By the time I first visited Seattle in the summer of 1972, I was just beginning my journey to become a “birder”.  I had begun to contract that disease – or more positively stated, develop that passion – while in law school  spending far too much time at Palo Alto Baylands and Coyote Hills Regional Park.  I was not so much into listing at that time and of course there was no “Ebird” so record entry and record retrieval was a totally different matter.  But I did keep some notes and records and eventually many of them have become data points in Ebird and thus open to review and catalysts for memories of the past.

Yesterday some work on another birding project included an examination of my birding history in Washington which gave birth to this post – looking back at rarities of the past.  Some have been seen again, but many not.  No digital cameras back then, so no photos and how I regret that.  My first Ebird entry for Washington was from a trip to Sunrise at Mount Rainier on July 27, 1972 – a place I revisited two days ago (September 21) in an unsuccessful attempt to find a Boreal Owl.  While there I made the comment to my companions that I remembered that Ptarmigan sure seemed easier to find in the “good old days” and checking that out was one reason that I looked back at my old birding records in Washington.

The checklist from that first Rainier visit did include White Tailed Ptarmigan.  It was pretty clear that while I identified Sunrise as the location, other spots along the way were actually involved and my record keeping then was not very precise.  All told I reported 34 species and of those 27 were “life birds” – the joy of birding new areas.  Among those “lifers” were Sooty Grouse, Gray Crowned Rosy Finch, Clark’s Nutcracker, Gray Jay, Townsend’s Solitaire, Hermit Warbler, Red and White Winged Crossbills, Black Swift and Mountain Chickadee.  Some of those are not so rare but all were pretty exciting at the time and many would still be considered quite nice today.  Again no photos, but since one rule for blog writing is to not go too long without including some photos, here are two from the failed Owl Prowl on September 21st.

Gray Jay – Sunrise, Mt. Rainier

Clark’s Nutcracker – Sunrise, Mt. Rainier

The nostalgia seeing that first Washington checklist led me to wonder about other early birding experiences in Washington.  In those early days there was no Ebird and no Tweeters so news about special birds came by word of mouth and a single hotline or “Rare Bird Alert”.  Somehow it worked and while I was actually working and starting a new life in a new place, I found time to go on at least a few chases and looking back at the Ebird entries made many years later, I found a lot of very rare birds including many I have not seen again.  The remainder of this post describes some of them – and I sure wish some would return and I could enjoy them again, this time with a camera at hand.

Arctic Loon – Port Gamble – October 22, 1973.  This is the only Arctic Loon I have seen.  There have been only a couple more recent records in Washington.  I cannot recall any details of this observation other than I believe it may have been on Seattle Audubon RBA at the time.  I had hoped to see one on my Alaska trip in June this year but did not.  Photo from the internet.

Scripp’s Murrelet – Westport Pelagic – September 8, 1974  My first observation was on my first pelagic trip – who knew it would be almost 30 years before finding one again – a pair seen on September 7, 2013 and then another on October 19, 2013.  Not surprisingly that first trip included a lot of other life birds including the “Skua Slam” , Buller’s (then New Zealand) Shearwater, Tufted Puffin, Fork Tailed and Leach’s Storm Petrels, Black Footed Albatross (my first albatross), Sabine’s Gull and Arctic Tern.

McKay’s Bunting – Ocean Shores – February 5, 1979 – beautiful bird that created a lot of excitement.  There have been other McKay’s Buntings at various spots at Ocean Shores.  I chased one a day too late at Damon Point in February 2012.   The photo is by Knut Hansen of that bird.

Brambling – Lake Sammamish – January 20, 1982  My first observation was at a stakeout near Lake Sammamish.  Since that time I have seen three more Bramblings in Washington.  The next was in Birch Bay, then one in Neah Bay during the same crazy week that had the Eurasian Hobby among a number of other good birds, and then finally one last year coming to a home in Issaquah.  The photos are from the three more recent sightings.

 

White Wagtail – Fort Casey SP – January 21, 1984  This rarity was seen by many on Whidbey Island in 1984.  Another was found at/near Point no Point in 1993 and another possible one in the same area in 2007.  I have expected additional visits but my only other observations have been elsewhere.  The first was on an extraordinary day of birding at the Mai Po Nature Reserve outside Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1979, the next in Corbett National Park in India on January 11, 2011 and most recently in Nome Alaska on June 5, 2016.  The photo is of the Nome bird.

Little Gull – Everett Sewage Ponds – September 23, 1984 The photo is from a later sighting on October 7, 2013 from Point No Point where it was seen at distance from shore in a massive group of Bonaparte’s Gulls.  My first observation of this bird was from the South Jetty of the Yaquina River in Oregon on September 8, 1979.  A pretty poor photo but I was thrilled to get it.

Steller’s Eider – Point Wilson/Fort Worden – November 23, 1986.  This is a photo from the internet.  I believe this is the only Washington record – certainly the only Ebird entry.  It ranks right up there with Smew as what I feel are the most beautiful ducks – even ahead of the showier Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser.

Rustic Bunting – Kent Ponds – December 19, 1986 – This rarity continued into January 1987 and then repeated its performance in 1988/1989.  I had seen one in Wajima, Japan in December 1983, my only other record.  Photo is from the internet.

My Washington birding was very active from when I first arrived until the birth of my first child in 1984.  I had moved to Oregon for a few years and birded there but even then more in Washington.  I continued a few chases for the next couple of years after her birth and then became absorbed in activities involving that daughter and the son that followed.  Recreational time was devoted to a new found passion – fly-fishing.  As they moved on to high school and then graduated and went off to college, my birding activity was more international with fun trips to Australia, Brazil and Kenya.  Slowly, however, the interest in Washington returned and from 2010 on that has been a big, enjoyable and rewarding part of my life.

During the years I did not bird in Washington, I missed a lot of great birds, some of which I have been fortunate to see later – some not.  Among those missed and not seen later are White Ibis (Raymond – January 2001), Dotterel (Ocean Shores October and November 1999), Baikal Teal (Kent Ponds April 2005), Garganey (Wenzel Slough April 2005), Fork Tailed Flycatcher (Pacific County – September 1995) and the one bird that remains on the very top of my “birding bucket list” – Smew. One was seen two years in a row near Stevenson, Washington.  I will leave the minute I hear of one being seen anywhere in Washington, anytime.  In fact it may be the one bird that I will leave for immediately if I hear of one anywhere in the U.S. – if it is a male – as I think it is the most beautiful of all the birds.  Just wish the photo below, which will conclude this post, were mine.

Smew – the Very Top of My Birding Bucket List – photo from Internet

If I ever “grew up” at all, it was in the Sixties – that wonderful decade that set in motion so many of the changes that have shaped America and the World in the following 50 years.  (Damn I am old!!!)  One of my fond memories of the Sixties was a short lived television satire called That Was the Week That Was or in shorthand TW3.  It was an American version of an eponymous British show that first brought David Frost to British audiences just as this TW3 brought him and many other talented artists to America.  Little was sacred, most was irreverent and all was fun – even better than the Daily Show – a favorite that just has not been the same without John Stewart.  What does this have to do with a birding blog you might ask.

Well aside from the fact that it is my blog and I can write whatever I want, it came to my mind as I considered what to write this week – a week that must be considered as “Birding Lite” even though it included a fun trip to Yost Memorial Park in Edmonds as part of Edmonds Bird Fest.  In great weather we had over 70 people walking the trails in rapt attention of our leader Finn learning about and hoping to see one of the Barred Owls resident in the Park.  My job was to “help” which essentially turned into a combination of crowd management, Finn management (when he gets on a roll, it is great but then again only for those close by – so I  worked to be sure the stories were repeated and heard by all) – and occasionally identification of some additional species.  It was a great trip; we had fabulous looks and photo ops with one of the owls and everyone was happy, but not really enough material for a full post.

Barred Owl at Yost Park

Finn and Edmonds BirdFest Crowd at Yost Park

I recalled that when I first started writing the blog, I expected that there would be down/inactive weeks so to continue to write, I would revisit experiences from my birding past and include a feature called “Bird and Memory of the Week” which I figured would provide lots of content options.  Who knows why, but this morning as I started that exercise, TW3 came to mind and I decided instead to look back at some as yet unidentified week of birding in the past and see if that might be of interest.  Where to start?  Two options first came to mind – go back to my first week of “real” Ebird records or go back to this same past week but in some other year – like last year for example.  I thought the first option would be really cool, but the reality is that when I first switched over to Ebird to enter historical data, it was woefully incomplete – since it was only the “new species” and not really as detailed as to time and place as it could have/should have been.

So I looked at Option 2 instead.  September is usually a great month to look for shorebirds, so I knew I had been out sometime last year for that – but which week.  Turned out I made a great choice.  With the possible exception of the Eurasian Hobby extravaganza at Neah Bay the week of November 14, 2014, the week of September 9- 15 last year just may have been my best week of birding in Washington. Here are  the stories and some of the details for That Week That Was.

The birding part of the week started with a 3:00 a.m. wake up call on September 9.  I have since moved a few blocks away but at that time I lived very close to the aforementioned Yost Park and one of its owls was asking the world “Who..Who Cooks for You”; so this story begins with the hooting of one of the parents of the Barred Owl that we saw last Sunday on the Bird Fest Trip.  How’s that for symmetry…stay tuned there will be more.  It turns out that this particular “week that was” was one that included LOTS of birding and travel. Indeed, while the owl did in fact wake me up a bit earlier than planned, I was heading off to Neah Bay with an early start anyhow.  A Red Legged Kittiwake had been reported from there the day before, so together with Jon Houghton and Nathaniel Peters we were off in search of that mega rarity.  (See earlier Blog Post https://wordpress.com/post/blairbirding.wordpress.com/1900).

We tried hard to find a Kittiwake with red legs, but unfortunately the only one we found had legs that were decidedly black.  Still a nice bird … but…  We birded the area the whole day without anything special but we were planning to stay the night so who knew what the morrow would bring.  It brought some good birds but again nothing with red legs.

Kittiwake – Unfortunately with Black and Not Red Legs

As indicated earlier this trip was covered in an earlier post so I will not go into further details other than to say in the context of this post, there were lots of good birds to add to THE LIST for that week including Sooty Grouse, Northern Pygmy Owl, Black Oystercatcher and a Stilt Sandpiper.

At this point I am going to jump to the end of the story, possibly to build interest for a reader to continue with the details.  It turns out that this was a very birdy week to have chosen as I said.  Here are some bottom line numbers:  Total species seen – 131; shorebird species – 25; waterfowl – 13; gulls and terns – 10.  Even better though, I would say at least 10 of the species were pretty special or even better.  Read on.

After the long trip to Neah Bay, I took a couple of days off but hit the birding trail again with another  Edmonds Bird Fest trip which I lead to  Kitsap County including a wonderful visit to Point No Point where EVERYONE on the trip was able to observe a relatively close fly by of a Brown Booby, presumably the same one that had been spotted from the Edmonds Pier in August and which I had seen up close and personal as it came into the marina perched on the mast of a sail boat.  Our look at Point No Point was not that good but what a great bird for everyone.

Brown Booby in Flight – September 13, 2015 (not as good as the photo from the Edmonds Marina which I include again here)

Brown Booby from Edmonds Marina (August 21, 2015)

Any week in Washington that includes a Brown Booby is very special – but there is more.  On Monday following the Sunday BirdFest trip, I headed back down to the coast.  I had been there the week before and after another wonderful trip with Westport Seabirds and had some nice shorebirds but nothing special (although there had been Elegant Terns – unlike this year.)  This week in 2015 proved much better – indeed quite spectacular with observations and photos of many great shorebirds including among others:  American and Pacific Golden Plovers, Ruff, Sharp Tailed, Baird’s, Pectoral and Rock Sandpipers!!!

Pacific Golden Plover

Ruff

Golden Plovers and Ruff

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper

It was also nice to have good looks at both American Pipits and Lapland Longspurs in the salucornia and grass at the Game Range when chasing down the Ruff and Golden Plovers.

American Pipit

Lapland Longspur

As is usually the case, I had forgotten how much birding I had done and how much of the state I had covered in that week.  After the birding in Neah Bay, Kitsap County, Edmonds and Ocean Shores, I should have been done but I guess I needed some diversity so the next day I headed east to Soap Lake and Potholes among other spots.  Probably the best birding was a spectacular mix of shorebirds that included another Stilt Sandpiper at Lind Coulee among 11 species there and the huge flock of Eared Grebes (and some Horned and Western but no Clark’s Grebes) at Soap Lake.

My last stop for the week was at Robinson Canyon on the way home – hoping for the picture of a Poorwill that had eluded me all year.  Surprisingly though there were many other “recreationists” using the Canyon that evening so although I added a Merlin and a Sharp Shinned Hawk, a try for a late Poorwill was ill fated.

Looks like I picked a pretty good week to look back on.

Here is the entire list of birds seen that week.  I have highlighted 15 that I think are special – either rare or at least not on my every day bird lists:

American Coot (Red-shielded)

American Crow

American Golden-Plover

American Goldfinch

American Kestrel

American Pipit

American Robin

American Wigeon

Anna’s Hummingbird

Baird’s Sandpiper

Bald Eagle

Band-tailed Pigeon

Barn Swallow

Barred Owl

Belted Kingfisher

Bewick’s Wren

Black Oystercatcher

Black Turnstone

Black-billed Magpie

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-legged Kittiwake

Bonaparte’s Gull

Brandt’s Cormorant

Brewer’s Blackbird

Brown Booby

Brown Creeper

Brown Pelican

California Gull

California Quail

California Scrub-Jay

Canada Goose

Caspian Tern

Cedar Waxwing

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Common Loon

Common Murre

Common Raven

Common Tern

Cooper’s Hawk

Dark-eyed Junco

Double-crested Cormorant

Dunlin

Eared Grebe

Eurasian Collared-Dove

European Starling

Gadwall

Glaucous-winged Gull

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Greater Scaup

Greater Yellowlegs

Green-winged Teal

Hammond’s/Dusky Flycatcher

Harlequin Duck

Heermann’s Gull

Hooded Merganser

Horned Grebe

House Finch

House Sparrow

Hutton’s Vireo

Killdeer

Lapland Longspur

Least Sandpiper

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Yellowlegs

Mallard

Marbled Godwit

Marsh Wren

Merlin

Mew Gull

Mourning Dove

Northern Harrier

Northern Pygmy-Owl

Northern Shoveler

Northwestern Crow

Orange-crowned Warbler

Osprey

Pacific Golden-Plover

Pacific Wren

Pectoral Sandpiper

Pelagic Cormorant

Peregrine Falcon

Pied-billed Grebe

Pigeon Guillemot

Purple Finch

Red Crossbill

Red Tailed Hawk

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Phalarope

Red-throated Loon

Rhinoceros Auklet

Ring-billed Gull

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)

Rock Sandpiper

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruff

Sanderling

Savannah Sparrow

Say’s Phoebe

Semipalmated Plover

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Short Billed Dowitcher

Song Sparrow

Sooty Grouse

Sooty Shearwater

Sora

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Towhee

Steller’s Jay

Stilt Sandpiper

Surf Scoter

Swainson’s Hawk

Swainson’s Thrush

Townsend’s Warbler

Turkey Vulture

Varied Thrush

Vaux’s Swift

Violet-green Swallow

Warbling Vireo

Western Grebe

Western Gull

Western Sandpiper

Whimbrel

White-crowned Sparrow

White-winged Scoter

Wilson’s Phalarope

Wilson’s Snipe

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I found this retrospective to be pretty surprising and also a reflection of a crazy week of travel in our quite wonderful state.  Pretty hard to imagine someplace else with this bird list for this week and/or such diverse places as Neah Bay, Ocean Shores, Soap Lake and Robinson Canyon (among others).  Not now but at some other time I am going to look at other weeks in the Spring or Fall and see how they compare.  Pretty hard to top a Brown Booby, Ruff and Sharp Tailed Sandpiper though.

 

With a lot of new birds and new photos from the great pelagic trip on August 28 (see  my earlier Magical Pelagical post), I had met my “goals” for the year and that compulsive urge to go chase every new bird was gone.  Sure I would still go for new state life birds or photos and there were some specific species I definitely wanted to see – yes, I mean you Boreal Owl – and some trips I wanted to make – but I no longer felt the need to go for everything.  I had done that for the past three years and it had been great and successful, but no more.

So yesterday when Russ Koppendreyer posted on Tweeters that he was looking at a Ruff that Jeanelle Richardson had found earlier that morning at Three Crabs in Sequim, I was tempted; but even though a Ruff is a wonderful rare bird and one I really enjoy – nope – no need to rush out to see it.  I set about on another bird project and that was that.  Until…a couple hours later,  I checked email and found that Russ also had a Sharp Tailed Sandpiper at the same location.  That is a favorite shorebird and also quite rare so now the ante had been raised significantly.  Let’s see…it was now 1:20 pm.  The next Edmonds/Kingston ferry was at 1:40 and I was in shorts, T-Shirt and sandals and had not eaten lunch.  I asked myself if I really “needed” these terrific birds and the answer was “no”.  But when I rephrased the question to self as whether I wanted the adventure of a possible mad dash with a potentially great prize, the answer was “hey this could be fun – why not”.  I live less than 10 minutes from the Edmonds Ferry terminal so I put the SD card back in the camera, checked that the battery was okay, grabbed another layer and a protein shake and took off.

It helped that the weather was spectacular – 72 degrees and sunny.  It did not help that apparently a lot of other people were heading off in the great weather and when I got to the ferry toll booth there was a line.  It was now 1:35 and I wondered if I was going to make the ferry.  If not, I was going to abort and head home.  The ticket seller said she thought I would “probably” get on but “no guarantee”.  I bought the ticket and moved forward.  As the cars loaded on ahead of me, I saw that they had stopped letting more cars into the waiting area.  It was looking “iffy”.  I won’t dwell on the agony of suspense – the happy ending was that I was the next to next to last car to board the ferry – so I was on my way.  And details like this add to the adventure and the story.

Room for Me on the Ferry

Waiting for the ferry to decide to let me on or not, I had spoken to Russ and was encouraged that the birds would likely stay regardless of tide and that they could be seen well enough for some photos.  Three Crabs has been a great spot for years – even back to when there was actually a restaurant named “Three Crabs” at the spot.  There is a wetlands “restoration” project underway at the location – yet another project to help salmon but not necessarily good for shorebirds, so I hope it will continue as a birding hotspot.  Traffic was good and I arrived at Three Crabs around 3:30 somewhat expecting to see a long line of birders with scopes trained on one or both of the special shorebirds.  But there was only a single parked car with two people looking out at the wetland.   Hmmm???

The Wetland

At the northern most part of the area (east of the road and south of the former Three Crabs site) there was a series of pools with a number of shorebirds walking about feeding.  They were small peeps – a mix of Western and Least Sandpipers but then another bird flew in – a little larger and my heart rate went up as I thought it could be the Sharp Tailed Sandpiper.  But no – only one of the three or four Pectoral Sandpipers that were around.

Pectoral and Least Sandpipers

Now that I noticed that the couple in the parked car had a pair of binoculars and a camera, I went over and learned that they had been there earlier, seen both rarities and had now returned after lunch.  Beginning birders, they were excited by what they had seen before and were hoping for better looks, but had not seen either species since they had returned.  Now a Ruff is a good sized shorebird – not quite as big as a Greater Yellowlegs, but hard to miss – unless of course it is buried in or behind some tall grass and there was plenty of that around.  I walked further south when I saw a head above some of that grass.  It turned out to be a distant Greater Yellowlegs, but I also got a fleeting glimpse of a browner large shorebird that I was pretty sure was the Ruff.  It disappeared behind even taller grass so I waited 5 minutes without another view and then decided to return to the earlier area and look for the Sharp Tailed.

Now there were at least two Pectoral Sandpipers – or maybe three – or maybe that third bird was the Sharp Tailed – as the demarcation on the chest appeared at least less distinct and the cap a more solid reddish.  Then it flew off and I could see it was definitely the Sharp Tailed but now distant and hidden.  The couple from the car had now gotten out – interested in my focus on the birds I was watching – and we were joined by another birder – a local (I will not include the name for her privacy) who while not hard core was also way beyond mere beginner and she was very interested when she learned of the prize birds.  I said I thought we had a good chance of finding the Ruff in the area where I thought I had seen it earlier so the whole gang moved south and we were immediately rewarded as the Ruff had returned to the little pool with now three Greater Yellowlegs and off and on it would come out into the open.  I snapped a few OK pictures and was happy that all of us had gotten acceptable views.

A few more cars came by and stopped to ask what we were looking at.  Most had no interest in birds but still thought it cool that some rare birds had chosen their neighborhood for a show.  One car had some more beginning birders and they joined our party.  Another car had parked up at the north end and two people were busy studying the shorebirds there.  After getting our newly added birders (who had no idea what a Ruff even was) onto to the Ruff, we moved to the north again.  I told the two folks in the car there about the Ruff and Sharp Tailed Sandpiper.  Their only bird book was of Puget Sound Birds and neither species was in that guide.  What was very cool, however, was that the day before they had birded this same spot and found a bird they could not identify.  Their excellent notes clearly indicated that they had seen a Ruff.  When I showed them my photo they immediately said – “that’s it”.  Now they would get to see it again.

First View of Ruff

For the next 30 minutes or so, we continued to watch for the Sharp Tailed Sandpiper and hoped the Ruff would come closer (as apparently it had been closer to the road in the morning).  Jason Vasallo joined us – still pumped from seeing his first Broad Winged Hawk out at Neah Bay with the Waggoners.  We immediately got him on the Ruff and that made new state bird number 2 for the day.  Now there were more eyes looking for the Sharp Tailed Sandpiper – always a good thing.  There were a couple of Wilson’s Snipe in the field – and good scope views made it easy for all to see and learn the fieldmarks with the heavily striped back and head and the long bill.  We also studied a Pectoral Sandpiper and focused on the difference between it with a clearly demarcated breast streaking and broken streaks on the head compared to the solid cap and more of a wash on the breast of the Sharp Tailed.

Wilson’s Snipe

The Pectoral study paid off as the Sharp Tailed was spotted directly in front of a clump of grass about 30-40 yards out in the field.  Not a close look but with the scope all of the fieldmarks clearly seen and everyone got on the bird.  And Jason had new state bird number three!!

First View of Sharp Tailed Sandpiper

Had the day ended there, everyone would have been happy.  But if happy is good, then thrilled and ecstatic is even better and that is what we got.  We never heard the signal, but there must have been one.  Don’t know why, but BOTH the Ruff and the Sharp Tailed Sandpiper decided to put on a real show and they kept getting closer and closer eventually coming within perhaps 30 feet of the crowd now watching intently with oohs and aahs from the road – with the sun directly behind us and directly on both birds.  At times both species could be seen within feet of each other and at another time the Sharp Tailed was within feet of the Pectoral Sandpiper – giving great comparison views.

Ruff – Up Close and Personal

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper Up Close and Personal

Sharp Tailed and Pectoral Comparison

It simply does not get any better than this.  Very great birds, beautiful weather, perfect positioning and sun for photos, very cool people and a beautiful place.  It had been a mad dash and it had worked – and then some.  Time to leave and when you can end the day with a view of Mount Rainier over Puget Sound from the Kingston Ferry Terminal as the sun sets – just an awesome day.  I think I will continue to be a birder!!!

Maybe the birds don’t care if the seas are rough or not but the birders do.  Frank Caruso and I did a whirlwind trip to coastal stops on Saturday August 27 the day before we were to join Westport Seabirds for a pelagic trip.  The weather was not very good – drizzly and foggy.  It was not too bad for birding on shore but it did not look too good for a trip out on the ocean if it continued to the next day.  Indeed there was another Westport Seabirds trip that day and we wondered how they fared.  Our first stop was the Point Brown Jetty and we could barely see anything in the mist – definitely could not find the early Rock Sandpiper that had been reported there the week before.  Andy Rogers was there taking photos and getting wet.  He had not seen the Rock Sandpiper either but had a Wandering Tattler which had flown to the other side of the jetty.   We settled for some Sanderlings on the beach and some Black Turnstones on the jetty and then headed to the Oyhut Game Range – our main target area for the day anyhow.

Black Turnstone at Point Brown Jetty (in the mist)

We understood that the Game Range was not so great from the Oyhut entrance so we walked in from the STP side.  The skies had cleared a bit but the light was still pretty dim. The tide was high and the bay was full of Sooty Shearwaters, molting Red Throated Loons and gulls.  Some of the loons still had their red throats which was very cool and I was also able to get a photo of one that showed two reasons they were so close to shore – no wing feathers for flight on one and another with a fish.

Red Throated Loon with Red Throat

Molting and Flightless Red Throated Loon

Red Throated Loon with Fish

The loons were great but our quest was for shorebirds and we trudged through the sand and mud and salucornia to an area that had some activity.  Not a lot of birds but it looked like there might be some potential for a goody or two.   First though we were distracted by some very friendly calling, flying and posing American Pipits.  Not flamboyant but very pretty birds.  Too bad none of them had red throats.

American Pipit

As we got close enough to look at the shorebirds, one jumped out immediately as “the right size” meaning bigger that a peep.  It proved to be a Stilt Sandpiper.  We had good scope views before it took off and disappeared.  There were no other “larger” shorebirds – just some Least and Western Sandpipers, Sanderlings and Semipalmated Plovers and a single Baird’s Sandpiper..  We had hoped for some Golden Plovers but not even any Black Bellied Plovers and definitely nothing as exciting as a Ruff or Buff Breasted Sandpiper – two rarities which have been previously found at this location.  We gave up on anything special and headed back.  But somehow without our noticing it , a larger shorebird had come in to the area and was foraging along the channel.  Probably because we wanted it to be one, we tried hard to make it into a Sharp Tailed Sandpiper.  Some of the characteristics were right but – no – the rufous cap was broken and the breast markings too distinct.  So we settled for some very good looks at a Pectoral Sandpiper.

Pectoral Sandpiper – what we saw

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper – from Hoquiam STP on September 19, 2014 – what we wanted to see

The rest of the day was pretty disappointing although we saw lots of birds.  Nothing of note at the Hoquiam STP.  Thousands of gulls at North Cove but no Elegant Terns.  Not a single shorebird at Tokeland and again no Elegant Terns.  We saw thousands of Sooty Shearwaters from North Cove – not too far offshore – as we had earlier at the Game Range in the bay.  We drove the beach at Midway/Grayland with friends Melissa Hafting and Ilya Povalyaev from Vancouver and had very few shorebirds and definitely nothing of note and definitely no Snowy Plovers although again there were thousands of Sooty Shearwaters.  We did not check the ponds at Midway but Ilya and Melissa did later and had some nice birds but again no Snowies nor Buff Breasted, Ruffs or Sharp Tails.

Time to head to Westport and check into our motel.  We stopped at Float 21 and scanned the hundreds of Marbled Godwits but we were not able to find the Bar Tailed Godwit that had been hanging out with them  Our plan was to get checked in, have an early dinner and then head to Bottle Beach.  High tide there was at 9:38 pm so our goal was to arrive around 7 and catch the shorebirds as they moved in with the incoming tide.  The check-in and dinner part went according to plan.  While waiting for our pizzas, Melissa called to say they had returned and had the Bar Tailed Godwit near the Coast Guard station off Float 21. Fortunately it waited until we finished dinner and got there around 6:30.  There were actually far fewer godwits than when we had seen there before, but the Bar Tailed was pretty easy to find as its paler feathers contrasted with the browner/tanner plumage of the somewhat larger Marbled Godwits.

Bar Tailed Godwit with Marbled Godwits from Float 21

Timing was perfect for us to then get to Bottle Beach by a little before 7:00 pm. From many previous visits I have learned that it is generally necessary to get to Bottle Beach at least 2.5 hours before high tide and bird as the tide comes in bringing what can be many hundreds of shorebirds in with it.  As Frank and I passed over the bridge next to Brady’s Oysters, we wondered if we had read the tide tables wrong since the oyster beds were covered and there was lots of water and little mud.  And when we hiked out to Bottle Beach joined by Melissa and Ilya and again saw very little mud and the pilings almost completely under water we figured we had made a mistake for sure.  Turns out that high tide was indeed at 9:38 and we were more than 2.5 hours ahead of it – BUT the low tide had been a very “high” low tide and the high tide was a very “high” high tide so there was just no mud for the shorebirds.  We had a few peeps, a few Semipalmated Plovers and maybe 150 Black Bellied Plovers – and again thousands of Sooty Shearwaters.  AND the shorebirds we had did not stay long as a Peregrine Falcon flew by and they disappeared.

A small consolation prize was an up close and personal look at a Virginia Rail from the bridge on the boardwalk coming back to the cars.  We heard at least two others in the reeds.

Virginia Rail

So much for the preliminaries; time to get some sleep and be ready for the pelagic trip the next day.  I had gotten word that the sea conditions had not been the best for Saturday’s trip but they had some good birds including Scripp’s Murrelets, lots of Red Phalaropes and some Arctic Terns.  I was particularly interested in the latter as I have only seen them a couple of times in Washington and have never had a photo.  The weather had continued to improve though the day so I was optimistic for a good trip on Sunday.

Frank had been fighting a cold most of Saturday and the combination of that battle plus medication for it and Dramamine for the boat trip left him a little groggy but we were on board and in good spirits by 5:45 a.m.  We had great spotters in Bill Tweit, Bill Shelmerdine and Scott Mills and the seas were C-A-L-M and there was no W-I-N-D.  Unlike the previous morning there was also no rain or even fog or mist.  Maybe no sunshine but decent visibility in the cloudy day. Captain Phil and First Mate Chris were their usual wonderful selves and all looked good.  Let’s go!!

Seas were as calm on this trip as any I can remember. Crossing the bar was a piece of cake and there were essentially no swells or waves the entire way out and the entire way in.  We almost immediately started seeing close in Sooty Shearwaters – continuing our experience from the day before.  Hundreds of Common Murres, some adults with chicks, and in all plumages were seen immediately as well.  Additionally we had the usual large numbers of Brown Pelicans and California Heerman’s and other Gulls.  Also much earlier than usual I spied some small birds floating in the air just above the water – Fork Tailed Storm Petrels – always a treat and this close in – perhaps a good omen.

Brown Pelican

 

Fork Tailed Storm Petrel

Not too far out we also found our first (and almost only) non-avian treat – a fairly large Mola Mola (Sunfish) swimming on the surface.  I have been on trips where we have seen more than a dozen of these pretty weird fish.

Mola Mola

We also had some Cassin’s Auklets closer in than usual and lots of Phalaropes – unfortunately all Red Necked.  A striking flock of mostly White Winged Scoters was also fun.

White Winged Scoters (Trailed by a Common Murre)

As is often the case, we hit a slow period as we traveled towards deeper water.  We continued to see Cassin’s Auklets and then a number of Rhinoceros Auklets – but no Scripp’s Murrelets which were hoped for by all.  We also had a close fly by from a Pomarine Jaeger.  I wish the focus was better for my photo.  We also had more Red Necked Phalaropes, and a couple of Pink Footed Shearwaters stood out with their white bellies in contrast to the numerous and continuous dark bellied Sooty Shearwaters.

Pomarine Jaeger

Captain Phil Anderson had noted that there were some shrimp boats south of us in Pacific County.  These boats are prizes on any pelagic trip as often dozens or even hundreds of birds follow them hoping for scraps. When found on a pelagic trip the close up views and the diverse species and even rarities are treasured.  We saw the boats off in the distance and could tell that there were many birds circling them – adrenaline began to flow.  Phil is a great captain not only because he handles the boat so well but because his years of experience have taught him where to find birds and how to approach them to give his birders the best views etc.  He also has great eyes and identification skills himself.

On the way to the boats I heard a call that was music to my ears “ARCTIC TERN!!”I rushed to the front of the boat just in time to get a few rushed photos.  This has been a nemesis for me in Washington and now I finally had a photo – not a great photo but clearly it was this sought after bird.  It was the 300th species I have photographed in Washington this year and number 397 on my Washington Photo Life List.  YAY!!!

Arctic Tern – Photo 300 for the Year and 397 for my State Photo Life List

As I said not a great photo so I cannot resist again including a very great one from an earlier blog – a breeding plumaged Arctic Tern up close at Machias Seal Island in Maine.

Arctic Tern – Breeding Plumage – Machias Seal Island Maine

Phil maneuvered us perfectly to the first shrimp boat and we had LOTS of birds.  Lots of numbers and lots of species.  One excellent bird was a Long Tailed Jaeger.  Another was a Short Tailed Shearwater and the very best was a Flesh Footed Shearwater which accommodated the birders with several flights around the shrimp boat its all dark body and pale bill and pale feet easy field marks to see and distinguish it from the other shearwaters.  The Short Tailed Shearwater was not as easy to distinguish as it closely resembles the abundant Sooty Shearwaters, but its thin bill, rounder head and at times visibly shorter tail (with feet extending behind), grayer chin and faster wingbeat were all observed.  More common species included many Pink Footed Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters, Northern Fulmar, Sabine’s Gull, more Fork Tailed Storm Petrels and Black Footed Albatross.

Short Tailed Shearwater

Flesh Footed Shearwater

Pink Footed Shearwater

Sabine’s Gull

Northern Fulmar

Fork Tailed Storm Petrel

Black Footed Albatross

We changed course and found another fishing boat with more birds but no different species and then in quieter waters Phil and Bill Tweit chummed in some birds and at another time laid out a fish oil slick which brought in more good birds including more than 50 Black Footed Albatross at one time.  At the chum spot we had excellent looks at a Long Tailed Jaeger that circled several times.  Briefly we also had a fly by of a Parasitic Jaeger and more Short Tailed Shearwaters.

Black Footed Albatross at Fish Oil Slick

Long Tailed Jaeger

It was time to return to port.  We still had not seen any Red Phalaropes even though the day before they had more than 1300!!  Also no Buller’s Shearwaters – also missed on the earlier trip – a surprise and disappointment.  We remedied the Red Phalarope absence with several groups on the way back – at times mixed with Red Necked Phalaropes.  Best of all we found a single South Polar Skua – completing the so-called Skua Slam with the three species of Jaegers.  A light phase Northern Fulmar was another good bird but we never did see a Buller’s Shearwater nor any Scripp’s Murrelets although we saw many more Common Murres and Cassin’s Auklets and added two more alcids – a single Tufted Puffin and a very close Pigeon Guillemot.

South Polar Skua

Red Phalarope

Northern Fulmar (Light Phased Adult)

Tufted Puffin

Cassin’s Auklet

Pigeon Guillemot

As we got closer to Westport we passed through many Sooty Shearwater flocks and off in the distance there was an endless stream of them flying close to the water.  I don’t know how one can count/estimate the numbers of these birds but all agreed that there were more than 35,000 all told and it could have been a large multiple of that number.  We also saw a couple of Wandering Tattlers on the jetty and the large flock of Marbled Godwits circled overhead as we approached our dock.

Passing though a Flock of Sooty Shearwaters

It had been another great trip on very calm seas.  Some species were missed but the Skua Slam and both Flesh Footed and Short Tailed Shearwaters more than made up for those misses.  Indeed it was a “Magical Pelagical”.  I added 7 species to my year list for Washington and got photos of them all.  For me at least the bird of the trip was that single Arctic Tern and it no longer will be on either my Want nor Need list for photos in Washington.  But there are others…

 

Each spring and then again each fall the patterns continue:  Millions of birds migrate north to breed and then return south to more hospitable winter homes and then repeat the journeys year after year.  Passerines, waterfowl, raptors and gulls all participate.  I pay them some attention but far less than to the shorebirds that pass through – the regular migrants and especially the rare vagrants that raise the heartbeats of all birders.  I especially love August and September when shorebird migration is at its best – at times lining our shores with thousands of birds – a great variety of species and a great variety of plumages as the striking colors of the breeding season give way to the more drab colors of winter – and everything else in between as the molt continues – adding further challenges to identifying birds that are often only seen in flight, at great distance or in swirling swarms where glimpses may only be momentary.

Even the plentiful “regulars” bring great joy but admittedly it is the uncommon, the unusual or even the completely unexpected rarity that is the most fun – and is what gets us out tromping into the mud of the Game Range or Bottle Beach or Eide Road or the various sewage treatment plants or drying out lakes and ponds – hoping for something special.

This August has been a good month for shorebirds and I knew I wanted to write something about them but I did not want it to be simply “I went here or there and saw this or that” although some details of my own observations were sure to find their way into the content.  So with the aid of my best friend “Ebird” I decided to look into my observations more analytically and far more accurately than my memory which tends to recall the excitement without the details of place and especially time.  I concentrated only on Washington observations but I did peek at my world lists to see just how significant these species have been in my birding history.  Just for some context, I have seen 47 (or maybe 48 – and more of that at the end of this writing) species of shorebirds in Washington or about 11.4% of my total species seen in state and 117 shorebird species worldwide which is only about 4.4% of my total world list.  While the discrepancy is due in part to the places I have birded worldwide and the times I have been there, the biggest explanation is that especially in avifauna rich areas like the forests of Central and South America and the savannahs of Africa, there is simply far more diversity of non-shorebird species.

When I started my research I expected that I would have seen more shorebird species in the Fall (which I defined as August and September) and fewer in the Spring (defined as April and May) since I thought there were more rarities (mostly with Eurasian affinities) at that time and this proved correct.  Of those 47 species seen in Washington, I saw 45 in the Fall period and only 33 in the Spring.  While some of this may be due to more active looking in the Fall, my experience correlated fairly closely with the general Ebird reporting for others in Washington as well.  I have seen 42 (or maybe 43) species in August and 44 in September.  The only shorebirds I have seen in Washington but not in August or September are Red Necked Stint and Wilson’s Plover – both one time wonders and very rare in our State.

I include pictures with dates and places for all of the shorebirds I have seen and photographed in Washington in the Fall  using photos from August 2016 where I can.  I do not have photos of a couple of species so may borrow from others or mine from elsewhere. Telling all the fun stories from each observation would take too long – maybe some will appear on other blog posts.  Mostly this is my way of showing the diversity of our rich shorebird experience in Washington and my fun in searching for them, observing them and taking their pictures when I can – for August and September each year – A Time for Shorebirds.

The two Non-Fall Observations (but each within 10 days of August /September)

Wilson’s Plover – Midway Beach/Grayland – October 9, 2012

Red Necked Stint – Bottle Beach – July 22, 2013

Each year is mostly different due to when rarities show up as the core/regular and resident birds can always be seen if you go to the right place at the right time but some of the less common but yet not true rarities birds can be easily missed if you are unlucky or time a tide wrong.  I would include both Golden Plovers, Red Knot (in the Fall) and maybe Red Phalarope in that latter category and might add Bar Tailed Godwit (which has become pretty regular).

Uncommon but Not Rare

American Golden Plover – Tulalip Spit – August 25, 2016

Pacific Golden Plover – Oyhut Game Range – September 13, 2011

Red Knot – Tulalip Spit August 25, 2016

Bar Tailed Godwit – Bottle Beach – August 15, 2016

Probably a notch above those species in terms of regularity or ease of finding them would be species like Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Wandering Tattler, Willet and Baird’s Sandpiper.  They are readily found in the Fall at the right place and time but may show up as Ebird rarities depending on where they are reported.  Baird’s have been particularly numerous in many places this Fall and it seems that there have been more Stilt Sandpipers this year than in the past.  A Wandering Tattler was an easy and unusual find for Seattle area birders at Carkeek Park this month but are usually found only at rocky outcroppings like the jetties at Westport and Ocean Shores.  Willets are regular at Tokeland but pretty hard to find anywhere else.

Less Common but Regular and Usually Found at the Right Time/Place

Stilt Sandpiper – August 24, 2014 – Eide Road

Semipalmated Sandpiper – September 2, 2014 – Eide Road

Wandering Tattler – Carkeek Park- August 22, 2016

Willet – August 10, 2016 – Tokeland

Baird’s Sandpiper – August 20, 2015 – Midway Beach

At the far end of the spectrum of rarity are the vagrants from Eurasia in addition to the aforementioned Red Necked Stint and Wilson’s Plover (not a Eurasian species) – species like Ruff, Sharp Tailed Sandpiper, Buff Breasted Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit (Midwestern not Eurasian) , Lesser Sand Plover and Wood Sandpiper.  Some of these species are seen almost every year in Washington while some others like the Wood Sandpiper are seen maybe just once and only by a few lucky birders.  I was lucky with the Wood Sandpiper found by Ryan Merrill in Skagit County in 2012 but no picture at the time.  I had the good luck together with Tim Boyer to be the firsts to find the nearly full breeding plumage Lesser Sand Plover on the open beach at Ocean shores on August 16, 2015 – much more handsome than the non-breeder seen at Oyhut on September 1, 2013.

Real Rarities 

Ruffs – September 3, 2014 and September 14, 2015 – Oyhut Game Range

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper (with Pectoral Sandpiper) – Eide Road – September 11, 2012

Buff Breasted Sandpiper – September 7, 2013 – Grayland Beach State Park

Hudsonian Godwit – September 29, 2015 – Ilwaco

Lesser Sand Plover – August 16, 2015 -Ocean Shores 

Although most of the shorebirds in Washington can be found in Western Washington, two beauties are in Eastern Washington almost exclusively – and are major news if on the West side.  These are the Black Necked Stilts and American Avocets that are found in ponds and Sewage Treatment Plants generally east of the Columbia River.  Other birds are with them but these really jump out.  Often these same ponds also have Wilson’s (breeding) and Red Necked (in migration) Phalaropes.  Both of these can be found in Western Washington but more rarely – except on pelagic trips on the Pacific where Red Necked Phalaropes are plentiful in migration and are joined by the much rarer Red Phalaropes – but do appear in Eastern Washington rarely as well.

Eastern Washington Species

Black Necked Stilt – August 13, 2014 – Winchester Wasteway Ponds

American Avocet – August 13, 2014 – Winchester Wasteway Ponds

Red Necked Phalarope – August 12, 2016 – Para/McCain’s Ponds 

Wilson’s Phalarope with Yellowlegs – September 15, 2015 – Soap Lake

Red Phalarope – August 28, 2016 -Pelagic Species on Pacific and sometimes in Eastern Washington

Shorebirds come in all sizes ranging from the smallest “peeps” like the Western, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers to the largest like the Greater Yellowlegs, Godwits, Whimbrel and Long Billed Curlew.  In between in addition to many already mentioned are species like the Wilson’s Snipe, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, Dunlin, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long Billed and Short Billed Dowitchers, Sanderlings and the common Plovers – Black Bellied, Semipalmated and Killdeer. All are regular, widespread and common in season.  The Snowy Plover also belongs in this group but is endangered and limited to a few areas of open beach…regular but can be hard to find.

The “Peeps”

Western Sandpiper – August 21, 2011

Least Sandpiper – August 10, 2016  – Tokeland

Semipalmated Sandpiper (pictured earlier above)

Other More Common Shorebirds

Wilson’s Snipe – August 27, 2014 – Ridgefield NWR

Greater  and Lesser Yellowlegs – August 5, 2015 – Eide Road

Marbled Godwit (Top Left) and Whimbrel (Lower Right) with Willets – August 20, 2016 – Tokeland

Long Billed Curlew – September 4, 2015 – Bottle Beach

Spotted Sandpiper Juvenile – September 10, 2015 – Neah Bay

Solitary Sandpiper – August 26, 2016 – Wiley Slough

Dunlin – September 14, 2015 – Oyhut Game Range

Long Billed Dowitcher – August 1, 2014 – Wylie Slough (More common inland)

Short Billed Dowitcher – August 27, 2016 – Bottle Beach (more common on the coast)

Sanderling – August 10, 2016 – Open Beach Midway

Black Bellied Plover – August 15, 2016 – Bottle Beach

Semipalmated Plover – August 15, 2016 – Bottle Beach

Snowy Plover – Grayland/Midway Beach

Killdeer – August 16, 2015 – Oyhut Game Range

Another grouping of shorebirds that are regularly seen in August and September are the so-called “Rock Pipers“.  These birds are usually found along rocky shores or on log booms in salt water.  They include the Wandering Tattler already pictured above and Surfbirds, and both Black and Ruddy Turnstones.  Rock Sandpipers are in this group and usually come later although I do have a single September record.  I am also including the striking and much larger Black Oystercatcher – not really a Rock Piper – but generally found on rocky shores.

The “Rock Pipers”

Black Turnstone – August 27, 2016 – Point Brown Jetty

Ruddy Turnstone – August 27, 2016 – Point Brown Jetty

Surfbird – August 20, 2011 – Three Crabs – Sequim

Rock Sandpiper – No photo from August or September so I am using one from February 2014 – from the Point Brown Jetty (but I saw one at the same location last year on September 14) 

Black Oystercatchers – September 10, 2015 – Neah Bay

There are two more species of shorebird that I have seen in Washington in August or September but sadly have no pictures of them from the state.  One is the Upland Sandpiper which I saw with Dennis Paulson as a flyover on the Oyhut Game Range on September 6, 2013.  I include a picture I took of one at the Kennebunk Plains in Maine in June 2015.  The other is the aforementioned Wood Sandpiper – a “mega” rarity that is common in Africa and Asia and quite a find as a vagrant in far western Alaska.  One was seen on Adak the week I visited this spring but sadly I was not able to see it and take a photo so the picture is from my South Africa visit in 2014.

Missing Photos from Washington – Two Rarities

Upland Sandpiper – Photo from my Maine Trip  – June 20, 2015 – Kennebunk Plains

Wood Sandpiper – October 15, 2014 – My South Africa Trip

And ah, yes there is one more – well maybe there is and maybe there is not.  Here is the story: On August 2, 2012 I was birding on the coast and in the morning drove the open beach near Midway – a favorite place and one that is the location for some of the photos above.  I was primarily looking for Snowy Plovers which I did not find that day.  However, there were many birds on the beach including a larger than usual number of Whimbrels (12) and many of the more common birds like Semipalmated Plovers and Western Sandpipers and Sanderlings.  I met a woman who worked for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and we chatted for a while next to some logs on the upper beach.  She monitored the Snowy Plovers in the area (their breeding area in the dunes is roped off and protected)  and we had a fascinating chat.

We casually paid attention to the shorebirds along the surf but my  focus was on her Snowy Plover wisdom.  Suddenly all hell broke loose and all of the birds nearby took off.  This is usually initiated by a Peregrine Falcon flying by.  This time there was no falcon but a Parasitic Jaeger, another bird that preys on small shorebirds, flew past – the danger that set the birds to flight.  Although it was admittedly a fleeting view, we clearly noted that one of the birds in the groups was “different”.  Not all field marks were processsed but this one bird was notably larger than the Western Sandpipers and had what appeared to be a gray back and MOST importantly a WHITE RUMP.  At the time I had no idea what it was or could be or what else to look for but that white rump was unmistakable and the size was noticeably if not significantly larger than the Western Sandpipers that flew off with it – but without the white rumps.

I submitted it as a White Rumped Sandpiper on Ebird and not surprisingly it was rejected as insufficient description and of course no photo. I would like to think that if the same thing happened today I would be more attuned to details and I most likely would have a photograph as I have learned how they are not just records that I can enjoy over and over and share but also can be used to identify a bird and often to change an initial impression to something else when the captured field marks can be more closely examined.  So what was that bird?  Sure it is possible that the rump may have appeared more white than it actually was – but it was an overwhelming detail as it flew – as distinctive as the wing pattern of a Willet in flight for example – it just jumps out at you.  If indeed that rump was white as “observed” then the only two possibilities are White Rumped Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper.  Either is incredibly rare in Washington.

Since that time I have had the opportunity to observe a Curlew Sandpiper in South Africa. The gray back and white rump certainly match my memory but I would like to think I would have seen and noted the clearly curved and longer bill.  So maybe I did and maybe I didn’t see a White Rumped Sandpiper or even a sandpiper with a white rump that day now more than 4 years ago.  Tell you one thing – if there is a next time, the camera will be ready.

Sandpipers with White Rumps

White Rumped Sandpiper (Photo by Mike Fahay)

Curlew Sandpiper – October 7, 2014 – My South Africa Trip

 

So there it is – the wondrous migration of shorebirds in August and September – all 48 (or 47) of the ones I have been fortunate to see.  This August has been a pretty good month for shorebirds already as well – 35 species seen.  As stated above, there seem to have been more Stilt Sandpipers and Baird’s Sandpipers reported from all over the state than I can remember in past years.  I have seen 13 different Baird’s Sandpipers in 6 different locations and at least 5 different Stilt Sandpipers in 3 different locations.  I know of other observations of both species elsewhere.  So far no Ruffs or Buff Breasted Sandpipers and no Hudsonian Godwits or Sharp Tailed Sandpipers.  An early Rock Sandpiper was reported from the jetties at both Ocean Shores and Westport, but I was unable to find it.   And too many people were on Midway Beach when I was there so no Snowy Plover either although I saw and photographed some in the Spring.  But September will be here in another two days – and hopefully all of these little beauties will appear and be enjoyed.  Maybe something really special will come in as well.  I am thinking a Terek Sandpiper would be really nice.

Terek Sandpiper – Someday if I Am REALLY LUCKY!!

Don’t get stuck in the mud!!

August 31, 2016 – Addition to the Blog Post

An addition to this blog – I almost went up to Vancouver, B.C. today – encouraged by Melissa Hafting – a wonderful birding friend and resource who was on my recent pelagic trip.  Melissa knows more about what is going on with birds in B.C. than anyone – and frankly often knows about our Washington bird reports before I do – and she shares all of this information openly.  She told me of 4 Buff Breasted Sandpipers and a Ruff that were being seen regularly at Boundary Bay – a wonderful birding spot across the border.  Her pictures are included below – so gorgeous as are all of her photos.  I just could not get it together to make the trip today (August 31).  It would be great to see the birds and get photos and add to my August 2016 Shorebird Species list – BUT – not in Washington even if close and besides she just sent me a note that it is raining there.  May not affect the birds but it does affect the birding.  But the photos are so nice I thought I would make this addition – and thank Melissa for all of her help and support.

Ruff – Boundary Bay B.C.  – Photo by Melissa Hafting

Buff Breasted Sandpiper – Boundary Bay B.C.  – Photo by Melissa Hafting

 

Guess its A Time for Shorebirds in B.C. as well.  Hope these guys head south for a stop soon!!

 

 

This has been an incredible week.  Starting with eight Willets at Tokeland and six Wandering Tattlers at Westport, then a Short Eared Owl and Prairie Falcon on the way to the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on Highway 24 that was kind enough to fly into and be observed in two counties followed by hundreds of Eared Grebes at Soap Lake and a Clark’s Grebe at Lind Coulee.  Later I got a photo of a Stilt Sandpiper at Wylie Slough to replace the ones lost on a missing SD Card.  That would be quite a week by any measure.

Stilt Sandpiper – Wylie Slough – a “Make Up” for a Lost Photograph

But those birds and fun trips were just a prelude to today’s spectacular visit to Bottle Beach.  Over the weekend a Laughing Gull was photographed there by Steve Giles and reported by others.  One had been observed there some months ago as well.  Like the aforementioned Scissor Tailed Flycatcher I had seen this species in Texas and elsewhere but never in Washington.  And if that was not sufficient motivation for a visit, a Bar Tailed Godwit was also being seen there – possibly the same bird seen at the Coast Guard Station in Westport or perhaps a second bird.  I had seen one in breeding plumage in Alaska this spring but Jon, Fran and I had looked for and not found one at either of the Washington locations on our earlier trip.

Laughing Gull – Texas April 2013

Bar Tailed Godwit – Nome Alaska June 2016

I had meetings in Everett this afternoon and a dental appointment tomorrow and high tides were not optimal, so I wondered how I could swing a trip.  The answer came when I awoke early this morning and could not get back to sleep so I headed out at 5:00 a.m.  Actually too early for the tides but a great way to avoid traffic and also to fit in a stop at the Hoquiam STP.  There were almost no gulls at the STP but some good mud in the third pond had some shorebirds, the best of which was a Baird’s Sandpiper.  There have been more reports of this species this year than I remember from years past.

I arrived at Bottle Beach at about 8:00 almost 4 hours before high tide.  I checked the gulls at the pilings where the Laughing Gull had been seen and saw only Ring Billed Gulls.  I also found a group of 6 Semipalmated Plovers, a bird I had not seen there or on the open beach in my last visit to the coast.  There was plenty of time to explore so I went pretty far south where there were hundreds of birds – primarily Western and Least Sandpipers and Black Bellied Plovers.  There were also scattered Short Billed Dowitchers in varying plumages – including a few in near breeding colors.  I thought I had seen a Red Knot but could not get a close look and it was more likely another Dowitcher although the bill seemed short.  There were also two Ruddy Turnstones in breeding plumage.

Semipalmated Plover

I had now been there over an hour and I was freezing.  With all the hot weather we have had in Puget Sound and in Eastern Washington, I wrongly assumed the same at the Coast and checked only on tides.  A marine layer kept temperatures in the 50’s and a stiff wind made it feel much cooler.  My extra layer left in the car would have been very welcome.  I had expected more birders at Bottle Beach given the great birds reported.  Finally about 9:15 two more birders arrived and shortly thereafter a third.  The first two – Jason Vassallo and Paul Baerny had also been the next to arrive when Frank, Ann Marie and I relocated the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher and I had seen Paul the day before at Wylie Slough where we each independently found the Stilt Sandpiper. The third to arrive was Whittier Johnson.  We definitely had some good birding eyes to look for our birds.

For the next 45 minutes we unsuccessfully searched the MANY Black Bellied Plovers for a Golden Plover and the MANY peeps for a possible Red Necked Stint and the occasional godwits for a lighter one making it our Bar Tailed – but we found only a few Marbled Godwits. And of course we continued to check the gulls by the pilings – but our prize was not to be found.  None of us saw it fly in but at almost exactly 10:00 I checked the pilings again and shrieked that “IT’S THERE!”  A bit smaller than the Ring Bills, with a dark mantle and even darker wing tips, dark legs and a dark thick bill, a white head with a small smudge and crescents above and below the eye, the Laughing Gull had made its appearance.  Perhaps it had been hidden behind a piling but I thought we had searched thoroughly, diligently and often.  Nobody cared about from whence or when it came.  It was gloriously there now and easily observed and photographed.  It was a new state life bird for everyone there – the crowd now grown to perhaps a dozen with the arrival of Bob Morse, Keith Brady, Neil and Carleen Zimmerman and others. WOW!!

Laughing Gull – My First in Washington – as First Seen with Ring Billed Gull

Laughing Gull Posing for Photos

This was my second new state lifer in less than a week (the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher was the other.)  Another adrenaline rush and I even forgot how cold it was.  There was celebration all along and the gull stayed with its cousins in the pilings and drew most of our attention.  Jason, with the youngest eyes, continued the search for the Bar Tailed Godwit and not too many minutes later, he had located it pretty far out at the water’s edge. It was near a few Marbled Godwits, quite a contrast in color.  It was interesting to observe too that it fed constantly while the Marbled Godwits fed only occasionally if at all.  Not the brilliant breeding plumage I had seen in Nome, but quite distinctive and a second celebration was in order when spied.  We were able to move quite a bit closer for decent photos even though the light was poor. WOW again!!

Bar Tailed Godwit

This is the seventh time I have had this species in Washington and the second time at Bottle Beach.  Not quite the thrill of the Laughing Gull but a wonderful bird anytime.

The Laughing Gull is named after a quality of one of its calls – and rightly so.  We did not hear any laughs at Bottle Beach this morning from the Gull but there were many smiles and chuckles and maybe even a laugh or two from some very happy birders.

What a week!!!

We were on a mission – find the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher that John Puschock had reported on Highway 24 near Othello on August 10.  Earlier this year I spent three hours at Marymoor Park hoping to find this species that had been seen by one observer the previous day – I missed it as did 20+ other birders who searched in vain.  But this time was going to be different – we knew it.  John had included a picture so the bird was definitely real.  It had been seen the next day (when I was at the Coast) by Charlie Desilets in the morning and by Stefan Schlick in the evening.  So it seemed to like the area and just maybe it would be waiting for Ann Marie Wood, Frank Caruso and me when we arrived.  We were in a hurry – we were going directly there – a single pit stop our only planned diversion.

BUT…in my haste and focus on getting to the appointed spot, I neglected to pay attention to my gas gauge and less than 15 miles from Ground Zero, the warning light told me I had an issue – only enough fuel to make it 35 miles – enough to get to what we hoped would be “our bird” but not enough to then get to the nearest gas station which would be at least 30 miles from there.  We had no choice – we had to back track 14 miles to Mattawa to the nearest gas station – precious time wasted.  Would these moments prove critical.  On a chase these things happen. LEMONS!!!

About half way back to Mattawa an unexpected but familiar form flew by – a Short Eared Owl unmistakable with its moth-like flight – a complete surprise and a new county bird for Ann Marie – for whom such things greatly matter – and for me as well – I keep track but do not obsess – as I certainly have more than sufficient obsession about year and life state birds and photos.  This helped relieve my guilt and feeling of stupidity a bit but not much.  We got gas, used the facilities and then retraced our steps towards what we hoped would be a bird with a very long tail that was not a Black Billed Magpie.  Surprise Number 2 – a Prairie Falcon sped by giving a fleeting but decent look.  Maybe these were omens – a hint of LEMONADE.

Tension mounted as we approached Milepost 68 and could see telephone poles and wires ahead – the first in many miles.  This is where the bird had first been seen although miles from the location in one of the Ebird reports.  We had already seen many Western Flycatchers and now we saw a couple more on the wires.  John Puschock had reported the Scissor Tail in the company of Western Flycatchers.  We just need one with those two long tail feathers.

Western Kingbird

We were ready and then – “THERE’S OUR BIRD!!!” I shouted as a bird flew over the car from the left – VERY LONG tail feathers clearly trailing.  I pulled off the road immediately and we got out of the car and watched it fly off to the east and land on the wire ahead.  We followed and got clear and unmistakable views and  a few photos.  For the next 20 minutes we watched as this beautiful bird – a new state bird for all of us – flew east and west from the wires between telephone pole 5 and 11 along Highway 24.  Although we did not note the significance at the time we also watched as it crossed Highway 24 and flew south on at least two occasions – at least 150 feet into the sagebrush. In great light and at times quite close we photographed the bird on the wire and I got some photos of it in flight south of Highway 24.

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher (Perched on wire North of Highway 24)

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher in Flight (South of Highway 24)

As it turned out this North/South business matters because Highway 24 is the boundary between Franklin (South) and Adams (North) Counties.  So this wonderful bird cooperated not just in remaining where first located and in posing for photos in good light but also in flying back and forth across the road allowing for county records (the first for each) in both Counties.  As Ann Marie said (beaming I am sure) – a “twofer”.

After a few moments we were joined by Paul Baerny, Jason Vassallo and John Guthrie who got the same terrific views.  So six westside birders shared a most wonderful eastside experience.  Now there was no doubt – this was real LEMONDADE!!  And a real adrenaline rush for all of us.  Along with an Upland Sandpiper, the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher had been one of my gotta birds on a trip with Samantha Robinson to Texas in 2013 – easily found there but never expected in Washington.  I thought about an earlier blog post – “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – and this day would add – but damn, when you do – what a mighty fine feeling.  Oh Yeah!!

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher in Full Breeding Splendor in Texas 2013

Upland Sandpiper

It was not yet 10:00 a.m. Even with our success and giddiness we had traveled too far to call it a day so we headed off to Para Ponds.  We found not a single Blackbird so the search for a Tricolored Blackbird was moot.  What we did find were many Eastern Kingbirds, Two Red Tailed Hawks, a couple of Black Necked Stilts, a Greater Yellowlegs, some Least Sandpipers, a couple of Killdeer and most importantly two Baird’s Sandpipers (distant), a small flock of Red Necked Phalaropes and numerous swallows including many Bank Swallows.

Red Necked Phalarope

Red Necked Phalaropes in Flight

We continued on – stopping at Lind Coulee to look for a Clark’s Grebe at a spot where I have had good luck finding them in the past including a great view last year with Brian Pendleton of a Clark’s Grebe immediately  adjacent to a Western Grebe – differences clearly apparent.  This would be a year bird for both Frank and Ann Marie.  It took a lot of looking and it was not the greatest look but the ONLY grebe we found indeed was a Clark’s Grebe – more lemonade.

Clark’s Grebe and Western Grebe at Lind Coulee (from 2015)

Earlier Jason and Paul had told us of an Ebird report from Matt Yawney that included a Stilt Sandpiper and 300 Eared Grebes.  I had forgotten to get a photo of an Eared Grebe earlier in the year and it would again be a new year bird for Frank and Ann Marie so we headed off to Soap Lake.  It was getting warm and this is NOT the most scenic part of Washington, but birders are used to such and we arrived at Soap Lake ready for more good birds.  We got them – well sorta got them.  There indeed were many Eared Grebes – mostly still in their dark breeding plumage – probably at least the 300 reported by Matt.  But they were all distant – in the middle of the large lake – viewable through the scope but the photos qualify as ID quality only.

Eared Grebes on Soap Lake

We did not find a Stilt Sandpiper – only a couple of Spotted Sandpipers – and in fact found little habitat that seemed shorebird friendly at all – but we did not find good access points and could well have missed out in our unfamiliarity with the area and besides by now it was unpleasantly hot and it was time to head back home.

A stop at the Winchester Wasteway along I-90 found no birds.  We made a last stop at Silica Ponds near George and almost on my cue a single Yellow Headed Blackbird visited for a few moments.  Traffic back to Edmonds was tolerable even with a few inexplicable slowdowns and we returned both safe and very happy.

The gas crisis lemons were long forgotten but we definitely did not forget the “Lemonade” that followed – especially the magnificent Scissor Tailed Flycatcher.  How appropriate to find lemonade on a hot summer day!!

 

Jon Houghton, Frank Caruso, Sherrill Miller and I had a fun day birding yesterday – August 10.  Like many such days we missed some of the birds we hoped to find and we found some other so called targets and also had some other birds that were nice additions.

Our first quarry was a Mountain Quail – never easy except when coming to Mary Hrudkaj’s feeders.  Mary had given us a lead on a possible spot and we headed there first.  Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring my Garmin and phone reception was bad so we could not access directions via Google Maps so we lost a lot of time and never did get to the new area.  We did spend a lot of time at the Port Orchard Quarry where I had a Mountain Quail last year and drove Blacksmith Tahuya Road – lots of good habitat but no quail for us.  At the Quarry there were numerous Turkey Vultures.  We never saw a carcass but there must have been something appetizing (to them) around.

Turkey Vulture

.Mountain Quail (2014 Photo from Mary’s)

Not a great start but we had much more to look for and headed off towards the coast where our first stop was the Hoquiam STP.  As written up in an earlier blog, I had a Franklin’s Gull there om July 25 and it has continued to be seen.  But no such luck this time as the only small gull we found was a non-breeding plumage Bonaparte’s Gull.  There was very little mud and no shorebirds.  So now we were 0 for 2 on our targets.  But it was a beautiful day and still lots of birding ahead.

We opted to bird the “Westport” side and thus retraced the unpleasant drive back through Hoquiam and into Aberdeen before heading south.  Sure would be nice to bypass those two towns – sad reminders that the boom times around Seattle have not been felt everywhere in our state.  Coastal birding plans are dictated in large measure by tides and high tide was to be at 6:40.  We wanted to be at the Coast Guard Station at Westport then and wanted to include some beach driving, a visit to Tokeland and also Bottle Beach.  Over the years I have learned that it is best to be at Bottle Beach on an incoming tide and to be there at least 2 hours and maybe even 3 hours before the high tide.  Accordingly we planned to drive the beach at Midway/Grayland then go to Tokeland, then to Bottle Beach and then to Westport.  It all worked out pretty well.

The open beach is always fun.  It was the first time Sherrill had been in the area so much was new.  While we did not find any Snowy Plovers and surprisingly also found no Semipalmated Plovers either, a real treat was the constant stream of Sooty Shearwaters not too far off the coast.  I have seen them there many times – always heading south.  This was a life bird for Sherrill- very cool.  We had hundreds of Sanderlings in varying plumages and many Least but no Western Sandpipers.

Sanderling

Sherrill and Frank at Midway Beach

Sooty Shearwaters – streaming South just off Grayland Beach

Nothing real exciting but Frank yelled out that he glimpsed what he thought might be Black Turnstones flying by.  Fortunately we got a better look and they even stopped just ahead of us – two Ruddy Turnstones and when they moved up towards the dunes we found a single Whimbrel as well. Not the best focus but I got a fun photo of the Whimbrel with its very long wings extended up.

Ruddy Turnstone

Whimbrel with Extended Wings

Time to head south and we checked the many gulls and terns at North Cove hoping for something special – but exclusively Heerman’s, Ring Billed and California Gulls and lots of Caspian Terns.  Probably a little early still for Elegant Terns – hope they are more plentiful than last year.

Approaching the Tokeland Marina always kicks up the heartbeat – will the Willets be there or not.  Definitely the best spot in Washington for these birds, I had one there last month but the only photo I got then was of the Peregrine Falcon that timed its flyover to the exact moment I arrived and it chased off the Willet and the hundreds of Heerman’s Gulls that were present.  This time the bird gods made amends as not only was there great light but also 8 Willets.  They were joined by a single Marbled Godwit and a single Whimbrel and there were both adult and juvenile Least Sandpipers on the other side of the road. This is also a good spot for Elegant Terns but only Caspian Terns were present – with Ring Billed and Heerman’s Gulls.  Also present and noisy were numerous Purple Martins.

Willet

Least Sandpiper

Willets, Whimbrel and Marbled Godwit

It was time to head to Bottle Beach ahead of the incoming tide.  While there had been some cloudiness earlier in the day and on our open beach drive, it was now blue skies and warm temperatures.  The light had been great at Tokeland and remained so for the rest of the day.  When we hit the beach, our timing appeared perfect – lots of shorebirds maybe 100 yards out and the tide was starting to push them in.  I have had many wonderful birds at Bottle Beach over the years including rarities like Red Necked Stint and both Bar Tailed and Hudsonian Godwits.  Today it was just the “regulars” and not even all that many.  Lots of Black Bellied Plovers (I have had both Golden Plovers here in the past), Least and Western Sandpipers, a Greater Yellowlegs and a few Short Billed Dowitchers.   And again no Semipalmated Plovers.

We waited for more birds to arrive but none did so we headed off to Westport hoping for that Bar Tailed Godwit.  One had been seen there on August 6 but the Ebird report had not come in until August 9 and we hoped the passage of the three days would not matter.  When we got to the dock near the Coast Guard Station we found the typical raft of hundreds godwits and had fantastic light to search for a smaller bird that was grey and not tan.  All four of us went over every bird several times for more than 30 minutes and unfortunately all were Marbled Godwits – beautiful birds but not the treasured rarity.  I suggested we head off to my favorite Wandering Tattler spot – hopefully find one and then return to look through the godwit flock again.

Marbled Godwit Flock (only a small portion)

As uncooperative as the godwits had been, my favorite Tattler spot produced immediately and fantastically.  Our first look produced 4 Wandering Tattlers on the rocks on one of the groins and then two more in stunning light very close on the rocks just below us at the observation platform.  I have never had more than 3 Tattlers at one time before (at this same spot last month) so these six were a real surprise.  They were also either life or year birds for the others in the group and there could not have been better looks.

Wandering Tattler

This proved to be a really good spot for other reasons as well.  Not more than fifty feet off shore was a Common Murre preening and posing for us and further out by the red buoy a Humpback Whale was spouting and diving continuously for the 30 minutes we were there.

Common Murre

Humpback Whale

We returned to the Coast Guard Station and all the Godwits were still Marbled.  Maybe next time.  But the light was perfect for some nice Brown Pelican photos – there were hundreds on the breakwater and flying about.

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican in Flight

So there were some hits and some misses – but two definite additional hits were the dinner that followed at Bennett’s and the great company on the trip.  It also helped that we could listen to the Mariner’s win another game – sixth in a row – on the radio on the long drive back to Edmonds.

 

 

 

The original plan had been to drive down to Sunrise at Mount Rainier late on Tuesday and go owling, sleep a few hours in the car and then be the first on the Mt. Fremont Lookout trail early Wednesday morning hoping to find a White Tailed Ptarmigan.  But when I checked the weather for Sunrise on Tuesday morning, it did not look so good.  Plan B was to keep the same schedule but to move it a day later.  Good thing.  Jon Houghton was down at Sunrise on Tuesday on a Seattle Audubon trip and they had snow and such fierce winds that they gave up.  Plan B morphed into B plus when I awoke so early on Wednesday morning that I decided to beat the traffic and get to Rainier early and do the Fremont Hike first thing.

I arrived at Sunrise at 7:30 a.m. and what a difference a day makes – not much wind and a few  clouds but mostly gorgeous sunshine, so I headed off to look for Ptarmigan at the Mount Fremont Lookout.  There were two reasons for the original early morning start in Plan A:  I wanted to be the first on the trail thinking that would increase the odds of seeing the Ptarmigan and I know I am not in good shape so I wanted to leave plenty of time to make the hike.  Turned out that 7:30 was early enough.  I did not see another human being on the entirety of my hike out to the lookout and it ended up taking just over 90 minutes to get there – not as bad as I thought.  Unfortunately the Ptarmigan did not appreciate my efforts and none were seen.  BUT it was so gorgeous – and there were other treats along the way – so not a big deal.  Mount Rainier is simply spectacular – birds or not.

Mount Rainier from Sunrise Trail

The first treat was of course just seeing Mount Rainier from the Sunrise parking lot – is there a better parking lot anywhere?  There were dozens of birds at the parking lot – mostly Chipping Sparrows and Dark Eyed Juncos.  Less than 1/4 mile up the trail a Sooty Grouse came out of the trees and gave a nice view for a few seconds before returning to its hiding place.  I hoped that it would not be the only “Chicken” seen on the trip.

Sooty Grouse in the Morning

The trail has a major fork at Frozen Lake – heading either to Burroughs Mountain or to the Lookout.  Ptarmigan have been seen at both places but a good birder had visited Burroughs recently without seeing any so I stuck to my original plan and headed to the Lookout where although no Ptarmigan have been reported from there this year, it has been a good spot for them for me and others in years past.  The trail up to Frozen lake had a fair amount of elevation gain at places and my lack of hiking this year was definitely being felt.  The next 1.3 miles would have a lot more up so I was glad for the early start.

View of Frozen Lake

The trail to the lookout is mostly along scree – nice for Marmots and wildflowers and possible for Ptarmigan but not very foot friendly and great care has to be taken on each step over the uneven rocks. I found what appeared to be a small Marmot family – three animals together with one being bolder and the others, perhaps young, staying in the background.  I am always surprised at how large they are compared to the ground squirrels that are abundant.

Hoary Marmot

Views along the way are nonstop fabulous.  With so much sun in the thin air of the high elevation (about 7000′), I was extra careful with lots of sun block and a hat that covered everything.  When finally I glimpsed the fire lookout up ahead I knew I would make it even if my legs were a bit weary.

View from the Trail to the Tower

Mount Fremont Lookout Tower

As much as I enjoyed the beauty of the place, the real goal had been to find a White Tailed Ptarmigan.  I had seen and photographed one here some years ago and had a great look of one in its all white winter plumage in Colorado earlier this year – but none this year.  You feel like you have paid your dues to get to the Tower so it is extra disappointing not to find your quarry.  Guess it is a bad year for them here.

White Tailed Ptarmigan (2014 Photo)

White Tailed Ptarmigan in Winter Plumage from Colorado (2016)

In previous visits the Tower itself has always been locked so I was surprised to find it unlocked and open.  I made myself at home for a bit – even taking a cat nap on one of the cots giving the Ptarmigan more time to come out from hiding if they were present.  A consolation prize was a fly over of three Gray Crowned Rosy Finches – not a common bird but regular on Mount Rainier slopes.  Pretty hard to beat the view from the tower as seen in the photo below – even though taken on my phone and through the glass windows.

View from Inside the Fremont Lookout Tower

I spent more than an hour at the Lookout Tower and no Ptarmigan appeared so it was time to head back.  I took a quick selfie (not my thing) to show my sun protection and headed out.

Taking the Sun Seriously

Along the trail down the first person I met was Teri Martine – an avid Seattle area birder.  She was also looking for Ptarmigan – don’t think she found any either.  And then I met Jason Vassallo – yet another Seattle birder – proving how popular this trail is for Ptarmigan seekers.

On the way up I had seen several Mountain Bluebirds and a few Rufous Hummingbirds.  Now there seemed to be Mountain Bluebirds everywhere (a theme that would be repeated later closer to the parking area).  I had hoped to see and photograph a Clark’s Nutcracker.  I heard one off in the distance but no visual.  As I got closer to Frozen Lake I could see dozens of people there and on the various trails and I passed at least 20 more people on my way down to the Lake.  My decision to come early was a good one.  Of course there was lots more great scenery.

Views from Trail

I saw more marmots and an industrious ground squirrel that had harvested vegetation and had what seemed an impossible amount in its mouth as it harvested more.  I don’t know if this was food to be taken back to young or material to pad its nest.

Hoary Marmot

Industrious Ground Squirrel

The biggest treat was almost at the end of the trail – with the visitor center in sight.  A crowd had gathered on the trail.  They were watching a quite large Black Bear foraging on what seemed to be new growth on an Evergreen maybe 100 yards away.  Photo worthy.

Black Bear

It was noon by the time I reached the now very crowded parking lot.  I birded a bit in the picnic area and had lunch and wondered how I would “kill” the next 9+ hours until it would be sufficiently dark to look for owls.  I had hoped to find a Three Toed Woodpecker on the trip and continued that search but found no woodpeckers at all.   Many more Mountain Bluebirds (one perched alongside a Yellow Rumped Warbler) and lots of Juncoes and Chipping  Sparrows (I had seen a single Fox Sparrow on my descent).  Surprisingly no Gray Jays or Nutcrackers but I did add some Mountain Chickadees to my day list.

Mountain Bluebird and Yellow Rumped Warbler

I drove down to the White River Campground thinking I would both do a little birding and maybe look for  a quiet spot for an afternoon snooze.  It was too busy for the former and too crowded to find a spot for the latter.  I drove around a bit and finally just found a wider than most and shadier than most pullout and rested for a couple of hours. Then I returned to the Sunrise parking area – got some coffee at the snack bar, visited the visitor center, scouted some owling areas and did some birding.  The snack bar was doing a brisk business despite prices that rival those at Century Link and Safeco – guess that comes with no competition and a captive audience.

Birds were mostly as before but a little slower.  The highlight was when I was walking through the picnic area and a bird exploded right by me – a small accipiter – Sharp Shinned Hawk that was gone in an instant but had been very close letting me appreciate the incredible speed.  I also heard a couple of Clark’s Nutcrackers and got a distant picture of one perched and then of another on a still distant flyby.  My best photo of one this year but pretty poor. Just before digging out my rather pathetic dinner I found a warbler in a small shrub that flashed a lot of yellow.  Earlier in the morning I thought I had seen a Nashville Warbler in the picnic area and this appeared to be another one.  This time, however, I got a photo and seeing it now with a guidebook handy it is clearly a more common immature MacGillivray’s Warbler – nice photo though.

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Still a lot of time to kill so I adopted a strategy of driving back and forth between the Sunrise parking area and the Sunrise Viewpoint constantly looking on the road, beside the road and in the meadows hoping for raptors, wildlife or whatever.  I must have made the drive 6 times.  It proved a good strategy.  First I heard another Clark’s Nutcracker and pulled over and got out of the car in time for some very nice fly by photos.

Clark’s Nutcracker

 

A bit further down the road I saw a familiar form in the middle of the road and inched up to watch a mother Sooty Grouse and then her three (maybe four) chicks out for a dinner stroll/feast.  The mother spent a significant time in the middle of the road itself while the chicks almost always remained in the grass along the road.  They remained for a good 10+ minutes even as numerous cars raced by.  It amazed me both that they stayed (mom moving to the side of the road and then returning) and that cars sped by despite seeing both me stopped with lights flashing and the bird obvious in the road.  Guess they were not birders…

Sooty Grouse Mother

Sooty Grouse Chicks

The light was so good and the mother so cooperative that I took several detail photos including one of the grouse’s tail which I found quite interesting and beautiful.

Sooty Grouse Tail Close-up

I continued my back and forth travels and as the light finally started to soften I hoped to maybe see an owl hunting the many meadows.  No owls but it was incredible to see the number of small birds that were along and on the road – mostly I believe young Chipping Sparrows (I saw a number of adults of that species and no other sparrows.)  At one point there were 50 birds in the middle of the road and I wondered if they were picking up grit or insects.  At exactly 8:22 P.M. (I checked my watch) a large raptor sped across one of the meadows and hit one of the sparrows on the ground not more than 50 feet from the road.  It was about the size of a Red Tailed Hawk but was instead an accipiter – a beautiful Northern Goshawk.  It grabbed the sparrow and was off again – the whole show over in a matter of a few very exhilarating seconds.  I thought that it was dangerous for the grouse chicks to be out in the area – certainly a much better meal.

The Goshawk and Grouse were super fun.  Unfortunately I only saw one more “good” bird that evening.  It had surprised me that during the day in addition to no Gray Jays, there had also been no Ravens.  Now there were three.  It appeared that they were scavenging bits of whatever that had been left by earlier visitors – now easier to get as the lot was mostly deserted.  As it got even darker I saw several Elk and a single Black Tailed Deer – all in the absolute middle of the road – reminding me of the caution needed on roads here at night.

Common Raven

A nice bird but the plan had been for there to be at least one more – an Owl.  Ideally it would have been a Boreal Owl but other possibilities were Saw Whet and Long Eared – all have been found there.  But not this night – I searched from 10 until 11:30 and heard not a hoot of any kind.  Maybe I should have tried or waited longer, but it had been a too long day anyhow and since I was no longer going to sleep in the car to get an early start on a Fremont Lookout hike, it was time to start the long drive home.

Although the top of the want list species were not found – no Boreal Owl and no White Tailed Ptarmigan – it had been a spectacular day.  The last highlight was not an owl but was indeed extremely cool.  As I walked back to my car, I saw several people with scopes.  They were not looking at birds or animals – they were stargazers.  The night was crystal clear and there was no wind.  The stars were everywhere and were as bright as I have ever seen them.  And the Milky Way was spectacular – how many billions of stars are there – and how many planets – and do any of them have more easily found Boreal Owls or Ptarmigan??!!   Mount Rainier – What a Place – and we live so close – fortunate indeed.

The Milky Way at Mount Rainier (online photo)

 

As I arrived home just before midnight yesterday after a very long day that had started with me leaving Edmonds at 4:00 a.m., titles and portions of this not yet written blog post were being tested in my head.  The one now used was not one of them – but things change and the post that was originally going to feature the observation of a very rare  hummingbird in Walla Walla now includes that story as “a bird not seen” with a consolation prize that honestly just barely consoles.  BUT…much of the content that was to be in that originally conceived post remains – positive and wanting to be written about – at least by me. So I will just deal with the disappointment first and then move on and not let the downer overcome many definite uppers for the day.

It is disappointing to fail in any undertaking.  For birders, that often – too often – means failing to find a bird that was reported the day or days before or maybe even just hours before you look for it.  Even worse, especially after a long trip or many hours looking, is to “find” the bird and then later learn that it was not the sought after bird after all.  As written in an earlier blog post, that sometimes happens when our “want” clouds our judgment and powers of observation – emphasizing the details that support the “want” but blinding us to details that do not support the “want” and at times even disprove it.  The “want” in this case was a Broad Tailed Hummingbird.  Ebird reported such a rarity from a feeder in Walla Walla last week.  I did not know the observer, but the details were good even without a photo.  Then another report from excellent birders “confirmed” the identification.

Broad Tailed Hummingbird (Photo from others – in Colorado)

It would be a state life bird for me – having only seen one in Arizona almost 40 years ago.  I decided to go for it. My early start got me to the feeder location around 8:45 a.m.  There were 3 birders already there – I had actually expected more since it was such a rarity.  Russ Koppendrayer from Longview was there – so was Jim Parrish from Walla Walla – both of whom I knew.  Another birder with a camera/lens/tripod set up that I can only lust for was also there – Larry Umthun from Tri-Cities.  If life were really sweet they would all have been looking at the feeder with the prize sitting on it sipping sugar water.  No such luck – and they had not seen it.

Making a very very long story relatively short – we watched that feeder for hours and hours (with Russ and Jim taking lunch breaks and Larry finally leaving around 2:15 p.m.).  We saw lots of Black Chinned Hummingbirds – both male and females – but nothing with a red gorget – the field mark we were concentrating on as the clincher. Our homeowner host was very gracious and had provided some lawn chairs and we moved them around often to find whatever shade we could since it was a very bright and hot day – with temperatures in the mid-nineties.

Black Chinned Hummingbird Male

Black Chinned Hummingbird Female

We had one other interesting bird, an American Goldfinch with a distinctly pale or white back – something none of us had noted in other Goldfinches anywhere before.

Pale Backed American Goldfinch

Around 3:15 we moved the chairs to a recently shaded spot that gave us even better views of the feeder but we wondered if maybe we were too close and no hummers would come.  The return of one of the Black Chinned Hummers assuaged our fear. Jim had returned with his lovely wife Sue – always good to have more eyes in the field.  Russ heard and then spotted some Vaux’s Swifts flying overhead maybe an omen.  Exactly at 3:30 p.m. a hummingbird made perhaps a 2 second appearance near but not on the feeder.  Some of us noticed a flash of red – and we thought we had our quarry – but it flew off without any real chance for an ID.  Then Jim saw the bird buried in the foliage of a nearby tree – the red gorget apparent even though buried.

Before he could get any of us on the bird, it flew out and landed on the feeder in great light and clearly visible to all.  We noted the green back and most distinctly the red gorget glistening in the sun when it turned the right way even though we never got a look at it fully lit.  We “saw” the white line behind the eye that seemed at certain angles to continue down to the nape. The hummer was photo friendly and we snapped away.  After it departed moments later, we reveled in our good luck, our beautiful photos and we exchanged high fives.  I posted our find on Tweeters to let others know that the rarity was indeed there.  Russ did the same on Ebird.  It was state bird 400 for Russ and a new state lifer for me and for Jim and Sue.  Wow were we happy…

Our “Broad Tailed Hummingbird”

So now it was on to other pleasures – the long day a great success.  Russ was off to add new birds to one of his county lists.  Jim and Sue had a short trip home and my original plan had been to find the Broad Tailed Hummingbird in the morning and then head off to either Biscuit Ridge or Coppei Ridge or Jasper Mountain – hoping to get lucky finding a Great Gray Owl or a photo of a Green Tailed Towhee – photographed there last year but heard only with the Dennys on an earlier trip this year.  Afterwards it was then going to be off somewhere trying yet again for a photo of a Common Poorwill, one of the three species I had seen or heard but not gotten a photo of last year and had failed to photograph on three more attempts this year.  I also had hopes for a photo of a Common Nighthawk – easily found and photographed in past years but so far heard only this year.

Last Year’s Green Tailed Towhee from Coppei Ridge (Heard but not Photographed this Year)

Given the heat and the lateness of the day, I gave up on the Blue Mountain options and headed west hoping for the Poorwill or Nighthawk and maybe lucking into some Gray Partridge. I planned to stop at Horn Rapids Park where I had a very photo friendly Common Nighthawk last year and then head over yet again to Oak Creek and Bethel Ridge.  But I had learned that there was some kind of road closure on Highway 12 and not being completely clear exactly where I decided to try a favorite spot, Robinson Canyon for the Poorwills instead.  I found and got a very distant photo of a Common Nighthawk at Horn Rapids – not very satisfying but good enough for an ID.  It was now after 5:00 p.m. and the temperature had hit 100 degrees.

Common Nighthawk – Horn Rapids Park (2015)

I was still a couple of hours or so away from Robinson Canyon (southwest of Ellensburg) but did not want to get there until after 8:30.  I detoured along Vantage Highway and drove into the Wild Horse Energy area where I had heard Gray Partridge were sometimes found.  No such luck but a very interesting area that I had not realized was so accessible and I will return some other time.

I have heard (and even seen) Common Poorwills at Robinson Canyon every time I have visited and the name brings a smile because of good associations from birding trips with Samantha Robinson, so I felt good about my chances this night. The problems in the past have been either that there has been too much traffic on the road – keeping the Poorwills away from the best photography opportunity to be trapped in my headlights – or my own ineptitude – having the camera settings such that the one time I had one on the road clearly in my headlights, the shutter would not activate.  This time I changed the settings and took several practice shots to be sure I was ready.  Even before I got to the first (always open?) yellow gate, I saw some birds on the road in the diminishing light.  It turned out to be first one and then a second brood of California Quail – each with a single hen and numerous chicks.

California Quail Brood

After snapping that photo I heard the familiar peent call of the Common Nighthawk.  Two and maybe three birds circled overhead.  Not great light and not the quality of the photo of the perched bird above – but much better than the photo I had taken hours earlier in bright light at Horn Rapids.

Common Nighthawk – Robinson Canyon July 26, 2016

Still riding the high of the Walla Walla hummingbird experience, this find gave me confidence that maybe this would indeed be the night for a Poorwill photo.  But now about that traffic…  Much of Robinson Canyon Road is a single lane.  Sure enough as I made my way into the Canyon – just at its most narrow spot I heard another vehicle coming down the dirt road.  I backed up maybe 100 yards to let first one and then a second pickup with horse trailer by.  Not even a thank you wave as they sped by … no comment (aargh!!).  But it was still early and I had not heard any Poorwill calls yet so I remained optimistic.

I went through the second gate (it is loosely chained and easy to open, proceed through and then close again).  The road ends not more than a quarter mile further up and this has proven to be prime Poorwill territory in the past.  Two more Common Nighthawks called overhead – and I was good to go as I turned the car around expecting to find my Poorwill on the road on the way down. After just a few moments (around 9:00 p.m.) I heard my first Poorwill calling.  It seemed very close.  Although I had little hope of actually seeing it on the hillside I got out of the car and moved towards the sound.  It repeated and was answered by a second bird and they both sounded very close–like they were roosting in the nearby evergreen tree.  I played a few Common Poorwill calls on my phone and WOW!!!!  All hell broke loose as two Poorwills came right towards me circling and looking for their rival.  More than once they came within just a few feet – the only Poorwills I have ever seen except on or just above a road.  It was pretty dark and I did not have a spotlight, but even so I could readily see the white in the throat, tail and wings.  This continued for several minutes and was very exciting.  The following photo is terrible but you can see the bird in the upper right corner – impossible to keep up with it as I turned and turned to try.

Common Poorwill Flying All Around Me (terrible photo in very low light as I swirled around trying to keep up with it)

I was very exhilarated and had at least gotten a photo.  Moreso I was now sure that I would be fortunate and get a photo coming down the road.  And indeed I did.  Above the chained gate, again below it and above the yellow gate and then again much further down I had four Common Poorwills sitting on the road – eyes shining in my headlights.  I got an ok picture of the first one through my windshield – so mission accomplished. But now I changed the mission and wanted a better photo.  The second bird flew before I could get a photo and the third was cooperative only for a second – again a just ok photo.

The fourth bird was the winner.  Dan Reiff had shared a technique he uses and I patiently waited for the bird to become comfortable in my headlights.  I then held my breath and inched the car closer and closer again.  I was now maybe 50 feet away.  Turned off the motor but kept the lights on and s-l-o-w-l-y opened the door (remembering to take the key out so it would not  scold me with a loud beep).  I took a quick picture – my best yet.  Then I walked again even more s-l-o-w-l-y – five feet closer at a time – stopping and taking a new photo and then repeating.  I got within perhaps 15 to 20 feet – took the last photo and the Poorwill flew up – and moved down maybe another 50 feet and landed and waited on the opposite side of the road.  I was more than satisfied – ecstatic actually and left it to its apparently favored hunting territory and I headed homewards.

Common Poorwill – Robinson Canyon

I remember distinctly thinking that if we had not found the Broad Tailed Hummingbird this first ever photo of a Common Poorwill would be a nice consolation and would have made for a good day.  But since we had found the hummingbird, now it was just lovely icing on a very yummy cake.

Or not…I got home too late to even look at photos on the computer and went to bed exhausted but very happy indeed.  This morning those photos were the first order of business and I was very pleased with how at least some of them turned out.  I added photos to the Ebird reports, sent some to people who had requested them, posted some on Flickr with a link on Tweeters and thought of coffee.  Then the fall from the pinnacle of glee and joy.  Thud!!!

Birders far more skilled than I suggested (with quite differing styles) that the photos were of an Anna’s Hummingbird and not a Broad Tailed.  In our excitement at the feeder, we had emphasized some field marks and ignored others that were determinative.  Anna’s Hummingbirds are rare for the area as well and there had been speculation earlier by some that the original observation was of an Anna’s also.  A report by one questioner that it was a Broad Tailed was one of the factors that led to me making the trip even though I still felt it a longshot to actually see the bird.

Anna’s Hummingbird – Walla Walla – Rare but Barely a Consolation (Note the wasp)

Truth in writing I was pretty unhappy – not just for my own mistake – and loss of a super state record – but also because my error may have encouraged others to make the try.  I immediately posted a cautionary warning on Tweeters, changed the Ebird report and removed the Flickr photos.  Maybe that would help others but even though as a rarity for Walla Walla Anna’s Hummingbird was a nice consolation, it was not very consoling. I was pretty down and decided to forego any blog and brood alone.  BUT then later when I added the photo of the Common Poorwill to my photo list, and relived the entire day, I felt better – even good.  It had indeed been a great day – hitting all of the Big Three of birding that are important to me -great people, great places and great birds – even if the greatest of the birds had disappeared.  It was another story added to my long list of birding adventures – and misadventures – and in the end it may have helped to set the record straight – an important part of any record list – mine or something far more official.

Taking photos has become a big part of my birding life – enjoyable at the time and often thereafter – something more easily shared – with birding and non-birding friends – than just my limited verbal descriptions.  Photos generally help with identification at the time or later in the comfort of home on a big screen.  Sometimes they prove the point, sometimes like here, they prove a different point. My eyes (yours too?) are fallible and my processor is flawed as well.  The eyes of others and their processors too are welcome additions to my birding education and experience.  I look forward to many more instructive reviews – and someday to seeing a real Broad Tailed Hummingbird in Washington – probably the only way I will ever get over losing this one.