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Saturday, October 1, 2022
I'm back in the saddle again. I had so many things going on in September (covid recovery, medical appointments, and weather things, mainly) that I gave it up and took a birding vacation for the second half of September. I enjoyed the vacation, but now I'm ready to hit it again. Monthly birding.
Today, with a new month in hand, I headed out to the Snoqualmie Valley. It was smoky from wildfires, but I soldiered on through it. Before I left home, I started my month with House Finch, Feral Pigeon, and Dark-eyed Junco. I picked up American Crow while driving out to the valley. On the pond along the west side of the valley, I added a distant Pied-billed Grebe.
Along NE 100th St., I saw an American Robin at the top of a dead tree. In the same tree, a female Purple Finch flew in. Here is a terrible picture of the female Purple Finch, in bad light.
I drove along 100th, and there was a male Ring-necked Pheasant walking along the road, ahead of me. It turned off the road, and I got a couple of pictures of the male Ring-necked Pheasant.
It was foggy in that part of the valley, but it soon cleared. At Sikes Lake, I added Great Blue Heron and American Coot to my October list. In the town of Carnation, at the original house with feeders, I added Band-tailed Pigeon to my list, but they were high in trees, looking into the light, so I didn't bother with pictures. There were also Eurasian Collared-Doves around, and here is a picture of one of them.
There weren't many birds around, but an Eastern Gray Squirrel was scarfing up the seed put out for the birds.
Eastern Gray Squirrels were introduced to this area, and they have mostly replaced the native squirrels. A Steller's Jay came around, too.
I moved on to the "new" house with feeders, the one with all the flowers. The last time I was there, sunflowers had taken over the yard, and you could barely see the bird feeders, but most of the sunflowers have been taken down now, so I could see the various bird feeders. There was a Mourning Dove feeding on the driveway.
A male Red-winged Blackbird flew in and posed for me.
American Goldfinches were coming and going to the various feeders. Here is an American Goldfinch.
Here are two American Goldfinches at a feeder.
I added House Sparrow, and then there was a single Band-tailed Pigeon feeding on the ground. It flew up onto the roof, where I could get a good look at it. It looked different, and when I processed my pictures, I looked it up and realized it was a juvenile Band-tailed Pigeon, in a drabber plumage than adults, without the markings on the back of its neck. Here are two shots of the juvenile Band-tailed Pigeon.
Anna's Hummingbirds were flitting around. Here is a male Anna's Hummingbird.
That could have been a juvenile male Anna's Hummingbird. This next picture is either a juvenile male or a mature female Anna's Hummingbird, with some color on its throat.
A single Black-capped Chickadee showed up for a short time.
I don't know what was in that basket-like thing.
After that, I drove around the block to the Carnation Market and got a sandwich at the deli there. They make a huge sandwich to your order, with lots of things on it, for $6.49 and they don't even charge sales tax usually. Then I moved on to the Tolt River, just south of Carnation to look for my main target of the day, American Dipper. I dipped on it, and drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River toward Fall City. At the pond just south of Jubilee Farms, a river otter was swimming around. Here is my best picture of it.
An Osprey was watching the pond from a dead snag.
I didn't see anything else along there, and I drove up to Tokul Creek to look for American Dipper there. Again, I missed it. I ate half my sandwich and tried again, but still no luck. There were large fish (2 to 3 feet long), salmon or steelhead, in the shallow creek, but no dipper. I gave that up and drove back to the Tolt River, but no dipper there, either. I guess I'll have to go back out there again this month, because those are the only two places I have ever seen American Dipper near here.
I stopped at the new feeder house and ate the other half of my sandwich, but there weren't many birds around, and nothing new for me. I took this picture of another American Goldfinch.
I headed for home, and at Sikes Lake, there were some Canada Geese on the water. There were two Greater White-fronted Geese in with them, an excellent species to get for October. Here are the two Greater White-fronted Geese (in the back) with two Canada Geese.
Here is one of the Greater White-fronted Geese on its own.
Just up the road from there, I spotted a female American Kestrel on a wire.
Note the brown wings and the streaked breast. A male American Kestrel flew in and landed a little farther up the road. Check out his blue wings and unstreaked breast, with some spots on his side.
Here's one more shot of the male American Kestrel, with a different background.
That was it for today. I started October off with 26 species and 23 of them were repeaters. I still have 190 species this year. I hope to continue to get out there in October, but I might write fewer reports. I rather enjoyed my little vacation from writing reports and processing pictures.
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Today I decided to go up north, to Skagit county, which is about an hour north of home. Before I left home, though, there were a couple of immature White-crowned Sparrows feeding on our walkway outside the back door, so that species went on my October list.
On my way north, I picked up a sandwich at Subway in Stanwood and went to the Davis Slough access, between Stanwood and Camano Island. There were a couple of Greater Yellowlegs there, and here's a picture.
Here's a front view of one of the Greater Yellowlegs.
There was a Killdeer there, too.
I turned in to Eide Road and parked. The tide was high, and there were a couple of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS nearby, my first of the year. Here are some Pectoral Sandpiper pictures.
Pectoral Sandpipers are migrating through here now, and it was gratifying to see a couple of them today. I also picked up Northern Pintail and Song Sparrow there.
I drove up into Skagit county and stopped at Wylie Slough. The reserve there had been closed for two months, to move a dike and do other flood control work. They didn't finish it this year, though, and the reserve is due to be closed again next year. It is my best site for shorebirds, and having it closed for August and September was a real blow to my efforts to see shorebird this year, because July and August are the main months that shorebirds migrate through here. I guess it will be a problem next year, too. Anyway, there were some Cedar Waxwings there, and here is a picture of a juvenile Cedar Waxwing.
I walked out onto the dike trail, where they had chopped down a of trees, leaving a huge mess. I saw a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers chasing each other around, and then there were ducks across from the bird blind, which is now sitting out in the open. I added Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, and Green-winged Teal there. Oh yes, on my way to Wylie Slough, I had seen a couple of Common Ravens flying. The tide was too high for shorebirds there, so I moved on to Hayton Reserve. The tide was too high for shorebirds there, too, but I picked up Short-billed Gull (formerly Mew Gull) and California Gull. As I was leaving, a Bald Eagle flew in to a tree near the big eagle nest.
I drove on and stopped at the two houses with feeders on Valentine Road. There was very little at either one, and I got nothing, not even a picture. I moved on to March Point, on Fidalgo Island. There were several dozen American White Pelicans on one of the spoil islands, and I took some very distant pictures.
The black birds in front of them are cormorants, but I couldn't tell which species. American White Pelican used to be rare in Skagit county, but several years ago, they started spending the summer in Padilla Bay, and now they are pretty much there all summer. I was glad to see they were still around; they will be leaving soon. I drove around March Point, hoping to see a Black Oystercatcher, but the tide was too high and there was very little beach showing. Near the point, a small bird was along the road, and when it flew, it looked interesting. I stopped and there ended up being at least two of them. I chased them around and took pictures, and they turned out to be HORNED LARKS, my first of the year. Horned Lark is a rarity in Skagit county, or anywhere else on the west side of the Cascades in Washington, and it was only the second time I had seen the species in Western Washington. Here are some distant pictures, in difficult conditions.
These next two shots were taken through a chain link fence, to make them even worse.
I ate my lunch at the end of the peninsula and while I was eating, both Double-crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants flew past, so they went on my list.
After that I headed for home. I stopped on Valentine Road again, and this time, at Casa Valentine, the house with the big suet feeder, a female Hairy Woodpecker flew in to a tree nearby and then went to the suet feeder.
A little Downy Woodpecker flew in to the suet, too, but the larger Hairy Woodpecker chased it off before I could get a picture of it.
I continued on toward home, but I detoured to drive around the Rawlins Road/Maupin Road loop. There was a flock of American Pipits, with many on wires and many on the ground in the fields. They flew off as I approached, but I managed to get a few pictures. Here is an American Pipit on a wire.
Here is one on the ground, in better light.
That was it for me today. I added 22 species to my October list, and now I have 48 species this month. Fifteen of those were repeaters, ones on my list of 70 species that I could see in every month of the year, and now I have 38 of my 70 repeaters in October. Pectoral Sandpiper and Horned Lark were new for 2022 for me, and now I have 192 species this year. Horned Lark was new for me in Skagit county, and now I have 179 species on my Skagit county list. It was sunny today, but smoky from wildfires, and the smoke in the air affected some of my pictures today.
Thursday, October 6, 2022
On Monday I had a couple of medical appointments and I also was having a car problem, which took some time. On Tuesday the car problem got worse, and I had to have my car towed to the dealer. On Wednesday I had to pick it up, and after that, I just didn’t feel like birding. As it turned out, I saw a Northern Flicker in our yard, so I got one for my list. Today was my first time actually out birding since Sunday.
Today I headed up to Edmonds, and my first stop was in Woodway, at my quail site. I didn't hear or see any quail today, but I did hear a Spotted Towhee calling loudly, so that one went on my list. I moved on after 20 minutes or so, and I stopped at Deer Creek Park. I walked a little and played the songs of Brown Creeper and Pacific Wren, but I couldn't attract either species.
Next I went to the Edmonds waterfront. I checked the marina breakwater from several places, but I didn't see any Brown Pelicans, as I had hoped. I did add Heermann's Gull to my October list. Nothing at Sunset Avenue and nothing at Ocean Avenue either. It had been foggy earlier, and the fog was just burning off, so I couldn't look very far offshore.
I gave it up and headed for home. I stopped on the way at Logboom Park, in Kenmore, at the north end of Lake Washington. The park had been closed for months, while they did some kind of construction, and I wanted to check it out. I guess any improvements they made were at the west end of the park, and I didn't go there today. Out on the dock, I saw some ducks and geese. There were 10 or 12 ducks on the beach, and I thought they were Cinnamon Teal, which would be an excellent one to get for October. When I looked at my pictures tonight, though, I decided they were actually Blue-winged Teal, an even better species. Here are a couple of pictures of Blue-winged Teal, obligingly showing the blue on their wings..
Cinnamon Teal have that same blue color on their wings, but these ducks had facial markings that were too strong for Cinnamon Teal, but just right for Blue-winged Teal.
There were a few American Wigeons around, too, and I had that one already this month, but here is a picture of a pair of American Wigeons. The female is closer to the camera.
There was a single Snow Goose with some Canada Geese, and I needed that one still this month. Later this month there will be thousands of Snow Geese up in Skagit county, but now I have that one. Here is a picture of the Snow Goose.
Here are a couple of Canada Geese, a species I already had this month.
I added one more species to my October list, and here is a picture of my first October Gadwall, a male.
That was it for today. I added 6 more species to my October list in the last three days, and now I have 54 species this month. Three of those species were repeaters, and now I have 41 repeaters this month.
Friday, October 7, 2022
Today I went up to Edmonds again, reprising yesterday. I had no luck with California Quail at my Woodway quail site, and today I didn’t stop at Deer Creek Park. On the Edmonds waterfront, I found a juvenile Brown Pelican.
After taking a few pictures, I noticed a second one just below and to the left of that one. Here are two juvenile Brown Pelicans.
There have been recent reports of as may as three of them at the same time, and when I looked around, I spotted a third one. Here is the third juvenile Brown Pelican.
That was an excellent one to get out of the way, since they are quite uncommon here in the Puget Sound area. One to three of them have been hanging out in Edmonds for the last 6 or 8 weeks, though, and I've taken advantage of that to get them on my August, September, and October lists.
I moved on to Sunset Avenue and got my scope out. There were cormorants on the ferry pilings, and I added Brant's Cormorant to my October list. Looking around, I added Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Red-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, and Surf Scoter. Those are all easy birds, but I got them today. I tried at Ocean Avenue, but saw nothing new there.
I decided to stop again at my quail site to try again for California Quail, but again I missed. There were some Golden-crowned Sparrows around, though, and I needed that one. They have just started to come back from their summer breeding grounds, and this was the first time I had seen the species since May. The light was terrible, coming from behind the birds, but here are some fairly distant shots of Golden-crowned Sparrow, in terrible light.
That was it for today. I added 9 species to my October list, to bring me to 63 species this month. Three of those were repeaters, and now I have 44 of my 70 repeaters this month. I still have 192 species this year.
Saturday, October 8, 2022
Before I get into today, I wanted to mention that yesterday I forgot to list Marsh Wren. I stopped at the Edmonds Marsh and called one up, yesterday. I didn't get any pictures, and I forgot to write it down. I put it on my list for today, and I'll include it in my totals today.
Today I didn't feel up to a big birding excursion, so I went down to Juanita Bay Park, my local park. I walked on the fire station road first. I saw a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches for my list, and then a bit later I was able to elicit a response from a Virginia Rail, another one I needed, by playing its call.
Next I went across the road and managed to call up a Golden-crowned Kinglet for my list, but it never sat still long enough for a picture. I headed out into the main part of the park. As I was going down the steps from the parking lot, I played Brown Creeper songs, and I attracted one. I got a number of pictures, but the light was so low and the bird so active, that none of them came out. I walked out onto the east boardwalk, and I got this picture of a Yellow-rumped Warbler, one I already had this month.
I added Bewick's Wren along the boardwalk, but couldn't get a picture. At the end of the boardwalk, I got this picture of a Pied-billed Grebe, a species I already had.
I had American Coot, too, but these two posed for me so nicely that I shot them.
Here is a female Green-winged Teal, another species I already had this month.
I added Wood Duck to my list, and I walked back to my car. I added 7 species to my October list today, counting the Marsh Wren from yesterday. Now I have 70 species this month. All 7 of those species were repeaters, and now I have 51 of my 70 repeaters. We'll see if I feel up to a big birding expedition tomorrow.
Monday, October 10, 2022
I didn't go out birding yesterday, and today I had an appointment for my annual skin exam with my dermatologist. After that, I drove up to Everett to have lunch with my friend, Chris. After lunch, I decided to go down to the waterfront to try for a couple of species. I added Ring-billed Gull to my October list, but I couldn't find a Caspian Tern. They might all have migrated south by now. I stopped at what is called North View Park, on Port Gardner Bay, looking for Caspian Tern. I didn’t find any, but while scanning around with my scope, I was surprised to see a GREAT EGRET, the first one I have seen this year. They are quite uncommon around here, but Port Gardner Bay is the place they show up when they do come around. I looked it up tonight, and there have been reports for two or three days, including reports from other birders who saw this one today. Here are a couple of very distant pictures of the Great Egret, through the haze.
That was great, and I decided to go over to the Everett sewage treatment ponds to pick up some ducks. I added Ruddy Duck, Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, and Canvasback to my October list. Then I spotted a couple of Eared Grebes. That is an uncommon species that passes through here on migration at this time of year. It was only the second time I had seen Eared Grebe this year. Here is a distant picture of two Eared Grebes.
The duck on the left is a female Ruddy Duck. Here is a distant picture of a male Ruddy Duck and one of the Eared Grebes.
That was it for today. Sorry for the lousy pictures. My two uncommon species, Great Egret and Eared Grebe, were excellent additions to my October list. I wouldn't have expected to get either one this month. I added 8 species to my October list today, and now I have 78 species this month so far. Two of those were repeaters, and now I have 53 of my 70 repeaters this month. Great Egret brought my year list up to 193. It has been very smoky around here, due to wildfires, but tomorrow is supposed to be better, and I hope I feel up to a trip up to Skagit county. We will see. I've been having bowel issues, and I don’t like to get too far from a decent toilet.
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
I decided it was too early in the month to go up to Skagit county again. Some of the winter birds haven't returned yet. In stead I went out to the Snoqualmie Valley again, to look for my monthly American Dipper.
My first stop was the Redmond Retention Ponds. We have had very little rain all summer, and the ponds are very low. There were a few ducks there, though. I ended up seeing at least six Wilson's Snipe as well, which was my main target there today. Here are three Wilson's Snipe.
There were three Hooded Mergansers on the pond, and I needed that one, too. Here are two of the Hooded Mergansers.
Here are all three Hooded Mergansers, and one of them has its hood mostly raised.
Here's another shot of two of them.
The one on the right is the one that had had its hood raised, I think. I think it was an adult female, and I think the other two were juveniles.
I moved on out to the Snoqualmie Valley. While driving across the valley, I stopped and played Lincoln's Sparrow songs in a couple of places. I didn’t attract a Lincoln's Sparrow, but this cute little Bewick's Wren flew in and stopped for just a short time.
A couple of Spotted Towhees showed up, too, so I took their pictures.
I didn't need either the wren or the towhee for my lists, but pictures are always welcome.
I drove on in to the town of Carnation, not seeing anything interesting along the way. There were no birds at all at either one of the houses in Carnation that have feeders, so I went to the Carnation Market and picked up a sandwich at the deli there. Next I drove to the bridge over the Tolt River, on the south edge of Carnation. I spotted my main target of the day, an American Dipper, as I approached the river, but it flew a short distance as I approached. It flew a couple more times, and I never got a picture. The last time I saw it, it had flown across the river, and then I lost track of it. It must have flown off, either upriver or downriver. My timing had been just right to see it, but no pictures today.
As I was leaving the parking lot at the Tolt River, I played Pacific Wren songs, at the east end of the parking lot, where I have seen them in past years. To my pleased surprise, two of them ended up showing themselves. They didn't stay still for long, and most of the time they stayed in cover, but here are two shots of Pacific Wren, one I needed for my October list.
I backtracked into Carnation and at the "new" feeder house, the one with all the flowers, I took some pictures of American Goldfinches, just about the only species there, other than some hummingbirds. Here are two pictures of American Goldfinch.
There was nothing interesting at the other house with feeders, so I drove north to the town of Duvall. I crossed the river and drove up the road on the west side of the Snoqualmie River. I stopped at a place where I had seen Lincoln's Sparrows years ago, and parked off the road. While I ate my lunch, I watched for Turkey Vultures or Northern Harriers, but saw neither. I also played Lincoln's Sparrow songs and eventually two of them flew in. Here are a couple of pictures of Lincoln Sparrow, one I needed.
A Song Sparrow showed up, too, so I took its picture. Notice how similar the two sparrow species look.
I used to have a difficult time distinguishing between those two species, and even now I have to look closely.
That was it for me today. I added 5 more species to my October list, and now I have 83 this month. I really like to get American Dipper every month, though, and that was the most satisfying part of today's birding. Three of today's species were repeaters, and now I have 56 of my 70 repeaters this month.
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Today I went north, to the Marysville area, which is about a half hour north of home. My first birding stop was Tulalip Bay. At the marina, there weren't any shorebirds on the log boom, but I did see three Bonaparte's Gulls, one I needed for my October list.
I could see that there were shorebirds on the spit, across the bay, so I drove to a closer vantage point. There were dozens of Black-belied Plovers and at least a dozen Black Turnstones, both of which I needed. I tried to pick out the rare Ruddy Turnstone that hangs out there, but they was just too far away.
After that, I drove back through Marysville to Jennings Memorial Park. I wanted to get California Scrub-Jay, but I also wanted to look for a rarity (for this area) that has been reported there for the last several days. I walked to where the rarity has been seen from, and there were four other birders already there. No one had seen the rarity yet. I found a place to sit, and I watched the trees where it has been seen. After about 15 minutes, one of the other birders said he had it. I hustled over and he showed it to me in his scope - An ACORN WOODPECKER. That is a common bird in most of California, but pretty rare up here. Here are two very distant pictures of the Acorn Woodpecker.
Soon after I took those shots, it flew off. Later I saw it flying a couple of times, but no more pictures. I walked back up the hill to the parking lot and looked for California Scrub-Jay. Eventually I saw three of them, flying between trees, high overhead. I wasn't able to get a picture, but I got the bird for my list.
That was it for me today. I added 5 more species to my October list, and now I have 88 species this month. Two of the species today were repeaters, and now I have 57 of my 70 repeaters. The Acorn Woodpecker brings my year total to 194 species. It was the first time I had seen Acorn Woodpecker in Washington, and it brought my Snohomish county list to 188 species and my Washington total to 293.
Friday, October 14, 2022
I didn't feel like a big expedition today, so I went up to the Woodway/Richmond Beach area to look for two species - California Quail and Black Scoter. My first stop was in Woodway, at my quail site. I didn't see or hear any quail, so I moved on to Richmond Beach Saltwater Park. There are quail there, but I missed them there, too. I had my scope, though, so I looked around on the water and found at least a dozen male Black Scoters and at least one female. Everything was much too distant for pictures.
I went back to my quail site, and this time I heard a California Quail call three times in a row, so that one went on my October list. Again, no pictures.
After that, I came home for lunch. I added 2 species today, and now I have 90 species this month. California Quail is a repeater, and now I have 58 of my 70 repeaters this month.