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Monday, August 1, 2022

 

Before I left home, I started my August list with Feral Pigeon and American Crow.  Normally on the first of a new month, I like to go looking for as many species as I can get, but today I tried something different.  There has been an immature Brown Pelican at the Edmonds marina for the last week or two, and I wanted to try to get it for my August list, since Brown Pelican is quite uncommon around here, and it could leave at any time.  My first stop was my Woodway site for quail, and I dipped there (got no quail).  I did add Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, House Finch, and Northern Flicker as I sat in my car for 15 minutes and watched and listened for quail.

 

After that, I drove to the Edmonds marina.  The immature Brown Pelican, and a companion that had shown up a couple of days ago, were sitting on the south jetty.  Here is a shot of those two birds.

 

One was preening and one was snoozing.  The one that was preening stretched out its impressive wing.

 

I moved around to a different vantage point and took this picture of the immature Brown Pelican preening.

 

Here's a picture of it when it wasn't preening, for a change.

 

In front of the pelican, there is a Heermann's Gull snoozing, another one for my list today.  In this last picture, there is another Heermann's Gull flying past, and the one in front woke up.

 

After that, I drove up to Sunset Avenue, but all I got from there for my list was Pigeon Guillemot.  It was remarkably un-birdy out on the water today.  As I drove away from there, I saw a White-crowned Sparrow on a wire, so that one went on my August list.  I tried Ocean Avenue, but saw nothing at all there other than some unidentified gulls in the distance.

 

I went out to lunch with a friend in Everett, and after lunch I stopped by Port Gardner Bay on the Everett waterfront.  All I got there was Mallard, Great Blue Heron, and Osprey, along with more gulls too distant to identify.  Next I drove to 12 St NE, north of the Everett sewage treatment plant and I walked up on the dike.  There were Tree Swallows flying around and some Killdeer.  On my way to my next stop, I saw a flock of European Starlings.  My final stop was the Everett sewage treatment plant.  I didn't see any ducks except Mallards, but I added Barn Swallow , Canada Goose, and Red-tailed Hawk to my August list.

 

I ended up with 19 species for August, and 14 of them were repeaters.  I'm starting off August with 186 species in 2022.  A slow start for the month, but I got my pelican, which was my goal today.  Our record stretch of six 90 degree plus days in a row finally ended, and today it was "only" in the mid-80's, which is still too hot for my liking.

 

 

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

 

Before I left home this morning, I added Steller's Jay and Anna's Hummingbird to my August list.  My first birding stop was the Redmond Retention Ponds.  I was looking for a female Blue-winged Teal that my birding buddy Hank had seen a couple of days ago.  I thought I had found it, and I took pictures, but when I got home and looked at the pictures, they didn't seem to show a Blue-winged Teal.  I either took pictures of the wrong bird, or I was just wrong.  At any rate, I didn't count it.

 

My next stop was the Redmond Watershed Preserve.  I saw a couple of juvenile Hood Mergansers on the entry pond, and then I parked and walked on the trail.  I eventually got a response from a Pacific Wren, but I couldn't lure it out into the open.  It went on my list as a "heard only" species.  The call I heard back was unmistakable.  I saw a cute little Douglas Squirrel, which is a native squirrel, unlike the  introduced Eastern Gray Squirrels that are everywhere.  It is much smaller than the Eastern Grays, too.  Here is a picture of the native Douglas Squirrel.

 

I had other opportunities for better shots, but there was very little light in the forest, and this was the only one that came out.

 

I moved on, and as I drove across the Snoqualmie Valley, I saw a Willow Flycatcher on a wire.

 

 

Shortly after that, I saw a Turkey Vulture overhead, for my list.  I added House Sparrow, then there was a male Lazuli Bunting on a wire, but it was in a location where I couldn't stop for a picture.  At the pond at Chinook Bend, I added Gadwall to my list.

 

I saw quite a few swallows today, which was great, because the swallows will all be migrating south soon and most will leave before the end of August.  Here is a Barn Swallow, which I had gotten yesterday, on a wire.

 

I added Spotted Sandpiper, and there were swallows swooping around over the river at Chinook Bend.  I thought I was able to identify two species I needed, but as it turned out, there were a number of swallows on wires where I turned around, and I got some pictures.  Here is a Violet-green Swallow, one for my August list.

 

Here is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, another one I needed still.

 

That was an excellent one to get, but best of all, I got this picture of a Bank Swallow.

 

Both Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Bank Swallow are brown, and those pictures make them look gray, but it must just be an artifact of the camera and the back-lighting.  I saw them over the river, and they were brown.

 

I drove on in to Carnation, where there was a big detour for roadwork.  At the "old" house with feeders, I added American Goldfinch to my list.  At the "new" feeder house, a bunch of sunflowers have grown up to block the view of some of the feeders, and the rest of the garden has grown a lot, too.  I could still see some of the feeders, and I got some pictures and some birds for my list.  Here's a female Red-winged Blackbird, which I needed.

 

Here is another one I needed, a Black-headed Grosbeak.  I think it was an immature male, but I don't understand why the bill is that orange-red color.

 

Here's a Pine Siskin, another one for my list.

 

I needed Purple Finch, too, and here is a female Purple Finch.

 

Here is another Black-headed Grosbeak with an orange bill, or maybe it is the same bird as before.

 

Here's a Black-headed Grosbeak with a normal colored bill.

 

This next picture is an adult male Black-headed Grosbeak, and he has a red bill, too, when it should look like the bill in the last picture.

 

I wonder if the bill color is an indication of a disease of some kind.  Here are two Black-headed Grosbeaks.  I often see birds eject a stream of liquid poop when they are perched or flying, but this is the first time I have captured it in an image.

 

Here are those two birds a moment later, again showing a comparison of bill color.

 

Here's a female American Goldfinch in a tree.

 

She had just turned away and was taking off, so I didn't get her head very well.  You can see that her feet have left the branch.  Here is the only Dark-eyed Junco I saw today.

 

Here's a shot of a female House Finch, a female House Sparrow, and a Black-headed Grosbeak (from left to right).

 

That grosbeak, which I would guess is an immature male, has a normal colored bill.  Here is one last picture from that location, a female House Sparrow, probably the same one that was in the last picture.

 

Next I stopped at the bridge over the Tolt River, south of Carnation, to look for American Dipper.  There were people on the beach there, and no dippers that I saw.  I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River from there, and up to Tokul Creek, to look for dipper up there.  I couldn't find a dipper there, either, so I found a shady spot and ate my lunch in the car.  I went back to the bridge over Tokul Creek after I ate, and I got there just in time to see an American Dipper on the downstream side of the bridge.  I had a good close look for 20 or 30 seconds, but it never stayed still long enough for a picture.  It disappeared under the bridge, and I never saw it again.  I'm disappointed not to get a picture, but I have lots of dipper pictures, and at least I got it for my August list.

 

After that, I headed for home.  I took a different route home, and I stopped at the north end of Lake Sammamish to look for Purple Martin.  There are nest boxes there, and I was hoping that some Purple Martins would still be around.  I spotted just one, but I saw it perched and also flying around, so it went on my list.  There was also a Bald Eagle sitting on a pole, and I needed that one for August, too.

 

I drove through Marymoor Park, but I didn't see anything I needed.  Mainly I was hoping to see Lonesome George, the Ring-necked Pheasant that hangs out there, but I didn't see him.  There was an Osprey on each of the two nests in the park, but I didn't see any youngsters.  I regularly see four Osprey nests, and I haven't seen any young Ospreys in any of them this year.  Last year all four of those nests fledged at least two youngsters each.  Here is an Osprey at Marymoor today.

 

It was a successful day of birding today since I got my American Dipper.  I also saw several other good species.  I added 23 species to my August list, to give me 42 species in August now.  Fourteen of those were repeaters, and I have 42 of my 70 repeaters now.

 

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

 

This morning I went over to Marymoor Park.  I drove through the park looking for the pheasant, but I didn't see him.  I parked and walked along the slough.  I soon saw a Belted Kingfisher flying, so it went on my August list.  I also saw some American Robins, another one I hadn’t seen yet this month.  I already had Bald Eagle, but this immature Bald Eagle flew in and posed for me.

 

I walked a bit, but I didn't see anything else I needed.  As I got back closer to my car, I spotted this bird on a branch, in the distance.

 

Here it is from the back.

 

I couldn't identify it, but my best guess is juvenile European Starling.  It doesn't seem quite right for starling, though.  Whatever it was, I think it was a juvenile.

 

I saw a little bird across the dry eastern channel of the slough, and eventually I was able to see it was a female Common Yellowthroat, another one I still needed for August.  I saw a flycatcher, too, but it was distant, and my pictures are not good enough to identify it.  I would guess it was a Willow Flycatcher, which I got yesterday, but it could have been a Pacific-slope Flycatcher.  There were a couple of Killdeer, one I got on Monday, in the dry eastern channel of the slough, so I took their pictures.

 

 

I gave that up and drove around to the rowing club pond.  There was nothing on the pond I needed, but I played the song of Western Tanager because I had seen one there a couple of weeks ago, and it had been responsive to its song.  After a minute or two, I heard a response.  I thought it was a Western Tanager, and I used the bird sound ID app, Merlin, to confirm that, since I am so bad with bird calls.  Eventually I saw it, but it stayed too far back in the leaves for a picture.  Still, it was an excellent August bird that I very well might not have gotten this month.

 

I added 4 species to my August list, and 2 of them were repeaters.  Now I have 46 species in August, and 30 of them are repeaters.

 

 

Friday, August 5, 2022

 

Today I went down to Juanita Bay Park, my local park.  I walked part of the fire station road, but I got nothing.  I drove across to the main part of the park, and I tried playing bird songs for three species near the parking lot, but I got no responses.  Next I walked out into the park, and onto the east boardwalk.  At the base of the boardwalk, I added Black-capped Chickadee to my August list.  Out at the end of the boardwalk, I spotted some American Coots and a Pied-billed Grebe, both of which I needed.  I was glad to see a Pied-billed Grebe in the park, after not seeing them there for a couple of months.  Oddly, the grebe actually got out of the water briefly, and I got this distant picture.

 

I very rarely see Pied-billed Grebe out of the water.

 

I walked back toward my car, and I got this picture of a male Downy Woodpecker for my list.

 

I tried playing Virginia Rail calls, but got no response.  Then I spotted a black and white bird back in the bushes.  At first I thought it was a chickadee, but it turned out to be my first BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER of the year.  I couldn't lure it out into the open, but I got these two pictures of it back in the greenery.

 

 

I was going to leave, but instead I walked to the west boardwalk.  A Cooper's Hawk flew through, and I got a good enough look at it to identify it to my satisfaction.  That was an excellent one for my list. 

 

I didn't get anything else I needed, but I did get a series of pictures of a Great Blue Heron that caught a mammal, a muskrat, I think.  I thought the muskrat was too big for the heron to swallow, but I took this series of pictures that proved me wrong.

 

 

 

 

Doesn't that look a little large for the Great Blue Heron?  Great Blue Herons don't pick apart their prey, they swallow it whole.

 

The heron kept putting the muskrat down and it seemed to be pecking at it, maybe to break the bones or soften it up for swallowing.  Here the heron finally started getting the muskrat in position to swallow it.

 

 

That seems to be quite a mouthful for the Great Blue Heron.  It just kept working on getting it down.

 

 

Almost there now.

 

 

It's looking like the heron is going to be able to swallow the muskrat.

 

The muskrat is in the heron's throat now.  It wasn't quite down completely yet, though.  In this next picture, the end of the tail is sticking out of the heron's bill.

 

Here is one last shot, with the tip of the muskrat's tail still not completely in the heron's mouth.

 

Great Blue Herons must have a strong digestive tract to digest the whole muskrat - fur, bones, teeth, and all.  That was interesting to watch, and I didn't stick around to see what the heron did next. 

 

Back at the parking lot, I played a couple of birds' songs, and a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches flew in to check me out.  Here are three pictures of Red-breasted Nuthatch, my last August bird of the day.

 

 

 

I added 7 more species to my August list today, and now I have 53 this month.  Five of those were repeaters, and now I have 35 of my 70 repeaters this month.  Black-throated Gray Warbler was new for the year for me, and now I have 187 species in 2022.

 

 

Saturday, August 6, 2022

 

Today I went up to Skagit county to look for shorebirds and assorted other birds.  My first stop was Davis Slough, on Leque Island, west of Stanwood.  The only shorebirds there were a couple of Long-billed Dowitchers, which I needed for August.  Here are pictures of the two Long-billed Dowitchers.

 

 

The tip of that long bill is actually prehensile, and they use it to grasp little creatures under the mud when they probe.

 

 

The tide was too far out and I didn't stop at Eide Road, but I planned to come back later in the day.  I drove up to Hayton Reserve, on Fir Island, and took my scope up on the dike.  The tide was coming in, which was what I wanted to see.  I found the Tundra Swan that has been hanging around there, out of season, but I couldn't find the Cackling Goose that has also been hanging out there with the larger Canada Geese.  There were few shorebirds, but I did add Western Sandpiper to my list.  I saw some little sandpipers that I wanted to say were Semipalmated Sandpipers, but in the end, I couldn't justify counting them as such.  They look very much like Western Sandpipers, and I didn't feel comfortable making the identification today, with the looks I had.  I kept scanning the Canada Geese, but I never found the Cackling Goose.  On one scan, I did spot a Greater Yellowlegs, which went on my list.  Then, as I was leaving, a single Lesser Yellowlegs flew over me from the slough to the west, and it landed where I could see it.  It was a bit distant for pictures, though, and none of mine came out good.  It was still a good one for my list.

 

I moved on to Valentine Road.  There were very few birds at the house with feeders on the corner of Dodge Valley Road, and the big suet feeder at Rancho Valentine was empty, so there was nothing around there.  As I drove back by the house on the corner, I spotted two Cedar Waxwings in a tree, so that one went on my list.  I stopped again where I could see the feeders, but there were still very few birds around.  A couple of Mourning Doves flew out of a tree, though, and I got this picture of one of them in a distant tree.

 

That was a nice one for my list.  At that point, I headed back toward home.  I ate my Subway sandwich and some potato crisps as I drove back to Leque Island.  Normally, I would have stopped at Wylie Slough, my best shorebird spot during migration, but it is closed for two months to work on the dike.  That will likely impact my total this month, as there are other birds I can get there, as well as shorebirds.  On my way to Leque Island, a Common Raven, which I needed, flew over the road.

 

At Davis Slough again, the dowitchers I had seen in the morning were gone, but there were two Bonaparte's Gulls, which I needed.  Here is one of the Bonaparte's Gulls.

 

There was also a Spotted Sandpiper there, a species I had seen already this month.  Here's a distant picture of the Spotted Sandpiper.

 

The tide was higher than it had been in the morning, so I stopped at Eide Road.  There were shorebirds, but they were too far away to identify, with all the heat haze from the afternoon sun.  I did pick up Brewer's Blackbird and Savannah Sparrow, though, for my list.  Cliff Swallows were still going to and from their nests under the highway bridge, and that was the last one I needed of the seven swallow species we get locally.  Since the swallows are already leaving on migration, it was good to finish them off early in the month.  I also added Caspian Tern to my list, with a scan around the wetland area.

 

All in all, it wasn't a great day of birding, but it wasn't terrible, either.  I added 13 species to my August list, to bring me to 66 species now this month.  Six of the ones today were repeaters, and now I have 41 of my 70 repeaters this month.  My year list still stands at 187 species.

 

 

Sunday, August 7, 2022

 

Before I get into today's birding adventure, I want to mention some things I forgot to mention yesterday.  For my own records, I like to record my gas and mileage information when I go up to Skagit county.  Yesterday I drove about 126 miles and according to my car, I got 26.2 mpg.  I filled up with 15.5 gallons of gas at my favorite Indian gas station, for $4.159 per gallon.  At the next offramp to the north, Shell was $4.299 cash and Chevron was $4.359 cash.  Being able to use my Costco/Citibank credit card gets me 4% cash back, so my net price for comparison was $3.993 per gallon.  I like to keep track of such things, and these reports are a convenient way to do that.  Now we can return to our regular programming.

 

Today I went down to Juanita Bay Park to look for "little birds".  Near the parking lot, I played songs for several species, but none of them showed up.  A Bewick's Wren did show up, though, and I needed that little bird, too.  Here are a couple of pictures of the oddly colored Bewick's Wren.

 

 

It might have been a juvenile, molting into its adult plumage, which would be darker.

 

I walked out onto the causeway and played Virginia Rail calls.  I got no response, but I sat on a bench in the shade and watched for birds.  From time to time I tried Virginia Rail calls again.  Eventually, I got two good responses from a Virginia Rail, so it went on my list as a "heard only" species, as usual.  I rarely see one, but I hear them almost every month.

 

After a while I gave that up and went back to my car.  I stopped at the fire station road and sat in my chair near the start of the "road", which is actually just a dirt track into the marsh.  I played bird calls again, and eventually attracted a Brown Creeper, a species I needed for my list.  It didn't stick around for pictures.  I sat some more, and after seeing 5 or 6 Black-capped Chickadees, eventually I spotted a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, the one I needed.  Here is a distant picture of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, viewed through a spider web.

 

That was it for today.  It was heating up by then, so I went home.  I added 4 more species to my August list, to bring me to 70 species this month.  All 4 of them were repeaters, and now I have 45 of my 70 repeaters this month.  I still have ducks, shorebirds, and sea birds to get this month.  All of those are more likely later in the month, as they start to return from migration.  I still have 25 repeaters to get, too, birds that are quite possible in any month of the year.

 

 

Monday, August 8, 2022

 

Today I went up to the Edmonds area, mainly to look for California Quail at my quail site in the town of Woodway.  When I got there, there was a heating and air conditioning truck in the driveway of the house with feeders that attract the quail, and a guy was coming and going.  I stuck around for about ten minutes, but I didn't figure that any quail would show up with that truck and guy there.  I did spot a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird, though, which I needed for August.  Here are a couple of pictures of the juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird on the ground, with the light coming from the wrong direction.

 

 

The bird flew into some nearby blackberry bushes, but the only pictures I could take were taken through the windshield, which ruined them.  Then it flew up onto a wire, and I got a couple more pictures of the juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird, still with the light coming from the wrong direction.

 

 

A juvenile Spotted Towhee showed up, too, so I took its picture as well.

 

 

I gave that up and drove to the Edmonds marina, in hopes of getting a picture of one of the juvenile Brown Pelicans that have been hanging out there.  No luck with that, so I drove on up to Sunset Avenue.  There was almost nothing out on the water today, but I did finally see two very distant Rhinoceros Auklets, a species I needed for August still.  I had no luck at Ocean Avenue, so I moved on to Yost Park.  I walked in the woods and played various bird calls and songs, but the only thing I attracted, eventually, was a male Wilson's Warbler, an excellent one to get for August.  Here is a peek-a-boo shot of the male Wilson's Warbler.

 

It is enough to identify the species, but it is pretty unsatisfactory.  The bird did come out more in the open, though, and I got these two close shots of the male Wilson's Warbler.

 

 

I headed for home, but I stopped again at the quail site.  The truck and the guy were gone, but I still didn't hear or see any California Quail.  That was all for me today.  I added 3 more species to my August list and Brown-headed Cowbird was a repeater.  Now I have 73 species this month, and 46 of them are repeaters.

 

 

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

 

I have a short report today, with no pictures.  I drove to Jennings Memorial Park in Marysville, about a half hour north of home.  I was looking mainly for California Scrub-Jay, and within a couple of minutes, I saw one flying overhead.  Then I spotted a couple of Eurasian Collared-Doves at the top of a tree, and I needed that one, too.

 

I drove to 12th St NE and walked up on the dike with my scope.  All I saw were Mallards, Canada Geese, and a couple of juvenile Hooded Mergansers, none of which I needed.  At the Everett sewage treatment plant, Northern Shovelers have started to come back, so that one went on my list.  I stopped once more at Port Gardner Bay, on the Everett waterfront.  The tide was out, but I didn't see any shorebirds.  I did pick up California Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull for my August list, but that was it for me today.

 

I added 5 more species to my August list, and now I have 78 species this month.  Four of those were repeaters, and now I have 50 of my 70 repeater species this month.

 

 

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

 

Today I went up to Woodway again, to try for the third time for California Quail.  The sky was dark when I got there, and I could see lightning and hear thunder from out over Puget Sound.  There was lots of bird action, and eventually 3 or 4 California Quail scurried across the grass to where the feeders are.  Here is a rather distant shot of a male California Quail, heading for the area under the feeders. 

 

From where I sit in my car, out in the street, I can't actually see the feeders or the area under the feeders, but I can see the quail as they make their way to and from the feeder area.

 

As I waited for more quail to show themselves, the thunder got closer and I took this picture of a male Dark-eyed Junco that must have been molting.  Normally, it would have a couple of dark feathers on its tail, but the dark ones were gone and you could see the two white tail feathers that are normally out of sight.  One of the white feathers was short, too.  It had either broken off or it was just growing back in.

 

Another male quail came out into the open, and I took his picture.

 

At about that time, it started to rain and there was a huge thunder clap, close by.  I jumped and the quail did too.  Then the mail California Quail that I was watching froze in place for 5 or 10 seconds, and I took this picture.

 

At that point, I had to close my window because of the huge raindrops falling, and the show was over.  It poured for five minutes or so, as I drove away.  I drove out of the worst of the storm cell, but it continued to rain for another 15 minutes or so where I was.  I drove to the marina and looked for the pelicans that have been hanging out there, from the car, but I didn't see one today.  I drove to the Edmonds Marsh and waited in my car for the rain to let up.  I could see on my phone that a storm cell was moving off, and sure enough, the rain soon stopped for a while.  I grabbed my scope and went out on the boardwalk.  I tried calling up a Marsh Wren, but failed at that.  I also scanned the mud of the marsh for shorebirds from two angles, but I saw no shorebirds at all, not even the usual Killdeer.  As I left, the rain started up again.

 

I drove to Sunset Avenue, and the rain let up again, so I got out and used my scope to look around.  A Double-crested Cormorant flew by, and I needed that one for August.

 

I drove around to Ocean Avenue and again looked around.  This time I found a distant Marbled Murrelet for my list.  I kept looking and eventually saw a couple of Red-necked grebes, my first ones of the fall/winter.  They will be common there by the end of the month, but I was happy to put it on my list now.  Here is a distant picture of one of the Red-necked Grebes, still pretty much in breeding plumage.

 

That was it for today.  On my way home I drove through the neighborhood in Lake Forest Park where I used to see Band-tailed Pigeons, but I didn't see any today.  I added 4 more species to my August list, and now I have 82 species this month.  Two of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 52 of my 70 repeaters.

 

 

Thursday, August 11, 2022

 

I was eating my breakfast this morning when Christina called for me to come and to bring my binoculars.  A juvenile Cooper's Hawk had caught a bunny in our backyard.  It was remarkably willing to stay in place as I took pictures.  The bunny was too big to fly off with, and I don't think it wanted to give up its catch.  Some crows were watching, too, and I'm sure they would have been quick to go after the bunny if the had hawk left it and had flown away.  Here are some pictures of the juvenile Cooper's Hawk with its breakfast.

 

 

I moved around to the other side, to get the interfering vegetation out of the picture, and the bird tolerated that.

 

I love the "pantaloons" on the legs.  Here is a close up of the head.

 

In this next picture, the juvenile Cooper's Hawk was looking right at me, from about 20 feet away.

 

One last picture.

 

At the time, I thought that Cooper's Hawk was new for August for me, but when I marked my spreadsheet, I remembered I had seen one last week at Juanita Bay Park - just a quick fly by.  We have had a lot of bunnies in our yard this year, but the number has been declining over the last month or two.  Now I know where they have been going, I guess.  I knew Cooper's Hawks caught birds, but I didn't know they caught mammals, too.

 

I finally got off on my birding adventure for the day.  I drove to Marymoor Park and drove through, hoping to see the pheasant.  No luck with that today.  I parked and walked up on the viewing mound.  As I walked, I was playing Savannah Sparrow songs.  When I got to the mound, there was a sparrow that seemed to be responding, but before I could really look at it, a single Bushtit landed next to it.  The Bushtit flew off, but it was a good one for my August list. 

 

Up on the mound, I played Savannah Sparrow songs again, and the sparrow came back.  I took pictures of it, thinking it was a Savannah Sparrow, but it didn't look quite right.  It seemed to be a juvenile, though, so I went back to my car and consulted my field guide.  Looking at my pictures, I decided it was a juvenile Chipping Sparrow, a quite uncommon species for Marymoor.  Since it was a juvenile, I assumed it must have hatched nearby.  I looked up Chipping Sparrow tonight on eBird, and they were reported at Marymoor 3 or 4 times this summer, so I guess they could have nested there or nearby.  Anyway, the bird really matches the picture in my field guide of a juvenile Chipping Sparrow, so that's what I'm calling it.  Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

While I was taking those pictures of the juvenile Chipping Sparrow, I saw a female American Goldfinch, and I took this picture of her.

 

After I returned to my car and consulted my field guide and decided it wasn't a Savannah Sparrow, I went out again and walked along the west side of the East Meadow, looking for a Savannah Sparrow.  I saw several birds, and at least one of them was a Savannah Sparrow.  Here is a picture.

 

It was hot in the sun, but I persevered to get that shot.  The real irony is that when I went to mark up my spreadsheet tonight, I was reminded that I already had counted Savannah Sparrow last weekend at Eide Road.  Oh well, I was birding, anyway.  If I had realized that I already had Savannah Sparrow, I would have spared myself 20 minutes of walking in the hot sun, though.

 

Next I drove to the west parking lot and walked along the slough.  I got nothing there, except overheated from walking in the sun.  On my way home, I stopped at the rowing club pond, hoping for Green Heron.  No Green Heron, but there were a couple of Hooded Mergansers, either females or juveniles, which look the same as far as I can tell.  Here are pictures of the two female/juvenile Hooded Mergansers.

 

 

A couple of minutes later, I noticed that they both had raised the feathers on the backs of their heads.  It's hard to believe that these next two shots are of the same birds as the last two.

 

 

Actually, maybe those last pictures were the same bird, but the first two were definitely two different birds.

 

After that I gave it up and went home.  As I was going into the house, I heard an Osprey calling, and I saw it high overhead.  Here is a shot of the Osprey, circling around up high.

 

I ended up adding only 2 more species to my August list today, Chipping Sparrow and Bushtit.  That gives me 84 species so far this month now.  Bushtit is a repeater, and now I have 53 of my 70 repeaters in August.  It was the first time I have ever seen Chipping Sparrow in King county, and that brings my King county total to 202 species.

 

 

Friday, August 12, 2022

 

Today I was looking for a couple of particular species, out in the Snoqualmie Valley - Band-tailed Pigeon and American Kestrel.  My first stop was at the Redmond Retention Ponds, though.  I was hoping to find the nine Green-winged Teal that had been reported there yesterday.  When I got there, I saw several cars, and there were five birders already there.  It turned out that the Green-winged Teal had moved on, but there were a couple of shorebirds there that I needed.  Here's a picture of my first SOLITARY SANDPIPER of the year.

 

Solitary Sandpiper is an uncommon migrant, and I was very pleased to see one there.  Here is another shot of the Solitary Sandpiper, which let me get pretty close.

 

There was also a single Least Sandpiper hanging around, and I needed that one still, too.  Here is the Least Sandpiper.

 

Here's a size comparison picture of a Killdeer and the Least Sandpiper.

 

One more shot of the Least Sandpiper, which also let me get pretty close.

 

After that, I drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley.  I watched for a kestrel as I drove across the valley, but I didn't see one.  At the Osprey nest on the east side of the Snoqualmie River, I could see two youngsters with an adult.  Here is the adult Osprey and one of the chicks.

 

The other nestling was behind the adult in that shot.  Soon after that, I saw this Cedar Waxwing on a wire.

 

At the "old" house with feeders, I got one of my main targets for the day, as there were a number of Band-tailed Pigeons in the big trees behind the house.  Here is a distant picture of a Band-tailed Pigeon.

 

I picked up a ham and salami sandwich at the Carnation Market deli and stopped briefly at the "new" house with feeders, mainly to try for pictures.  Here is a Mourning Dove.

 

There were a couple of Steller's Jays there, grabbing peanuts.  Here is one of the Steller's Jays.

 

Here's a Pine Siskin on a wire.

 

Next I drove north to the road along the river, north and west of the town of Duvall.  I parked and ate half my sandwich as I watched for Northern Harriers in the fields, but I didn't see one.  I moved on up the road and on my way back (it's a dead end road), I spotted a Western Wood-Pewee, a species I needed, at the top of a tree.  Here are three distant pictures of the Western Wood-Pewee.

 

 

 

I drove back down to the southern part of the valley along the west side.  I again watched for kestrels as I drove across NE 100th St, and this time I saw a female American Kestrel, my second main target of the day.  Here are a couple of pictures of the female American Kestrel.

 

 

After that, I parked where I could look out over the valley, near Sikes Lake.  I ate the second half of my sandwich as I watched for Northern Harrier, again unsuccessfully.  When I finished my sandwich, I headed for home.

 

I added 5 more species to my August list today, and now I have 89 species this month.  Two of today's species were repeaters, and now I have 55 of my 70 repeaters this month.  Solitary Sandpiper was new for me for 2022, and now I have 188 species this year.

 

 

Sunday, August 14, 2022

 

COVID.  I avoided it for over two years, but it finally caught up with me.  There won't be any Birding Reports for a few days, so I thought I would let people know why.

 

I had lunch on Tuesday with a friend who subsequently tested positive for covid on Thursday morning.  Overnight on Friday night, I started feeling like I was coming down with a cold.  I did a home test on Saturday morning, and it had a very faint positive line.  At noon on Saturday, I went in to an Urgent Care Clinic and they did a PCR test, confirming covid.  The provider I saw didn't seem very eager to prescribe the treatment I wanted, but I talked her into it.  I had done my homework, and I think I knew more about the treatment than she did, frankly.  When she said they might not have the treatment at my pharmacy, I told her that I had already called them and verified they had it in stock and all I needed was a prescription.  That really surprised her, that I had been that proactive.  She sent a prescription over, after reviewing my other medications with me, and now I'm taking a five day course of paxlovid, which is a Pfiszer drug combination that greatly reduces the chance of serious complications or hospitalization from covid.  I'm hoping it will shorten the course of the virus, too, and maybe even make the illness milder.

 

Yesterday all I felt was the feeling I get when I'm coming down with a cold.  I wasn't fatigued and I felt fine.  My temperature was up to 99.0 degrees last night, but this morning it was down again to 97.8, which is normal for me.  I imagine it will rise again today during the day, but we will see.  I slept poorly last night, but today I feel fairly good, but with cold symptoms - slight runny nose, phlegm in my sinuses/throat, and a slight cough.  It is still very early days, though, and I expect it will get worse, but I can always hope.  I hope the paxlovid is kicking ass on the coronavirus.  I've taken two of the ten doses so far (twice a day).

 

So far, Christina hasn't come down with it, and we are trying to keep her isolated from me.  We sleep in separate bedrooms anyway, and I have my own bathroom.  I spend my time in my bedroom and in my office, and in both cases I have exhaust fans that move the air out of the room constantly.  I wear a mask when I'm not in one of those two rooms, but that is only transitory, as I move between them.  We'll see if that is good enough.  I'm hoping that I caught it soon enough that she didn't get infected before we knew I had it.  Time will tell.  I'd be glad to answer any questions anyone has about this latest adventure of mine.  It's pretty boring just sitting around home all day.

 

What a life!

 

 

Saturday, August 20, 2022

 

I'm ba-a-a-a-ck!  I haven't had any covid symptoms since last Sunday, and this morning I tested negative.  Thank you, paxlovid (the Pfizer covid antiviral medication).  We took extreme isolation measures here at home and up until now, Christina has continued to test negative (knock on wood).

 

Today I went up to Skagit county to look for shorebirds, ducks, and a couple of gull species.  My first stop was Eide Road, just west of the town of Stanwood.  The tide was medium, and there were many hundreds of little shorebirds flying around.  A large flock of them landed fairly close, and I got my scope on them.  Most were Western Sandpipers, which I already had this month, but I picked out two that were slightly larger and had different coloration.  They had brown heads and brown streaks on their upper breasts.  I decided they were BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS, a really excellent one for my year list.  That's a tough identification for me, but they were clearly a little larger and different from the Western Sandpipers they were hanging with.

 

From there I drove to Hayton Reserve, on Fir Island, south and east of Mount Vernon.  I took my scope and my camp chair and joined the three birders already up on the dike.  I spotted a Peregrine Falcon in the distance, at the top of a tree.  That was an excellent August bird; I hadn't seen a Peregrine since February.

 

The tide was coming in, but there weren't many shorebirds.  There were a lot of ducks, however, and I added Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and American Wigeon to my August list.  There were also some Ring-billed Gulls out there, and I needed that one.

 

After I gave it up there, I drove to Valentine Road.  I didn't expect to get anything I needed there, but I wanted some pictures, after not getting any for a week.  At the house with feeders at the corner of Valentine Road and Dodge Valley Road, I got this shot of a Mourning Dove on a wire.

 

There weren't many birds coming to the feeders, but I took pictures of those that did.  Here is a male Purple Finch.

 

He isn't very colorful; I suspect he is molting.  Another male Purple Finch joined him.

 

An American Goldfinch came in.

 

 

A single Black-capped Chickadee came in a few times.

 

 

Here's a Eurasian Collared-Dove that joined a couple of Mourning Doves on the overhead wires.

 

Here is one of the Mourning Doves on the wires.

 

The Eurasian Collared-Dove ruffled up its feathers at one point.

 

Here's the American Goldfinch again, chowing down in the feeding tray.

 

There were a couple of House Sparrows around, and I think they were juveniles.  Here's one of them on the ground.

 

One of the Mourning Doves landed under the feeders.

 

As I was leaving, I noticed a male House Sparrow on a wire.

 

So, that wasn't productive in terms of getting birds I needed for my lists, but it was fun just taking pictures, after my week off.

 

I headed toward home, and I stopped at the Jensen Access to the Skagit Wildlife Area.  It is on a bay, and there were well over a hundred Short-billed Gulls out on the water, a species I needed still.  That was the last local gull species I'm likely to get this month.

 

I drove back to Eide Road, and the tide was high this time.  There were fewer shorebirds around, though, and they were quite distant.  I resumed my travel toward home, but instead of taking the freeway, I drove down Marine Drive to Tulalip Bay.  I wanted Black-bellied Plover, and there were dozens of them across the bay from the marina.  I drove around the bay to get a closer look, and I noticed a Purple Martin on a nest house, so I took its picture.  I think this is a female Purple Martin.

 

I was closer to some of the Black-bellied Plovers, so I took some distant pictures.  Here are two Black-bellied Plovers in different stages of molt.

 

The one on the right has just started to change to its winter plumage, while the other one has gone a lot further in the process.  Here are three Black-bellied Plovers in various stages of molt.

 

Most of the Black-bellied Plovers I saw today will continue their migration from the far north, ending up as far south as Mexico, but a few will stick around here for the winter.

 

As I was leaving, I saw another Purple Martin, on a different bird house.

 

 

I suspect that one was a juvenile.

 

So, that was it for today.  I was out there for about six hours, including an hour each way of driving.  I drove about 135 miles and got 25 mpg.  On my way north this morning I filled my tank at my favorite Indian gas station for $3.999 per gallon.  It was nice to get gas for under 4 bucks a gallon again.

 

I added 8 species to my August list, 5 to my repeaters in August, and one (Baird's Sandpiper) to my year list.  Now I have 97 species in August, 60 of my 70 repeaters, and 189 species this year.  I need to pick up a few species here and there, and I need to make a trip over to Whidbey Island to pick up 8 or 10 saltwater species.  I'll be lucky to get to 115 species this month, though, and that is pretty poor.  Maybe I'll surprise myself, although there isn't much time left and I have other things I need to do.

 

 

Sunday, August 21, 2022

 

Today I felt like I had the energy to walk a bit, so I went up to the Ebey Waterfront Trail in Marysville.  There were some ducks I needed that have been reported there, as well as an uncommon migrant species that I wanted to see.  I parked at the boat launch parking lot and walked along the slough, carrying my scope and my camp chair.  When I got to the Marysville waste water treatment plant, I checked out the ducks nearby.  Most of them were Mallards, but one got my attention.  It was either a female Blue-winged Teal or a female Cinnamon Teal.  The females of those two species are very similar.  Here are a couple of my pictures of the female teal.

 

 

I looked at those pictures and others I took, and I ended up deciding to call it a female Cinnamon Teal, one I needed for August.  I won't go into all the details of identification I used, but I thought about it a lot and consulted three field guides.

 

I walked along the edge of the pond (behind a chain link fence and some shrubbery in places) and checked out the ducks.  Lots of Mallards and lots of Northern Shovelers, but I had those species already.  Then I found some scaup.

 

Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup look very similar, especially the females and eclipse (non-breeding plumaged) males.  I don't know if I could have identified which species this was, but when I looked at eBird, there were reports of Lesser Scaup on many days for the last two months, by birders much better than I am, and no reports at all of Greater Scaup this month.  That was good enough for me, and I called them Lesser Scaup, an excellent one for my August list.  Here is another picture, maybe of those same two birds, but maybe one is different.

 

Here is another shot of four ducks.  The three on the left are the Lesser Scaup I have been showing, and the one on the right is a female Ring-necked Duck.

 

Everyone has been reporting the scaup there, but there are only two reports of Ring-necked Duck this month, and both are from about two weeks ago.  That is definitely a female Ring-necked Duck, though, and here is a picture of a male Ring-necked Duck that was nearby.

 

Ring-necked Ducks usually have a ring around their bill, and there is only a hint of that in the male, and no hint at all in the female.  It must be a non-breeding plumage thing.  Anyway, it was a surprise to get Ring-necked Duck, and I was pleased.

 

Here are a couple of male Ruddy Ducks, another one I needed for August.

 

Here's a female Ruddy Duck.

 

I kept walking, because the uncommon species I was looking for was supposed to be at the far end of the pond.  Sure enough, as I got closer, I could see the reported 9  RED-NECKED PHALAROPES moving around on the water.  That was an outstanding one to get, my first sighting of that species this year.  They are just moving through here on migration, heading for the waters off the west coast of South America for the winter.  They bred in the Arctic Circle and are heading south now.  Here are some distant pictures of Red-necked Phalaropes.

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the crummy pictures, but they were a long distance away.  Some or all of them are juveniles, I think.  Phalaropes are shorebirds, technically, but they are usually seen swimming, like these birds were.  I've seen them walking, like the shorebirds they are, and it always throws me, because I'm used to seeing them swimming.

 

So, I got my ducks and I got my uncommon year bird.  I headed back toward my car and there were two female teal at the north end of the pond, where I had seen the one before.  I took some pictures.

 

 

 

Two of them were sitting on the boom for a while, and I wanted to see them better.  I did something I hadn't ever tried before, I played the call of a male Cinnamon Teal.  By golly, both of them got into the water and swam over much closer to me.  I was surprised.  Here are two female Cinnamon Teal, seemingly looking for the male Cinnamon Teal that had called.

 

I was hot and tired when I got back to my car.  I had been out walking and standing (and sitting a little) for almost two hours.  I figure I covered about two miles, which is a lot for this fat, old birder, carrying a scope and a chair.

 

I drove over to the Everett waterfront, hoping to find Semipalmated Plover, a shorebird I still need.  I did see some little peeps, but no plovers.  They were almost all Western Sandpipers, and here are three of them.

 

Here's a picture of three Western Sandpipers and one Least Sandpiper.  The Least Sandpiper is the one in the back with the greenish-yellow legs.

 

While searching through the many dozens of Western Sandpipers, twice I found a Baird's Sandpiper, probably the same one each time.  I had great looks with my scope both times, and the wings extended back farther than the tail.  In each case, the bird was larger than the nearby Western Sandpipers, with longer legs,  and the plumage was different.  I had counted Baird's Sandpiper yesterday at Eide Road, but this sighting today was much better, and I feel much more confidant in my identification.

 

I looked around the bay and spotted a raft of about 50 Common Mergansers.  That was a repeater I still needed.  They had been reported there a few times this month, so I was looking for them specifically.  Here are some of the distant Common Mergansers.

 

That was it for me today.  I added 6 more species to my August list, to bring me to 103 species.  Ruddy Duck and Common Merganser were repeaters, and now I have 62 of my 70 repeaters.  Red-necked Phalarope was new for the year for me, and now I have 190 species in 2022.

 

 

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

 

I had a lunch appointment up in Everett today, but before I left, I went down to my local park, Juanita Bay Park.  I walked a little on the fire station road, but the only bird of interest I saw was a female Western Tanager, a species I already had this month.  Here are a couple of pictures of the female Western Tanager.

 

 

Those pictures are poor because the lens on my camera was quite fogged up or smeared with something.  I didn't notice it until later.

 

After that I drove over to the main part of the park.  I played Golden-crowned Kinglet songs for a while, near the parking lot, where I usually can attract one.  Not this time, though.  I gave that up and walked out into the park.  At the observation platform at the end of the east boardwalk, there was very little around, but there were some American Coots, so I took their pictures.

 

 

 

I walked back to my car, but before I left, I tried again for Golden-crowned Kinglet.  It took a while, but eventually, one flew in.  It didn't stay long, but I got one picture of that repeater that I needed - Golden-crowned Kinglet.

 

After that I drove up to Everett, which is about a half hour north of home.  After lunch, I went to the Everett waterfront, on Port Gardner Bay.  I spotted a flock of little shorebirds, and I looked through them with my scope, but I couldn't find any Semipalmated Plovers, which was the one I needed.  I tried the Everett Sewage Treatment Plant for Marsh Wren or anything else, but came up empty.  After a fruitless stop at 12th St NE, I went home.

 

I added the repeater, Golden-crowned Kinglet, today.  That brought me to 104 species and 63 repeaters this month.  I'm planning an overnight trip to Whidbey Island this week, Thursday-Friday.  I've never stayed on Whidbey Island since I have been birding, and I'll only be about an hour and a half from home, but it will give me plenty of time to look for sea birds off the west coast of the island.  I could get 10 or 12 more species for my Augusts list.

 

 

Thursday, August 25, 2022

 

Today I headed out on my first overnight trip in over a year.  It’s been so long since I traveled that I forgot that my laptop doesn’t have the latest software I use to process my pictures,  I think I’m going to be able to send this report out without any pictures, but I’m not 100% sure of even that.  Maybe I’ll send a special report with the missing pictures when I get home.

 

Anyway, my first stop this morning, after picking up a tuna sandwich at Subway, was Eide Road, just west of the town of Stanwood.  I was hoping to see the rare Long-billed Curlew that has been seen there for a 2 or 3 days.  No luck with that.

 

After that I just drove, until I got to March Point, east of Anacortes.  I drove around March Point, but I didn’t see any of the hoped-for birds there.

 

Next I drove on to Whidbey Island over the Deception Pass bridge, after stopping to fill up with $3.999 gas on Fidalgo Island.  At Deception Pass State Park (West Point), I added Common Murre to my August list.  There were also dozens of Rhinoceros Auklets, but I had that one already this month.  The tide was too low for Black Oystercatchers on the offshore rock; there were people on the rock the oystercatchers like to roost on at high tide.

 

I moved on to the pullout at Joseph Whidbey State Park and looked around.  I added Surf Scoter there, as well as Pacific Loon.   I ate half my sandwich there and moved on.

 

At West Beach county park I didn’t see anything at all of interest.  I stopped at Hastie Lake Road access and had more luck.  I had a couple of Common Loons there (with pictures I can’t show because of the software issue) as well as another Pacific Loon.  After a while I spotted four Harlequin Ducks (more pictures).  I saw quite a few Red-necked Grebes today, but I had counted that one already this month.  I was looking at a group of about a dozen Red-necked Grebes with my scope when I spotted a Horned Grebe that was still partly in breeding plumage.  That was a good one because they are just starting to come back from migration now.  Immediately after I saw the Horned Grebe, it dove, and there was a male White-winged Scoter just beyond it, another one for my August list.  I saw four Marbled Murrelets, too, but I had that one already this month.

 

I had all the sea birds I was expecting at that point, so I skipped Libbey Beach and drove to Crockett Lake.  I looked at the cormorants on the old pier there, but all I could identify for sure were Pelagic Cormorants, no Brandt’s Cormorants that I could feel good about.

 

Near the west end of Crockett Lake there were a bunch of American White Pelicans mixed in with a lot of gulls.  That was one I expected, but it is always good to add one to my list.  There was too much heat haze for a picture, not that I could have shown it anyway with my software issue.

 

Farther down the road I stopped and got out my scope to check out the little shorebirds near my side of the lake.  After a while, I spotted several Semipalmated Plovers, the one I wanted to get there for my list.  The birds were too distant and there was too much heat haze in the afternoon to try to identify any other shorebirds or to take any pictures.

 

I failed to find a Northern Harrier in the Crockett Lake area, so I headed back toward the town of Oak Harbor, where my hotel is located.  I stopped at Penn Cove and Hastie Lake Road access (again) to try for Black Oystercatcher, but the tide was too high and I didn’t see any.

 

At Swan Lake (if that is its name – it is also called Bos Lake) there were two groups of roosting shorebirds at the north end of the lake.  The close ones were all Greater Yellowlegs, and most of the ones in other group were Black-bellied Plovers.  I had both of those species already this month.  There were 3 or 4 smaller shorebirds in with the plovers, but they were sleeping, and I couldn’t identify them.

 

That was it for me today.  I checked in to my hotel in Oak Harbor, and tomorrow I will try for Black Oystercatcher.  If I have time, I’ll also stop at a couple of places on the way home to try for birds I need.

 

I got 10 species for my August list today, which brings me to 114 this month.  Three of them were repeaters, and now I have 66 of my 70 “repeaters” this month.  There is a little time left still this month, and maybe I can match or beat the last two Augusts, which were 116 and 117 species.

 

Sorry about the absence of pictures.  I know that many of my readers are far more interested in my pictures than in my scribblings, but that’s how it goes sometimes.  When I left home this morning, I was sure I had forgotten something, because I always do, and this time it was the old software on my laptop that I forgot about.

 

What a life!

 

 

Friday, August 26, 2022

 

Okay, I'm back at home now, so here is a report for today and some pictures from the last three days.  Before I get in to that, though, I wanted to mention that last night in my hotel room I started feeling covid symptoms again.  By this morning, I was pretty sure I had it again.

 

I'll continue today's story after I show some pictures from the last two days.  On Wednesday, I went over to Marymoor Park and walked for about a mile and a half.  I had a list of 15 species that I needed, which had been reported there this week, but I came up empty - saw none of them.  Nada.  Zippo.  I did take this picture of the new Osprey nest, though.  It shows the two youngsters (with the spots on their wings) and an adult up top.

 

Next, I'll show some pictures from Whidbey Island yesterday.  Here is one of the Common Loons I saw, in breeding plumage still.

 

In the winter it will be drab gray and white.  Here is one of the Harlequin Ducks I saw at Hastie Lake Road access.  I can't tell what gender it is because the males look like the females in their non-breeding plumage.

 

Here are all four of the Harlequin Ducks I saw there.

 

The Common Loon came closer, and I got some better pictures of it.

 

Here the Common Loon is flapping its wings.

 

 

I think Common Loon is a very striking bird in its breeding plumage.

 

Later I took this picture of a Mourning Dove near Crockett Lake.

 

That catches us up to today.  As I said, I felt some covid symptoms, and I just wanted to head for home, where I could do a home covid test.  I had done quite well yesterday except I had missed Black Oystercatcher, which is a repeater I have seen every month since I started keeping a monthly list in January 2018.  I wanted it.  It was drizzly this morning in Oak Harbor, but I manned up and went out.  I drove to the Hastie Lake Road access to look for Black Oystercatcher.  I looked up and down the beach with my scope, but I couldn’t find one.  I had one other place I could look on the way home, Rosario Head, just across the Deception Pass bridge on Fidalgo Island.  I would have to walk a little, carrying my scope, which didn't appeal to me much.  It wasn't likely I would find it there, but I wanted that bird.

 

Anyway, I went back to the hotel and checked out.  In the process, the woman behind the desk (who was wearing a mask, as was I), suggested I try Ala Spit county park for the oystercatcher.  I had said they like rocky beaches, and she said that was what Ala Spit had.  I have been there before, looking for oystercatchers, but I had never seen one there.  I wouldn't have stopped there, but I took her suggestion and stopped at Ala Spit, which was only a little off my shortest route home, anyway.  I got out my scope and before I could ever start scanning, I saw a flock of black birds fly in up the beach.  I got my scope on them, and they were Black Oystercatchers, of all things!  Here are some very distant pictures of those beauties.

 

I was able to walk a little closer for a couple more pictures.

 

 

Success!  I didn't have to stop at Rosario Head and carry my scope, I could head straight for home.  If I had been five or ten minutes earlier, they wouldn't have been there.  Good timing.  As it turned out, I did detour a little on my way home, to look for Northern Harrier on the Skagit Flats and Fir Island, but I missed that repeater.

 

When I got home, I did a home test, and sure enough, I have covid again.  Look up "Paxlovid rebound".  That's what happened to me.  It is almost always mild and will presumably go away again in a few days, but in the meantime, we are back into our isolation drill here at home.  I stay in my office or bedroom, with fans blowing out of the room, creating a constant flow of air to the outside.  In between I wear a mask and move quickly between my office in the basement and my bedroom.  The timing was actually very fortuitous, if I was going to get a rebound case of covid, because I didn’t have any contact with Christina since Wednesday evening, and then I was gone until now.  Hopefully she didn't get infected then because I was probably wasn't contagious then.  We'll be burning through more home covid tests around here, I guess.  I have a runny nose and a slight cough, but otherwise I'm fine.  I could tell by how I felt last night and this morning that I had it again, though, even before I tested.

 

So, with today's Black Oystercatcher, I now have 115 species this month and 67 of my 70 repeaters (I incorrectly reported 65 repeaters in yesterday's pictureless report, but it should have been 66).  I don't know if I'll go out birding again this month or not.  It all depends on how I'm feeling.