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Wednesday, June 1, 2022
A new month. My first bird of the month was Dark-eyed Junco. Here are three juvenile Dark-eyed Juncos in our yard.
They look quite a bit different from adult juncos. I also added European Starling, Feral Pigeon, and Northern Flicker in our yard. I drove north to Everett, and at the sewage ponds there, I saw a male Blue-winged Teal in the little wetlands near the bridge to Spencer Island. Here are a couple of distant pictures of him.
On my way to and from the ponds, I added Red-winged Blackbird, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, and American Robin. On the big pond, I got Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Canada Goose, and Lesser Scaup. Flying over the pond were Tree Swallows. I heard a Marsh Wren singing away in the reeds, but I couldn't lure it out for a picture. I walked up on the dike from the 12th St NE wetlands, and saw a couple of male Hooded Mergansers in the distance.
Next I drove to the parking lot at the 10th St boat launch to look for gulls. I think this next picture is an immature (first winter) Ring-billed Gull.
If I'm wrong about that, I saw 2 or 3 adult Ring-billed Gulls a little later, in the water. I think this next one is an immature California Gull.
I also saw some Glaucous-winged Gulls. There was an Osprey on the nest I watch there, and a number of Great Blue Herons in the rookery there. Here are some pictures of a Great Blue Heron nest with two youngsters in it.
The adult bird had just flown back to the nest, bringing food. The young herons were quite interested, clacking their bills repeatedly to be fed.
In that last picture, the adult was done feeding them and was getting ready to take off to look for more food.
After that I had lunch with my friend, Chris, and after lunch I drove up to Skagit county to look for shorebirds at Hayton Reserve. The tide was way out, which is unfavorable for seeing shorebirds, and I didn't see as many as others had reported seeing the evening before, when the tide was more favorable. I did see my primary target, though, a very uncommon (for this area) AMERICAN AVOCET. It was close enough for some pictures, too.
The only other shorebirds I saw were Black-bellied Plovers. As I left, I saw a Savannah Sparrow in the parking lot, and then on the way out, I got this picture of a male Brewer's Blackbird.
I stopped at Wylie Slough and added Barn Swallow, Bald Eagle, Cedar Waxwing, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Killdeer, Black-headed Grosbeak, and House Sparrow to my June list.
For the day, I got 35 species for June and 25 of them were repeaters. American Avocet was new for the year for me, and now I have 176 species this year.
Monday, June 6, 2022
On Thursday last week I was in the hospital, on Friday I was recovering from only getting two hours of sleep on Wednesday night, and on both Saturday and Sunday it rained most of the time. I finally got out birding again today. I drove over to the Snoqualmie Valley in my monthly quest for American Dipper. I stopped at the Redmond Retention Ponds on the way. The water level was higher than I have ever seen it, with all our recent rain (May was the second rainiest May on record, and June is starting out the same way.). I was looking for Spotted Sandpiper, and there really wasn't much shore for one to be on, but I spotted one briefly on a log. It flew off before I could get a picture.
Out in the valley, I took this picture of a male Tree Swallow, a species I already had this month.
I hadn't counted Song Sparrow yet, and there were several of those on wires as I drove across the valley. I also saw a male Rufous Hummingbird, another species I still needed. There were Cliff Swallows going to nests at a building near Sikes Lake, so that one went on my June list, too. At the house in Carnation with feeders (henceforth to be referred to as the old feeder house, since now I know of another house with feeders, which I'll call the new feeder house), I added Band-tailed Pigeon to my list. Likewise American Goldfinch, House Finch, and Pine Siskin. Here is a female American Goldfinch.
A male Black-headed Grosbeak, a species I already had, came to one of the seed feeders.
I drove the few blocks to the new feeder house and took more pictures from my car. Here are a couple of Mourning Doves, one I needed still.
This new feeder house not only has a lot of great feeders, it also has wonderful flowers. Here are some unusual flowers that I liked.
I did a Google image search and found that they are members of the Lupinus family and this particular variety is called Manhattan Lights. Here is a picture of a female Rufous Hummingbird, with her brown sides.
A female Purple Finch showed up but stayed back in the shadows. I needed that one, and here is a picture of her.
A Steller's Jay, which I needed still, came in and checked out the empty peanut shells, just in case a full one had been overlooked earlier.
I like the two blue vertical "eyebrows" on Steller's Jays.
Here is the jay among some of the beautiful flowers.
An immature Black-headed Grosbeak went to a couple of the feeders, too.
After that, I got a sandwich at the Carnation Market deli counter and drove to the bridge over the Tolt River at the south side of town. I was hoping for my American Dipper, but the river was very high, and no dippers were to be found. Next I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River to Fall City, but I didn't see anything interesting along the way. I went up to Tokul Creek to try for dipper there, but I didn't find one. I did get this distant picture of a Spotted Sandpiper, a species I had counted this morning at the Redmond Retention Ponds.
I drove back down the hill and back to Carnation, where I stopped again at the new feeder house (also known now as the feeder house with flowers). Fifteen or twenty Band-tailed Pigeons showed up and hit the various feeders. Here is one of the Band-tailed Pigeons.
One of the feeders was especially popular with the Band-tailed Pigeons, and they crowded around it, jockeying for position.
I like this shot of a Band-tailed Pigeon on a bird bath.
Here's a close up of a Band-tailed Pigeon, showing the iridescent patch on its neck.
I had eaten half of my sandwich up at Tokul Creek, but I took the second half to the Stillwater Access to the Snoqualmie Valley Wildlife Area. I walked out on the trail with my camp chair and sat and ate, while watching and listening for birds. I added Common Yellowthroat and Red-breasted Sapsucker while I ate, and then a Turkey Vulture flew over, another one for my list. I took this picture of one of the many Red-winged Blackbirds.
After I finished my sandwich, I walked down the trail farther. There were a couple of Cedar Waxwings just sitting on a branch, so I took their pictures. I had that one already, but I always like pictures of Cedar Waxwings.
I played Brown Creeper songs and one showed up. I needed that one, and here's a picture.
As I was walking back to my car, I saw a male Bullock's Oriole, another good one for my June list.
I headed for home, then, and while driving back across the valley, I got this picture of an immature Bald Eagle at Chinook Bend.
Near Sikes Lake, I added American Kestrel to my list. Here is a picture of a male American Kestrel.
A little later, I added Lazuli Bunting to my list, and here's a picture of a male Lazuli Bunting.
That was it for today. It was a very successful day of birding, except for the fact I missed my main target, American Dipper. I guess I'll have to go out there again this month, since the only places I ever see a dipper are the Tolt River bridge in Carnation and Tokul Creek. I added 18 species to my June list today, and now I have 53 this month. 10 of those 18 were repeaters, and now I have 35 of my 70 repeater species this month. For the year, I still have 176 species.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
I didn't have a lot of time this morning, but I went down to my local park, Juanita Bay Park. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and I walked out onto the east boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk, I added Wood Duck to my June list. Here is a male Wood Duck.
I also added American Coot to my list, and I took this picture of a female Mallard with just one duckling.
Here is the duckling on its own.
I headed back toward my car, but I stopped on the boardwalk where I had seen a hummingbird nest a week or two ago. The lighting was poor, but I took some pictures. Here is the nest, with at least one baby hummingbird in it, which you can't really see, although I think that is a bill sticking up in the middle of the picture.
The mom came back while I watched, so I took pictures of her feeding the youngster. Here she has just returned to the nest.
In that picture, you can see at least one youngster, with its bill upturned for a shot of nectar from mom. In these next two pictures, mom is injecting the nectar into the youngster's mouth.
When the mom left I headed back toward my car. I stopped and rested at a table and played Golden-crowned Kinglet songs. Here is a recently fledged young Golden-crowned Kinglet.
Here is an adult Golden-crowned Kinglet, one for my June list.
I had a little time left, so I drove across the road to the fire station road and walked up and down the unpaved road. I couldn't call up a
Virginia Rail, but I did add Black-capped Chickadee to my list, and this single male Bushtit.
That was all I had time for today. I added 5 more species to my June list, and now I have 58 species this month. All 5 of them were repeaters, and now I have 40 of my 70 repeaters this month. I still have 176 species this year.
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
One of my local birding friends wanted to see the hummingbird nest I showed here yesterday, so I arranged to meet him and his wife down at the park this morning. Before I left home, I heard a loud bird call from our big birch tree, though, and I thought I recognized it. I used the phone app Merlin to confirm it was indeed a Bewick's Wren, one for my list this month. At Juanita Bay Park, Hank, Karen, and I went out onto the east boardwalk to the site of the hummingbird nest. It took me a couple of minutes to locate it again, but eventually I found it and got them both onto it. Here is the Anna's Hummingbird nestling, sitting in the nest, waiting to be fed.
Eventually, an adult Anna's Hummingbird flew in.
Yesterday I had thought the adult was a female, partly because I didn't know the males fed the young, too. Today I think the bird I saw come to the nest twice and feed the youngster was a male, and looking at yesterday's pictures, it looks like the same bird to me.
While we were watching the nest, a Cedar Waxwing came to a nearby tree, and I took its picture.
A Downy Woodpecker flew through, too, but it never stopped long enough for me to get a picture. I needed it for June, though. We walked out to the end of the boardwalk, but I didn't get anything else I needed out there. There were some male Wood Ducks around, and I took this picture of some of them on the shore.
The Wood Duck on the right is a male in breeding plumage. The one on the left has mostly molted into non-breeding plumage. I think it is interesting that the timing among individuals varies for their molt to non-breeding plumage. I saw about 8 or 10 Wood Ducks each of the last two days there, but no females at all. I suspect the females are sitting on nests somewhere right now. We'll see if there are some Wood Duck ducklings there in the next week or two.
Back at the hummingbird nest, I got a couple more pictures. Here is the male Anna's Hummingbird feeding the nestling.
In this next shot, the adult had finished feeding and was getting ready to go out and find more food for the baby.
As we walked back toward the parking lot on the boardwalk, we heard a bird call a few times, and we all agreed it was a Spotted Towhee, another one I needed. Hank was able to confirm that with the Merlin app. We walked over to the west boardwalk, but I didn't see anything else I needed and didn't get any more pictures. We saw some Bushtits, and there were at least 3 of them, so maybe they are finished with breeding now. They pair up during breeding season, but in the winter they form flocks that feed together.
I only added 3 more species to my June list today, and now I have 61 species this month, which is a slow start. Between the weather and my little hospital episode, I haven't done much birding this month yet. All 3 of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 43 of my the 70 species on my list of repeaters, birds I hope to see year round in every month.
Saturday, June 11, 2022
Today I headed up to Edmonds, which is on Puget Sound, about a half hour northwest of home. My first stop was the town of Woodway, which is next to Edmonds. I was about 7 or 8 minutes on my way when I realized I had forgotten my camera. I felt naked without it, but I continued on, partly because I had already gotten a late start and partly because the type of birding I planned to do wouldn't really need the camera much.
I stopped in the town of Woodway at Deer Park and walked in the woods. It was a nice walk, but I couldn't call up a Pacific Wren. June is very tough for Pacific Wren in the lowlands because most of them go up into the foothills or mountains to breed in the summer.
At my quail site in Woodway, I sat in the car and watched and listened. I was just about ready to leave after 10 or 12 minutes when I heard a California Quail call nearby. That was good enough for me, but as I was getting ready to leave, I noticed a male California Quail that had walked out of the blackberry brambles right in front of my car, walking toward me. Since I didn't have my camera, and since I would have certainly spooked it if I had tried to get out of the car, I tried taking pictures of it through the windshield with my cell phone camera. They all came out totally crappy, of course, but here are two pictures of the male California Quail, taken through my windshield with my cell phone.
At least the bird is recognizable, sort of.
With that June bird under my belt, I drove to the waterfront, parked, and walked out to the start of the fishing pier. Summer is an absolutely terrible time for birds on the waterfront, but I did see two or three Pigeon Guillemots, an easy repeater I needed. There weren't any Purple Martins around the nest boxes, but a Belted Kingfisher flew by, so it went on my list.
I drove up to Sunset Avenue, but there was almost nothing from there, either. I did see a cormorant flying by, and I followed it with my scope. It landed on one of the ferry pilings, and I decided it was a Brandt's Cormorant, an excellent one for my June list. I didn't see anything else from Sunset Avenue or Ocean Avenue. Summer is not the time for saltwater birds around here. They are all north or inland, at their breeding grounds.
I stopped again at Yost Memorial Park, but I didn't see anything there, either.
So, it was a slow birding day, but I did add 4 species to my June list, and now I have 65 species this month. I also got out of the house and walked in the woods a bit in two places. Three of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 46 of my 70 year round birds this month. As it turned out, having my camera wouldn’t really have made any difference today, but I would much rather have it with me.
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Today I went out to the Snoqualmie Valley to try again for American Dipper and other birds. I remembered my camera today. My first stop was Marymoor Park. In the community gardens, I added White-crowned Sparrow to my June list and got this picture.
Next I walked along the slough a bit. There were a lot of swallows swooping over the slough, and I easily added Violet-green Swallow to my list. There were some Vaux's Swifts flying with the swallows, so that one went on my list, too. One swallow landed, and I decided it was a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, another one I needed still. Here are a couple of pictures of the Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
I wasn't certain it was a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and not a juvenile Tree Swallow, but later I saw Northern Rough-winged Swallows out in the valley, to "insure" that call. As I drove through the park, I saw Lonesome George, the male Ring-necked Pheasant that lives at Marymoor Park. He was walking right in the road. I parked and got out to take pictures, and here is one of George stepping out of the road as a car approached.
Here's Lonesome George, the male Ring-necked Pheasant posing for me.
As I drove off, I took this picture out of the passenger side window (with the car stopped, of course).
I had missed seeing a pheasant in May, so it was nice to add it to my June list.
I drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley and got this picture of a male Common Yellowthroat, a warbler that I already had this month.
A WILLOW FLYCATCHER was sitting on a wire soon after that, my first one of the year.
Flycatchers are difficult for me identify, but this one gave its "fitz-bew" call a few times, which allowed me to identify it as a Willow Flycatcher.
A windblown Song Sparrow was on a wire, with a bill full of insects or worms, presumably on its way to a nest with young.
At the old house in Carnation with feeders, I took this picture of a Eurasian Collared-Dove.
Here is a female Black-headed Grosbeak at a seed feeder, with some male American Goldfinches.
Here is a male American Goldfinch feeding on the ground.
Next is a female American Goldfinch, less colorful and without the black forehead of the male.
I drove to the new house with feeders, the one with great flowers. There was a female Black-headed Grosbeak there, too.
There were a number of Pine Siskins around, and I guess this is a Pine Siskin.
At the time I thought it was a female Purple Finch, which would be much larger than a Pine Siskin, but the bill looks like a Pine Siskin bill to me, and it lacks the head markings of a female Purple Finch. I guess the size was deceptive.
Here's an interesting picture of a European Starling with its bill open.
Here's a female Brown-headed Cowbird, a species I still needed for June.
Here is a male Brown-headed Cowbird, and you can see where the species gets its name.
Here is a male Purple Finch.
Both of our two local hummingbird species were well represented at the sugar water feeders. Here is a female Rufous Hummingbird from the back, showing her pretty tail.
Some Band-tailed Pigeons flew in and hogged the seed feeders. Here is one of the first to show up, on a wire.
Here are two male hummingbirds, a Rufous Hummingbird on the left and an Anna's Hummingbird on the right.
Here's a male Black-headed Grosbeak that kept moving around.
Here are two pictures of a male Rufous Hummingbird.
In that second picture, there is a male Anna's Hummingbird at the feeder as well. My hummingbird picture aren't very good because of the distance and the low level of light. It was a heavily overcast day, and the light was poor all day.
Next I drove up to Tokul Creek to look for my American Dipper that I missed last week. I missed it again today. I guess I'll have to go back a third time this month, if I want to keep up my long streak of seeing that species every month. After that I returned to the valley and drove up Neal Road in Fall City. I was on a twitch, looking for a rarity that has been seen there in the last week or two, pretty reliably. I followed the directions, and on the muddy path into the trees, I played the song, and an AMERICAN REDSTART, a type of warbler, showed it itself well. It stayed back in the foliage, though, and I wasn't able to get a picture in the poor light. It was the first time I have ever seen this Eastern warbler in Washington State.
At the end of Neal Road, I saw a huge flock of Band-tailed Pigeons fly up from the dairy across the river. There were well over 100 of them, which is far more Band-tailed Pigeons I had ever seen at one time. Here is a picture of a few of them that landed in trees across the river.
I didn't know that Band-tailed Pigeons formed such huge flocks.
After that I headed for home, but I stopped one more time at the Carnation new feeder house with flowers. I didn't get anything else I needed, but I took a few more pictures. Here is a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco.
Here are some more hummingbird pictures. This first one is three female hummers.
The one on the right is a female Anna's Hummingbird, the one in the middle is a female Rufous Hummingbird, and I think the one on the left is another female Anna's Hummingbird. In this next picture, the one on the left is a male Anna's Hummingbird, and the other two are female Anna's Hummingbirds.
Here's a female Anna's Hummingbird on her own.
My last picture of the day is a male Black-headed Grosbeak.
That was it for today. Lots of pictures, to make up for forgetting my camera yesterday. I added 8 more species to my June list, and now I have 73 species this month. Two of those species were repeaters, and now I have 48 of my 70 repeaters this month. I also added 2 species to my year list, and now I have 178 species in 2022. American Redstart was new for Washington and King county, but I'm not sure of my new totals for those, because there is a discrepancy between my spreadsheet and my little notebook. I'll have to spend some time to find the error. [My King county list is now at 200 species and my Washington State total is 291.]
Monday, June 13, 2022
I had a lunch appointment in Everett today, and I went up early to Marysville to look for California Scrub-Jay. I drove to the west access to Jennings Memorial Park, which is my "go to" place for California Scrub-Jay. I went through a heavy rain shower on the way, but it let up after I passed Everett. At the park, the rain had stopped and I walked around. While I was looking for scrub-jays, I noticed some birds swooping around high overhead. I could see they were swifts, and based on their size (much larger than swallows), I was sure they were Black Swifts. That's an uncommon species here, and I had counted it last month for my May list. After seeing the birds today, I now question my identification last month. These swifts today were really large. Vaux's Swift is about 5 inches long, which is a bit shorter than most of our local swallows. Black Swift is over 7 inches long, and these swifts today were the big guys. Here are some out of focus shots that are just silhouettes, but they portray what Black Swifts look like when soaring overhead. Note the narrow, curved wings and the cigar-shaped bodies.
I continued to look around for scrub-jays, and eventually one showed up, and California Scrub-Jay went on my June list.
I had some peanuts with me, so I threw some out on the lawn, and more jays showed up, including this Steller's Jay.
I kept doling out the peanuts, and eventually there were 3 or 4 California Scrub-Jays around. Here are pictures.
When I got tired of that, I left and drove to the Everett sewage treatment ponds. On the big pond, I saw a male Cinnamon Teal for my June list. Near the end of the roadway to Spencer Island, I heard a Virginia Rail call, so that one went on my list. As I was leaving, I stopped to check out some ducks on the pond to the south. There were only Mallards, a few Gadwalls, and quite a few Wood Ducks. As I was getting back in the car, I saw a bird flying, and I watched it land in a little channel that had cattails on both sides. I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but I wanted a better look. I drove to where I thought it had landed and played its call. I got a very loud response, just a little farther up the road, and when I looked where the call had come from, I could see my first GREEN HERON of the year, through the cattails.
By that time I had to hurry to lunch. After lunch, I went down to the 10th St boat launch. Among the gulls, I found a couple of Caspian Terns, one I needed still for June. Here is one of the Caspian Terns. It is the bird in the middle of the picture with the bright red-orange bill.
There was an Osprey sitting on the nest that I like to watch.
I checked out the Great Blue Heron rookery and took some pictures. Here are three pretty large Great Blue Heron nestlings. When they get this big, the parents leave them on their own, while the parents look for food to feed the growing family.
I moved my car a little and saw an adult Great Blue Heron fly in with food for its three large youngsters. The youngsters mobbed the parent, trying to get the food.
The parent regurgitated the food, and the three youngsters scrambled for it.
When the food had all been eaten, the nestlings wanted more.
The parent flew away, though, to look for more food. Not all the babies are this big. Here is a nest with two smaller nestlings. They evidently aren't big enough yet to leave them on their own.
The babies certainly are ugly, in my opinion.
On still another nest, a large nestling was trying out its wings.
That was it for today. I added 6 species to my June list, which now stands at 79 species. Virginia Rail was a repeater, and now I have 49 of my 70 repeaters this month so far. Green Heron was new for 2022 for me, and now I have 179 species this year.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
I felt lethargic today and my back hurt, but I went down to Juanita Beach Park to look for a couple of species. I didn't see a Pied-billed Grebe or the Mandarin Duck that hangs out there sometimes, so I went over to the little woodland area along Juanita Creek, at the west end of the parking lot. I heard birdsong, so I fired up the Merlin app's Sound Recognition feature. It indicated that it heard a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and that was one I needed. I played the song on my phone, and eventually two of them flew in and posed for me. Here are some pictures of the two Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
The bird in that last picture looks to me like it might have had a bath recently.
I played the song of another species I needed that I thought might be in that habitat, Warbling Vireo. I thought I heard a rather distant response. Vireos are quite responsive usually, and once you get one singing, it tends to keep it up for several minutes. I kept hearing what sounded to me like a Warbling Vireo responding to me, so I recorded the sound, using Merlin, and the app concurred repeatedly, every time the vireo sang. That was good enough for me, and although I never could lure the bird in close enough to see, I counted it for my June list.
Next I drove to Big Finn Hill Park, which is on Finn Hill, of all things. I walked around, playing the songs of a couple of species. At the spot where I have seen them in the past, a Red-breasted Nuthatch flew in and posed for me. That was another one for my June list. Here are four pictures of the very cooperative Red-breasted Nuthatch.
I drove to the fire station road at Juanita Bay Park, but there were workmen there doing something, so I headed on home. I picked up 3 species for my June list, and 2 of those were repeaters. Now I have 82 species this month, and 51 of my 70 repeaters. I only spent about 90 minutes on birding today, but at least I got out of the house and moved around a little.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Between doctor's appointments and the weather, I didn't get out birding again until today. I went up to Skagit county to see what I could find. My first stop was Hayton Reserve. As I drove into the parking lot, there was a female Northern Harrier flying low, right in front of me. That was an excellent one for my June list, as they are hard to find in the summer. I just happened to show up at the exact right time. As I got out of the car, a Savannah Sparrow was in the parking lot. I had that one, but here is a picture of the Savannah Sparrow with some attractive grass behind it.
I took my scope up on the dike and looked around. There were several dozen Caspian Terns, but I had that one already this month. Eventually I found two Bonaparte's Gulls in non-breeding plumage, and that was another excellent June bird for me, a repeater that is tough in June. I was hoping to find American Wigeons, but as far as I could tell, all the ducks were either Gadwalls or Mallards. I gave it up, but on the way out, I stopped to scope the long body of water at the entrance to the parking lot. I was pleased to find a single American Wigeon there, so that repeater went on my list. On my way to my next stop, I saw my first of only two Red-tailed Hawks that I saw today, and I needed it still.
I drove to Valentine Road and at the corner of Dodge Valley Road, at the house with feeders, I took this picture of a female American Goldfinch.
Here is a Eurasian Collared-Dove in a tree at that house.
There were some Mourning Doves around, too, and I took this shot of one as I pulled out.
On Valentine Road, at Rancho Valentine, I tried for House Wren, but couldn’t attract one. They usually nest there, and the woman who lives there said they were there a couple of weeks ago. I pulled up to where I could see the big suet feeder, and a female Hairy Woodpecker was there. I needed that one. Here she is.
Here is another picture of the female Hairy Woodpecker, an excellent one for my list.
I like the way woodpeckers brace themselves with their tails when they eat. They have strong, stiff feathers in their tails, so they can do that.
I already had Downy Woodpecker this month, but a male Downy Woodpecker came to the suet, so I took his picture, too.
While I was there, I heard a Common Raven calling as it flew around out of sight, but it went on my list as "heard only", since the call is so distinctive. Next I drove to March Point. One of my target species there was American White Pelican, and as I got there, I saw three of them flying in the distance, over what are referred to as the spoil islands. Spoil islands are called that because they are formed from the "spoil" or sand that is dredged periodically to form a channel for boats. I stayed there for a few minutes, and got this distant picture of two American White Pelicans coming in for a landing.
As I was leaving, 30 or 40 pelicans flew up from the other side of that island, where I hadn't been able to see them. I took some more distant pictures in the interesting light. Here is one more shot of some American White Pelicans in the distance.
I continued out to March Point, and at one point I stopped and looked at the shoreline ahead with my binoculars, looking for Black Oystercatcher. A black bird of the right size flew in to the beach and got me interested, but it was only a crow. Then a second one flew in, and that one had the red bill of a Black Oystercatcher, an excellent repeater I needed. I drove up the road to get closer and took pictures of the Black Oystercatcher.
It was poking around in the rocks, and from time to time it came up with a little one-sided shellfish, of a type we used to call a Chinaman's Hat (in less ethnically sensitive times).
It has one in its bill in that last shot. It would pull one out from under the rocks and then put it down and eat the animal inside. Here is a close up of it with another one in its bill.
At the point, there were cormorants fishing in the bay and roosting on the pier. All the ones I saw were Pelagic Cormorants, a repeater I still needed this month. I drove on around the point, and on the Fidalgo Bay side, there were a bunch of cormorants roosting on a sandy point, and I got out my scope and discovered that they were mostly or all Double-crested Cormorants, another repeater I still needed.
I had one more place I wanted to go, and that was the town of Lyman, up in the Skagit River Valley. I stopped where Bank Swallows had nested the last couple of years, but couldn't find any today. I had seen them at that nest colony (which consists of holes in a sandy bank) last month, but I didn't see any today. Either they have abandoned that colony or they were all out and about, looking for food when I was there.
I drove to the barn of my birding acquaintance, Gary, and saw the Barn Owl that lives in the attic of his barn. There was a robin's nest just inside the door of the barn, only about 7 feet off the ground, and there were young robins in the nest. Mom was flying around chattering at me, telling me to get away. I took this shot of the baby American Robins before leaving.
It was a successful day of birding. I got everything I was hoping for except House Wren and Bank Swallow, both of which are uncommon species around here. I added 11 species to my June list, and now I have 93 species this month. Eight of the 11 species were repeaters, and now I have 59 of my 70 repeaters this month. I'm still at 179 species for the year.
Oh yes, I drove about 179 miles today and got 26.9 mpg, according to my car. I stopped at my favorite Indian gas station on the way home and got 10.4 gallons at $4.999 per gallon, which is 40 to 80 cents per gallon less than most stations around here.
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Yesterday I stopped briefly at the Edmonds waterfront and added Marbled Murrelet and Rhinoceros Auklet to my June list. Today I went over to Marymoor Park, stopping first at the Redmond Retention Ponds. I didn't get anything at the ponds, and on my way to Marymoor from there, I stopped at the north end of Lake Sammamish, where I can get a view of the Purple Martin nest boxes in the lake from my car. There were lots of Purple Martins swooping around the nest boxes, so that one went on my June list.
At Marymoor Park, I went up on the viewing mound, but I didn’t see anything I needed. There was a Willow Flycatcher around, and I got these next two pictures of the Willow Flycatcher.
After a while, I walked around the East Meadow loop. As I set off, a male Lazuli Bunting posed for me near the top of a tree. I had it already this month, but I love blue colored birds, so here are some pictures. First, one from the front.
Here's one from the side, showing more of the blue.
And here is a picture from the rear, showing off the blue back.
I walked around the loop in the sun, but I didn’t see anything very interesting. I did get a couple more pictures of a different male Lazuli Bunting.
Next I drove to the west parking lot for the dog park and walked along the slough. I didn't see anything I needed there, either, but I took this picture of a male Brown-headed Cowbird.
That was all I had time for today. I added 2 species to my June list yesterday and one more today. Now I have 96 species this month. I still have 59 of my 70 repeaters this month and 179 species for the year.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Christina is off to Yosemite for our annual family trip, but this year I stayed home and our daughter, Johanna, drove to Yosemite with Christina. To keep me company while I am Home Alone, my old friend, Chris, came to town yesterday for four days. He isn't a birder, but he is an extremely good sport, and we went birding today. My main target was American Dipper.
It was drizzling this morning, but we drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley, anyway. We stopped at the Redmond Watershed Preserve in the hopes there might be a Pied-billed Grebe or a Common Merganser on the pond there. No luck with either of those, but I got this picture of a female Hooded Merganser who had a couple of juveniles nearby.
Out in the Snoqualmie Valley, we saw a wet immature Bald Eagle on a dead snag and I took this picture.
As we drove across the valley, we saw a female American Kestrel, an Osprey, and four species of swallows, but nothing I needed for my June list. We stopped at what I call the "old" feeder house in Carnation, and there were some birds there. We saw Band-tailed Pigeons, American Goldfinches, House Finches, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbirds, and maybe some other species. The only picture I took that is worth showing is this one of a couple of female Purple Finches interacting.
The female Purple Finches are the brown birds, and that is a male American Goldfinch watching them on the left, with a male Black-headed Grosbeak peaking around the feeder from the back.
We stopped by the "new" Carnation feeder house, but it was still drizzling, and there wasn’t much there. Next we stopped at the deli at the Carnation Market and got sandwiches. Then we drove to the Tolt River on the south side of Carnation. We got out and looked for American Dipper there, but the water was pretty high and we didn't see one. After that, we drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River. I took this picture of a feral male Muscovy Duck there, presumably an escapee from a nearby farm.
By that time the drizzle had abated and the weather was pretty good. We drove up to Tokul Creek to look for a dipper up there, but didn’t find one there either. We went on to the little park at the end of that road and ate our sandwiches in the car. Then we headed back toward home, stopping again to try for the dipper at Tokul Creek, but there still wasn't one around. Down in the valley, we drove up Neal Road and back. There were some starlings and Brown-headed Cowbirds feeding in the grass at the feet of some horses. From time to time, one of the birds would land on a horse. Here is a picture of a male Brown-headed Cowbird on the back of a horse.
We stopped at the Tolt River again, but still couldn’t find a dipper. I took this picture of a Cedar Waxwing there.
At the new house with feeders, there was a lot of bird activity, and I took more pictures. Here is a male Black-headed Grosbeak.
Most of the pictures I show of hummingbirds are taken at feeders, because away from feeders, they don't stay still for long. I took this shot I like of a female Anna's Hummingbird feeding at a flower.
Here is a male American Goldfinch and a Pine Siskin.
Three Mourning Doves showed up, and here is a picture of one of them.
Eight or ten Band-tailed Pigeons flew in, and here is a picture of one of them.
A female and male Black-headed Grosbeak were feeding in one of the feeding trays. The male has the black head.
A couple of Steller's Jays joined the party.
Here's a female American Goldfinch.
Eventually we dragged ourselves away from there and continued on our way home. We saw some other birds going back across the valley, and we made our last stop at the Redmond Retention Ponds. I was hoping to see a Pied-billed Grebe there, but I didn't. There were a couple of Cedar Waxwings chasing flying insects in the grass, and I took this picture of one of them in a little bush.
There has been a rarity (for Washington State) there at the Redmond Retention Ponds for the last 5 or 6 days, and many birders have seen it. One of the birders had posted the exact GPS coordinates where it has been seen, and it has been hanging around that exact same area the whole time. They say it calls loudly all the time, making it easier to find. Getting to where it hangs out is a little walk on a small trail I had never gone on before. I was going to skip it, but when I used my cell phone app that identifies bird songs and calls, it actually picked up the bird from across the pond. I had also seen an eBird report that said the bird had been there at 1 PM today, several hours earlier. To top it all off, Chris (who has much better hearing than I do in the higher frequencies) could hear the bird calling.
So, we ventured out on the little path through the long grass and eventually got to where the bird hangs out. Chris could hear it calling all the time, but I only heard it a couple of times. Finally we spotted it. I played the call on my cell phone, and the bird was quite interested. It flew back and forth, right over my head several times. Chris would watch where it went, and I kept trying for pictures. I eventually got three usable pictures of the rare (for this area) LEAST FLYCATCHER.
It was the first time I had seen that species in Washington State. As far as I can remember, the only other time I saw a Least Flycatcher was in Texas. They winter in South or Central America, migrate north through Texas and other Eastern states, and breed in Montana and southern Canada. Somehow this one got lost, I guess.
That was the end of today's birding. I didn’t get my dipper, for the third time this month, but I got a rarity to make up for it. I added just the one species to my June list, and now I have 97 species this year. My year total is now 180 with the addition of the Least Flycatcher. My King county list is now 201 species and my Washington State list is now 292, with the addition of Least Flycatcher. I've gotten American Dipper every month for 53 months in a row, and I really wanted to get it this month, to keep the streak alive. We might go back there on Friday looking for it again. Tomorrow I hope to go over to Whidbey Island to look for sea birds.
Friday, June 23, 2022
This morning Chris and I took the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton, on Whidbey Island. We picked up sandwiches at Pickles Deli and went to Deer Lagoon. We walked out to where we could see the two lagoons, but I didn't see anything I needed for my list. I had been hoping for Pied-billed Grebe or a duck maybe. We heard California Quail call several times, and I saw a couple of American White Pelicans way across the fresh water lagoon, but nothing else interesting. A Marsh Wren was singing nearby and posed briefly for a picture.
After that we drove to Libbey Beach, but didn't see anything of interest there. Our next stop was the Hastie Lake Road access. There were some birds there, at least. Here is a male Surf Scoter, one I needed.
The splash you see just past the Surf Scoter is from another one that had just dove. When we first arrived, I saw what I thought was a pair of White-winged Scoters, another one I needed. They were diving and swimming away from us, and I never got another good look at them. I put it on my list, but I didn't feel great about it because I never saw them again in the half hour we were there. There were a lot of juvenile Surf Scoters in various plumages, and I wondered if I had misidentified the White-winged Scoters. There were some Harlequin Ducks off to the north, and I was happy to add that one to my June list.
I saw another bird that looked to me like a female Black Scoter, which would have been a great one to get in June. Here is a picture of the bird.
The pattern on the head looks much more like a female Black Scoter to me than a female Surf Scoter, but when I saw the pictures tonight on the computer, I decided that the bill just wasn't right for Black Scoter, so I guess it is just a strange looking female Surf Scoter.
We ate our sandwiches there and moved on to the West Beach county park overlook. I was happy to spot four White-winged Scoters there, and I had excellent looks at them with my scope. I felt that redeemed my dubious White-winged Scoter identification from the last stop. Before we left, I saw a Common Loon, another one I needed and had hoped to see today.
After that we stopped at Dugualla Bay, but I saw nothing at all interesting there. Summer is really a lousy time for water bird viewing, since most of them are off elsewhere breeding. We made just one more stop on the way home, at Rancho Valentine, the house with feeders on Valentine Road just south of the Skagit Flats. I had hoped to see House Wren there, since they have nested there in recent years, but I couldn't call one up, for the third time this month. No Pileated Woodpeckers there, either.
That was it for today. It was a lot of driving for a few birds, but the main point was to enjoy a ferry ride and drive on a beautiful day in summer in the Pacific Northwest. We had a great time, and I did manage to add 4 more species to my June list. Now I have 101 species this month. Two of them today were repeaters, and now I have 61 of my 70 repeaters this month. I still have 180 species so far this year. Tomorrow we plan to look for American Dipper again.
Friday, June 24, 2022
I had gotten reports of American Dippers being seen yesterday at both the Tolt River bridge and the Tokul Creek bridge, so Chris and I headed out to the Snoqualmie Valley again to see if I could get my June dipper. As we started across the valley, I took this picture of a male American Kestrel.
On the east side of the Snoqualmie River, there was a female Common Merganser sitting on an island in the river. I needed that one for June. She was sleeping most of the time, but she eventually looked up and I took this picture of the female Common Merganser, a repeater.
There were at least three Spotted Sandpipers on the rocky island, and I took this distant picture of one of them.
There is an Osprey nest on a platform on a pole at that intersection, and I took this picture showing two Ospreys in the nest.
I don't know where all the grass came from. I don't recall seeing that in an Osprey nest before.
We drove by the two houses in Carnation with feeders, but I didn't see anything I needed or take any pictures. We picked up sandwiches at the Carnation Market and went to the bridge over the Tolt River that is on the south side of Carnation. The water was quite a bit lower than it had been on Wednesday when we were there, which made it easier to get down to the river level. An American Dipper was feeding at edge of the river, under the bridge, in the deep shade. The light was terrible, and I didn't get a picture. The dipper flew across the river and I noticed another one there. The second one was a juvenile, I think, based on how light colored it was. Here is a distant picture in terrible light of what I think was a juvenile American Dipper.
We moved back from the edge of the river, in order to encourage either one of the dippers to come back to our side of the river. Eventually, the adult dipper flew back to our side of the river, and I took pictures, although the bird was in the deep shade of the bridge.
So, I had my American Dipper for June, keeping my streak alive. Now I have seen American Dipper in each of the last 54 months.
As we were walking back to the car, my birding buddy, Hank, and his wife showed up. Hank told me that there was a colony of Bank Swallows on the river nearby, and he gave me directions to find it. We drove to a parking lot in Tolt-MacDonald Park and walked to the river bank. On the way, I heard a bird singing loudly, and I thought it sounded familiar. I used the Merlin phone app to identify the song as being from a RED-EYED VIREO, an excellent year bird to get. I tried to attract it closer, but it stayed up high in the trees. The song is distinctive enough that I put it on my list as a "heard only" species for the month. At the river, we easily found the Bank Swallow colony and I saw a lot of Bank Swallows flying around, another excellent species for my June list.
After that, we drove to Valley Memorial Park in Carnation and ate our lunch. While eating lunch, I saw a Western Tanager fly into the top of a distant tree. That was another excellent June bird for me. After lunch, we drove to the "new" house with feeders. It was pretty quiet, but we sat there and watched for a while. I got a few pictures I like. Here is a male Purple Finch.
Here is a European Starling.
A male American Goldfinch sat in the sun and posed for me.
Here are a couple of female hummingbirds at a feeder. The one on the left is an Anna's Hummingbird, and the one on the right is a Rufous Hummingbird.
A female Rufous Hummingbird hovered in the sun.
Eventually we moved on from there and headed for home. On NE 60th St, just north of Carnation, there were at least a couple of dozen Violet-green Swallows sitting on the ground in a field. I don't recall ever seeing swallows just sitting on the ground in a field like that. Here is a shot of a male Violet-green Swallow.
You can really see where the species gets its name, with the green and violet colors on him.
We made one more stop, at the Redmond Retention Ponds, in the hopes of seeing a Pied-billed Grebe. We didn't, but I got this picture of a Spotted Sandpiper in the grass.
So, it was a very successful day. I got my American Dipper, which was our primary target, and I also added 4 additional species to my June list. With those 5 species, my June list now stands at 106 species. Common Merganser and American Dipper were both repeaters, and now I have 63 of my 70 repeaters this month. Red-eyed Vireo was new for the year for me, and now I have 181 species this year so far.
It was a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures that got up into the high 70's by late afternoon. It is supposed to get well up into the 80's in the next three days.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
It was about 90 degrees the last three days, and for various reasons, I didn't venture out into the heat to look for birds. Today, following up on a tip from a birding buddy, I drove down to Yellow Lake, on the Sammamish plateau, to look for Pied-billed Grebe, a repeater I wanted to get this month. I parked and walked out on to the floating dock. I looked around and fairly soon spotted two juvenile Pied-billed Grebes in the distance. The floating dock was moving up and down with the kids running around on it, but I took pictures, anyway. Here is my best one of the two juvenile Pied-billed Grebes.
Juveniles have that stripey head. When they mature, they will look like this adult Pied-billed Grebe, which I saw on another part of the lake.
There were Mallards and Wood Ducks around, too, in various stages of molting from breeding plumage to non-breeding plumage. Here is a male Wood Duck that has just started his molt. He still looks mostly like he looked a few weeks ago.
Here is another male Wood Duck that has mostly molted to his non-breeding plumage.
Here is a pair of Wood Ducks. The female is the one with white around her eye and her bill tucked in.
I played Pacific Wren songs on the way back to the car, but I couldn't attract one. I made one more stop, at the Lake Sammamish State Park boat launch, but I found nothing interesting there. I added one more species to my June list, and it was a repeater. Thanks, Hank. Now I have 107 species this month, and 64 of them are repeaters.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Today my target species was a flycatcher that is uncommon on this side of the Cascade Mountains, but they breed in a small area on the outskirts of the town of Snohomish, about a half hour north of home. I drove to the parking area off Fobes Road and parked, then walked out on the dike trail along Ebey Slough. I carried my camp chair, so I could rest my back and provide a stable platform for pictures.
A male Northern Flicker was hanging around, so I took his picture. All my pictures today have the bright cloudy sky for a background, so they aren't very good. Here is the male Northern Flicker.
There were Cedar Waxwings around, as usual at that location.
I was playing the song of the target flycatcher, and eventually a couple of them paid attention. Here is my first EASTERN KINGBIRD of the year.
Taking pictures of a black and white bird against a bright background is hopeless, and these were the best I could do.
On my way back to my car, another Eastern Kingbird showed up, so I took his picture, too.
When I got back to my car, I drove down to the end of Fobes Road, and I saw a flycatcher on a wire. I decided it was a Willow Flycatcher, and here are two pictures of it.
I identified it from its song, which it is singing in this next picture.
I headed for home, and at 50 mph, I saw a couple of raptors in a dead tree. I thought one of them looked like it might be a Cooper's Hawk, which I still need this month. I found a place to turn around and I went back. It turned out that both raptors were Red-tailed Hawks. Here is one of them.
That was it for my morning birding, but this afternoon I ventured out again. I don’t usually go out in the afternoon when I have come home for lunch, but today I wanted to try for a repeater, Pacific Wren. I had a tip on a location to try, from my birding buddy, Hank. I looked it up on eBird, and there were several reports of Pacific Wren at the Redmond Watershed Preserve this month, including a report from Monday that reported 7 of them. I parked and walked on the paved path that Hank had suggested, and I played Pacific Wren songs in various places. I thought I saw one once, but it was only a brief flash, not enough to count it. Eventually, I heard one singing back to me, but I never could get it to show itself. On my way back to my car, I played the song where I had seen the brief flash, and one answered back. Eventually, it flew in and I got a great look at it from about 8 feet away, for about 3 seconds. Pacific Wren, you are mine!
I added two more species to my June list today, and now I have 109 species this month. Eastern Kingbird was new for the year, and now I have 182 species this year. I have 65 of my 70 repeaters now, thanks to Pacific Wren. Tomorrow is the last day of the month, and I'll probably go out looking for something, but I haven't yet decided what it will be.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
I decided to go up to Edmonds today, which is about a half hour northwest of home. A gull that has been gone for over six months has just returned, and there have been reports of the very first of the southward (fall) shorebird migration beginning. My first stop was the Edmonds Marsh. It took a while, but eventually I saw 3 or 4 little shorebirds. At least one of them was a Western Sandpiper, and at least one of them was a Least Sandpiper, both of which I needed for June. They were much too far away for pictures, but I saw them well with my scope.
Next I drove to Marina Beach Park, but I didn't see the gull I was looking for. At the first parking area north of the park, I spotted three HEERMANN'S GULLS on the breakwater, my first of the year, since they have been gone since November or December. Here are two distant pictures of Heermann's Gulls.
They are very distinctive, with their white heads, orange-red bills, smoky colored underparts, and dark backs. The first reports of them at Edmonds had been earlier this week, and I took a chance on finding them today.
After that, I drove to Yost Park. I walked on the trails and played Wilson's Warbler songs where I have seen them before. They are often responsive to their songs, and today at least two of them flew around me while I tried for pictures. Sometimes they were actually too close to get a shot off. Anyway, here are some pictures of male Wilson's Warblers, an excellent one for my June list.
That was all for today. I added 4 more species to my June list, and one of them was a year bird (Heermann's Gull). I am finishing June with 113 species, 65 of my 70 repeaters, and 183 species for 2022. Tomorrow a new month starts, and I'll start building my July list.