a California Scrub-Jay flew in. It was more cautious than the Steller's Jays, and I never got a picture of it on the ground. It would grab a peanut and fly off immediately. I got this picture of a California Scrub-Jay in a nearby tree, though.

Here is another California Scrub-Jay picture with a different perspective on the bird. I love to see birds' feet for some reason.

Eventually, there were two California Scrub-Jays and four Steller's Jays. Here are two Steller's Jays in one shot.

When my baggie of peanuts was empty, I moved on, glad to see that maybe I have a reliable place for California Scrub-Jay again. I love it when a plan comes together.

I stopped at the 12th St NE wetlands, but there wasn't anything interesting there. That was all the birding I did today.

I was very pleased to add 3 excellent species to my November list today, which gives me 117 species this month now. I have a much better shot at hitting my target of 120 species this month now. I was planning on going up to Skagit county this weekend, but I read some things that indicate that maybe the recent flooding was worse than I thought, and maybe my birding sites up there are closed or inaccessible. We will see. If I can't visit my Skagit sites, I probably won't make the 120 goal.

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Today I started at Marymoor Park. I drove along the side of the community gardens, hoping to see or hear the pheasant, or maybe find a Lincoln's Sparrow. I didn't get either one of those, but I did get this picture of a White-crowned Sparrow.

I drove over to the viewing mound and played Lincoln's Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow songs. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet came by, so I played its song so I could try for pictures, although I had that species this month. Typically, it wouldn't sit still, but I got this picture of it as it took off one time. Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

As it flew around, I noticed a Fox Sparrow quietly eating old blackberries and I got this picture of it back in the brambles.

I got one more decent picture of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Eventually I saw a Lincoln's Sparrow, which I needed, but I couldn’t get a picture.

After that I drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley, near Fall City. There is a veal farm across the river from the end of Neal Road, and there are always lots of blackbirds there, of various species. Recently birders have been reporting a Great-tailed Grackle there, a major rarity in this state. I drove there and found 4 or 5 other birders looking for it. I got out my camp chair and sat there for almost an hour, but no one had seen it today, when I left at noon. Some Snow Geese flew overhead, and I got this picture of two of them.

In case you can't tell, they are flying away from us, to our right. The long narrow end is the head. Here is another shot of more of them.

While we were watching the flock of blackbirds, hoping to see the grackle, a juvenile Cooper's Hawk flew in and scared them away. Here is a very distant picture of the juvenile Cooper's Hawk.

For a long time there were no blackbirds around, even after the hawk flew off. Eventually they started to come back, and here is a picture of some of the blackbirds sitting in a tree, getting up their nerve to continue feeding on the ground.

A male Great-tailed Grackle is somewhat larger than those blackbirds, black, and has a big tail, as its name implies. I think someone would have spotted it if it was still around this morning. After almost an hour, I gave it up and headed home for lunch. As I left that spot, I saw some Trumpeter Swans in a flooded field and took this picture.

Lincoln's Sparrow was my new November species today, and now I have 118 species this month. I haven't decided yet whether to go up to Skagit county tomorrow or not. I'll see how I feel about it in the morning.

Sunday, November 21, 2021

I felt like making one last try at my goal of 120 species this month, so I headed up to Skagit county this morning, about an hour north of home. After picking up a sandwich at Subway, my first stop was Wylie Slough. I wanted Black Phoebe, a rarity in our area, except around Wylie Slough. I used to get it pretty easily there, but lately it has been elusive. It was elusive again today. I walked out on the dike and at the duck blind, I took these pictures of a female Hooded Merganser, which I had already this month.

She can raise and lower her crest at will, and in that last picture, it was down. A short time later, she had it partly up again.

At little farther down the path, there were some Purple Finches feeding on berries in a tree. That was one of my four target species for the day. Here is a male Purple Finch.

Here's a female Purple Finch.

There were Cedar Waxwings in the same tree and the one behind it. Most of them were juveniles, and here is one of the juvenile Cedar Waxwings.

Here are two more pictures of male Purple Finches, maybe the same bird.

There were several Spotted Towhees around, and this male Spotted Towhee was displaying or something, showing me his spread out tail.

I looked around some more for Black Phoebe, and then moved on to Hayton Reserve. The tide was out there, and I saw nothing. I was interested to see they had cut down a long line of blackberry brambles and small trees, along one of the dikes. It changed the view, and it will be interesting to see if they do anything else, or just let every thing grow back. Meanwhile, a lot of bird habitat is gone. It was cloudy there at that time, but Mount Baker was in the sun, so I took this picture of the mountain.

Next I drove up to the town of Lyman, where I have regularly seen Barn Owl in the barn of a birding acquaintance by the name of Gary. I had been in touch with Gary this week about the flooding up there and the Barn Owl, and he told me that the Barn Owl wasn't nearly as reliable lately. He only saw it about half the time this month. His barn had flooded last Monday, with a foot of water, but it was okay by today. I didn't find the owl, and that was a big blow to my chances of reaching my target of 120 species this month.

I drove back to Wylie Slough, eating half my sandwich as I drove. Again I dipped on the Black Phoebe, although I sat there and ate the second half of my sandwich and played its song. After I gave up on the Black Phoebe (another big blow to my chances of reaching my goal of 120 species this month), I drove to Eide Road, just west of Stanwood. Someone had reported Semipalmated Plover there yesterday, but I didn't see any. There were a couple of flocks of Dunlin flying around, and I took this picture of some of the Dunlin, in terrible light.

The only other shorebird I saw there was Greater Yellowlegs, which I already had. Here are a couple of fairly distant pictures of Greater Yellowlegs, in the same lousy lighting conditions.

That was it for today. I added Purple Finch to my list, and now I have 119 species, just one short of my goal.

You would think that with nine days left in the month, it would be easy to reach 120 or surpass it. The weather forecast is poor for the rest of the month, with only a few little dry spells forecasted, but the biggest problem is that there are just so few species left to get. I could drive clear up to Skagit county again (the weather forecast for Wednesday is maybe good enough), but that is a heck of a lot of driving for a chance at a couple of species that are difficult (Black Phoebe and Barn Owl). There are some species I can look for closer to home, but none of them are likely, and there is still the weather issue. We will see. Maybe my birding is over for the month.

Monday, November 22, 2021

The weather surprised me this morning, and it was forecasted to be dry here until at least noon. I took advantage of that and executed a different kind of plan. There are three woodpecker species that I could theoretically see down at my local park, Juanita Bay Park - Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, and Red--breasted Sapsucker. All are pretty unlikely, but there was another possibility as well.

Starting in the spring this year, a male Mandarin Duck has been reported in Juanita Bay, off and on. That would be a huge rarity around here, but the general consensus is that the bird is probably an escapee from a collection somewhere. It probably isn't officially "countable" here. It was originally an Asian species, and these days there are populations in China and Japan. The bird is very colorful and is often found in collections around the world. Mandarin Duck has established countable populations in England and in a couple of places in California, from escapees who breed in the wild. I saw the species and counted it for my life list in Orange county, California, way back in 2000, and I saw them in England, too, in 2010. I hadn't gone looking for the duck this year, but it has been seen in the last week very close to the places I go in the park, so I went down there today to see if I could find it.

I walked out on the east boardwalk, where it had been seen as recently as yesterday, but I couldn't find it. I gave up, but I decided to stop on the way home at Juanita Beach Park, on the north side of the bay. I took my scope out to the dock and looked around. I didn't see it on my first pass along the eastern shore of the bay, but I made another sweep, and the second time I spotted it in the distance. I had a good scope view of the male MANDARIN DUCK, but it was way too far away for pictures. I took some pictures anyway, and here is the best one. The male Mandarin Duck is the colored blob in the middle of the picture.

I realize that is useless, but it does show the colors of the bird. Just to show how colorful the bird is, here is a picture, TAKEN BY SOMEONE ELSE LAST WEEK, of the male Mandarin Duck at Juanita Bay.

Again, I DIDN'T TAKE THAT PICTURE - ANOTHER BIRDER DID, LAST WEEK. I don't usually show other people's pictures, but this duck is so colorful that I am making an exception today. I sure wish I had been able to get that close to the duck. Maybe I can still do so. If it has stuck around for 6 or 7 months already, maybe it will be still be around next month, and I can try for a close picture then.

It is debatable whether I should count it or not, since it is probably an escapee, but it could have flown here from California. In their native habitat, they do migrate north-south, so maybe this one was answering some call in his genes to fly north and ended up here. So, it is definitely questionable, but I am counting it.

At home this afternoon, I took pictures of male and female Dark-eyed Juncos, to show the differences. Here is a male Dark-eyed Junco.

Here is a female Dark-eyed Junco, with her much lighter hood and bib.

Dark-eyed Juncos are the most common birds in our yard there days, other than pigeons, which I try to ignore.

My dicey decision to count Mandarin Duck brings my November list to 120 species, thus reaching my goal. There will probably be other dry spells before the end of the month, and I could go back to Juanita Bay Park looking for those three woodpecker species, but I might not bother, since they are all quite unlikely. The Mandarin Duck was a year bird, of course, and now I have 257 species this year.

Monday, November 29, 2021

The weather has been wet and windy, and I stayed home for a week. Today there was a break in the weather and there were several species that I needed that had been reported in the last few days, up at the Everett Sewage Treatment Plant. I decided to go for it, and see if I could find any of them.

One of the species was American White Pelican, which is quite uncommon around here in late November. One had been hanging out there for several days, and I found it easily this morning, right were it has been reported to have been lately. It was snoozing, with its head tucked under a wing, but here is a picture, anyway.

There were many hundreds of ducks out on the pond, maybe even two or three thousand. It is a huge pond, and from the south end, I could only see a fraction of them, but I would have had to do some walking to see the ones at the other end. I didn't want to do that, so I looked around the south end of the pond with my scope. One of the very common species was Northern Shoveler, and I took these next two picture that show a male and female Northern Shoveler. The male is the more colorful one, as usual with ducks.

One of the duck species I was hoping to see is a rarity in the US. I scanned the ducks I could see, and I was very fortunate to find the male TUFTED DUCK fairly soon. I wasn't able to get a distant picture, but I drove back to the parking area, which was closer to where I had seen it. Again I was fortunate and I found it again. Here is the male Tufted Duck with two scaup.

The Tufted Duck is the one on the left with the little tuft of feathers on the back of its head. You could only see the tuft part of the time, when the duck turned just the right way. The rest of the time you could still tell which one it was because his back is black, rather than gray, like the scaup's backs are. Here is another picture that shows the tuft of feathers on the back of the head.

Again you can see the black back, compared to the gray backs of the scaup. Tufted Duck is a Eurasian species, but a few of them show up here in the US each year. I had seen the species only twice before that I can remember offhand, and it has been several years since the last time I saw one. I had been reading about it for several days, but the weather was terrible and it was usually in the north part of the pond, which would have required more walking than I was willing to do. I didn't think I could find it among the many hundreds or thousands of ducks on the pond, so I didn't try when the weather was bad. Today the weather was dry with not much wind, though, and I was quite fortunate to find it close to the south end of the pond. Here is one more picture of the Tufted Duck with a scaup.

There are two species of scaup around here, and they are very similar. The best way to tell the difference is the shape of the head. Here are two scaup, and I think that the one on the left is a Lesser Scaup and the one on the right is a Greater Scaup.

One has its neck extended, but that's immaterial. The shape of the head is what you look for. The head of Lesser Scaup is "tall" and peaks in the back. The head of Greater Scaup is "long" and more rounded, with the peak in the middle or toward the front of the head. It is always a challenge to distinguish between the two species, and I'm sure I get it wrong sometimes.

There were some Bonaparte's Gulls near the shore, too. I think they are a very cute little gull, so I took this picture.

During the breeding season, they have a black hood, but in the winter they just have that spot behind the eye. On the left is a Short-billed Gull (formerly called Mew Gull), which is a small gull, but the Bonaparte's Gulls are quite a bit smaller than the Short-billed Gull.

I looked around for Eared Grebe and Redhead (a duck species), both of which had been reported in the last few days, but couldn't find either one at the south end of the pond. I drove back to where the pelican had been, and it was still there, snoozing away. There is a path along the edge of the pond, on the other side of a fence, and when a truck came along that path, I noticed the pelican looked up. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture, though, and it went back to sleeping. I looked unsuccessfully some more for Eared Grebe and Redhead, and as I was about ready to leave, I noticed another truck coming along the path. I got set up, and sure enough when the truck passed, the pelican woke up and looked around. Here is a series of pictures of the American White Pelican, just after the truck had driven by. First is a picture of it just before the truck came along, though.

The truck went by, and the pelican looked up.

Then it started to get up to stretch.

It stood up tall for a few seconds.

Then it pulled in its neck.

Then it sat down again.

Finally, it tucked its long bill under its wing and went back to its nap.

I think the darkish coloration on the back of the neck and the wings indicates that it was a juvenile bird, hatched this year. All of its buddies are off in California or Mexico now, but this one seems to have stayed behind for some reason. Maybe it will hang around for a few more days, and I can count it for my December list, too.

I drove on the end of the road and there was an immature Bald Eagle in one of the dead trees where I often see raptors. I couldn't decide which of these two pictures I like better (and neither is very good), so here are two shots of the immature Bald Eagle.

That was it for today. I added two more species to my November list, after thinking I was probably done for the month. Now I have 122 species for November. The rare Tufted Duck was new for my year list, of course, and now I have 258 different species this year. I doubt that I'll go out birding tomorrow, since it is supposed to rain all morning and into the afternoon.