Sunny Walter's
Washington Nature Weekends

Tweeters Bird Sightings - December

New 11/26!

Sightings on this page are extracted from the Tweeters sightings.
This list is to help casual birders find out where they can reliably see birds
so most rare bird sightings are omitted.

(Note: Items in red are of special interest to Sunny.
As a photographer I'm partial to large birds or large flocks of small birds)

Sunny's Selections from Recent Tweeters NW Bird Sightings:
December
12/1/03
Grant County Redpolls

Barb and I got out for a short day of birding around Moses Lake.
  • We were able to locate up to 4 COMMON REDPOLL with a small flock of American Goldfinch. The redpolls were located along Road K .5 SE (see Delorme Pg. 53 at the very top about 6.5). 
  • Also present were at least 3 American Tree Sparrow and 1 Lincoln's Sparrow at the same location. The birds are feeding in a habitat food plot planted behind the row of brush along the road.
  • We also birded the Potholes State Park where we located 2 lingering Orange-crowned Warblers among the much more common winter residents.
  • Also observed was a Merlin hunting along Road 6 SE (same Delorme as the redpolls).
Doug & Barb Schonewald     Moses Lake, WA

12/1/03
Umtanum Canyon

Umtanum Canyon, from the Yakima River to Durr Road and return: Nov 28.
  • 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Red-shafted Flicker
  • 4 Black-capped Chickadee, 1 Canyon Wren, 1 Bewick's Wren, 3 Winter Wren
  • 2 American Dipper, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2 Song Sparrow, 4 Oregon Junco 4
This was a lot of walking in excellent natural riparian habitat for so few birds. Hasn't Dennis Paulson commented on the winter lack of birdlife in native habitats? That is certainly what I encountered on this excursion.
  • Early in the morning I did see two groups of Bighorn Sheep. The first contained three ewes. The second consisted of eight ewes accompanied by one full curl ram. Both groups were in the riparian zone but retreated onto the northern rocky shrub-steppe slopes as I approached.
Jim Duemmel     j.duemmel@att.net
12/1/03
Capitol Lake

Stopped at north end of Capitol Lake (Thurston Co.) around 10:00 AM to glass the large scaup flocks.
  • There are many more scaup present now than there was earlier last month, also many are close in as well allowing for terrific scope views at 20x. Nice array of plumages on the birds, both species of scaup are present for good comparisons. 
  • Had a P/B Grebe close in at 20x, wished that my scope could videotape as it scanned, had a great view of the bird's pale pink bill (mixed with darker colors along the culmen and upper mandible) also the mixed white areas in the face which I hadn't noticed before.
  • There were better numbers of Ruddy Ducks today, couple of R/N Ducks, 3 Hooded Mergansers.
  • Double digits of MEW GULL on the lake, mixed in with the 'mutts'. I watched one juvenile gull in flight and preening which I felt safe to call a HERRING GULL
Jason Paulios     Jpaulios@earthlink.net     Olympia, WA

12/2/03
On the Duwamish (noon)

My guess is that the water level today was about 13ft (water level indicator totally submerged).
  • 34 ROCK PIGEONS were drinking river water while on a semi-submersed plank; some dipping in enough to wet their heads.
  • A DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT surfaced next to the plank and hoisted itself onto the plank to dry its wings. About half the pigeons bailed to higher ground, but the rest remained, head-bobbing, while the cormorant beat its wings and held them out to dry. After a time, the remaining pigeons started wetting down again, while the cormorant played statue.
  • Three GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS (possibly more, but that's all I could positively ID at the distance) feeding in the shrubs near the goose exclusion area on the southwest were a first.
Birds seen during this scan include the following:
  • 4 Gadwall (appeared to be paired)
  • 14 Double-crested Cormorant, 7 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 36 Rock Pigeon
  • 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 American Crow (2)
  • 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1 Song Sparrow, 1 House Finch (bathing in the river near the goose exclusion area)
Denis DeSilvis     Seattle, WA     denis.j.desilvis@boeing.com

12/2/03
Canvasbacks

For the last 5 years I've been doing regular counts at points along the shore of south Lake Washington from Sayres Park to Pritchard Beach. Up until this year I've seen small groups (2+ birds) of Canvasbacks from Sayres Park to Andrew's Bay (off Seward Park) starting in mid-October, with peak counts in mid November (30-40+) and tapering off through March.

So far this year the count is zero. Does anyone have any insight into what might be happening here? Could they just be hanging out somewhere else this year? I hate to think that something catastrophic has happened to the flock.

Catherine Alexander     Seattle


12/3/03
re: No Canvasbacks

Within the last week I have had Canvasbacks at both Tracy Owen Station Park (sometimes called Logboom park)at the north end of Lake Washington in Kenmore, and at Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland. As I remember, there were at least a dozen Cans at Tracy Owen easily visible from the end of the floats, and easily 20 at Juanita Bay Park over on the north shore this last Sunday.

Brian Bell     Woodinville WA     bellasoc@isomedia.com

12/3/03
No Canvasbacks this year.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post.
  • The good news is that there were four Canvasbacks on Andrew's Bay today.
  • It also appears that winter populations are relatively steady away from my count area, especially on the northern portions of Lake Washington.
  • The bad news is that in Snohomish County populations appear to have crashed over the past years .
  • I did get a private note from another counter who reported over 100 last weekend on the Everett Sewage Ponds.
Catherine Alexander     South Seattle

12/3/03
Marymoor Park Report (Redmond, King Co., WA) 12/3/2003

There were some surprising birds, and some great looks at common birds:
  • Green Heron - Beautiful flyby at the lake platform
  • American Wigeon - 1 female in slough, Common Goldeneye - First of fall, 2 males flying downslough, Common Merganser - 2 males on lake
  • Merlin Flew into snag row, chased off by crows
  • Brown Creeper - 2 in big Cottonwood forest
  • 1 Cedar Waxwing
  • Lincoln's Sparrow - great looks in Pea Patch, Wh.-thr. Sparrow - near parking lot early again; Lot of sparrows today - 8 species, but lots of most and great sightings of many; lots of Golden-crowns with the White-throated; great looks at Fox Sparrows at several locations; great looks at Golden-crowns at several locations
  • Purple Finch - Large flock near last dog swim area, Large numbers of juncos in the Pea Patch (Community Gardens).
  • Lots of Bushtits and Pine Siskin.

Michael Hobbs        Kirkland        hummer@isomedia.com       Birding at Marymoor Park

12/3/03
Kent-Auburn area

I just have a couple of notes from an interesting early afternoon spent in the Auburn area.
  • At 285th Street (accessed from West Valley Highway) and the flooded fields adjacent to the north, there was a female SURF SCOTER looking for a suitable place to land.
  • On the puddles, in a flock of only 200 or so American Wigeon, were five EURASIAN, including 4 males.
  • Next stop was 287th Street, which was loaded with sparrows. With 50 or more juncos, it was not difficult to spot three SLATE-COLORED JUNCOS.
  • I looked up and noticed a number of crows mobbing some object; once I looked closer I could see that it was a SHORT-EARED OWL. The bird flew south along a ridge, at upwards of 800 feet altitude.
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com

12/3/03
Portland Oregon Audubon RBA (weekly)
  • On November 26 a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER and over 500 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were off Millicoma Marsh at Coos Bay.
Harry Nehls


12/3/03
Samish Flats, Skagit County

The following birds were observed by Wayne Weber between 12 noon and 3:00 PM on December 3, 2003. The area covered was the Samish Flats in Skagit County, from Edison to and including the extreme south end of
Samish Island. The tide was very high during my visit.
  • A flock of 2500 unidentified dabbling ducks was present far out on Samish Bay, in addition to those that were identified.
  • Two gray-phase EASTERN GRAY SQUIRRELS were seen along Scott Road on Samish Island, and at least 3 PACIFIC TREE-FROGS were heard calling at various points on the Samish Flats.
Birds seen (in taxonomic order):
  • 4 Common Loon, 5 Horned Grebe, 8 Double-crested Cormorant, 6 Great Blue Heron
  • 82 Trumpeter Swan  [12 out on Samish Bay, 70 in field east of  Highway 11 near Sunset Road]
  • 2 Eurasian Wigeon with 1000 American Wigeon in Alice Bay
  • 400 Mallard, 50 Northern Pintail, 200 Green-Winged Teal, 8 Bufflehead, 6 Common Goldeneye,
    12 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 10 Bald Eagle, 12 Northern Harrier  [6 of these at and near the "Samish West 90"],  9 Red-tailed Hawk,  3 Rough-legged Hawk  [1 dark-phase bird perched on a telephone pole near the "Samish East 90"],   1 Merlin  [chasing Dunlin flocks just west of Edison]
  • 120 Black-bellied Plover, 1 American Avocet  [in winter plumage seen at the tip of the spit projecting from the south side of Alice Bay (seen from Scott Road on Samish Island)],  5000 Dunlin
  • 5 Mew Gull, 200 Glaucous-winged Gull    
  • 10 Rock Dove
  • 5 Short-eared Owl  [at least 5 seen in flight near the "Samish West 90".]
  • 2 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Northern Flicker, 5 Northwestern Crow, 8 Common Raven
  • 2 Bewick's Wren, 3 Marsh Wren, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
  • 3 American Robin, 200 European Starling
  • 12 American Pipit, 4 Spotted Towhee
  • 3 Savannah Sparrow  [seen in a shrub at the "Samish East 90"],  2 Fox Sparrow, 8 Song Sparrow,
    6 Dark-eyed Junco
  • 100 Red-winged Blackbird, 2 Western Meadowlark, 15 Brewer's Blackbird
  • 40 House Finch, 12 House Sparrow    
Wayne Weber        contopus@telus.net

12/4/04
Brady Loop/Wenzel Slough, Grays Harbor County, WA

I spent this morning out birding; here's the highlights:

Western side of Brady Loop Rd.
  • Good amount of raptors: Bald Eagle (2 adults), American Kestrel (1 perched on utility line), Rough-legged Hawk (1 perched on top of utility pole), Northern Harrier (2 females working the fields), and Peregrine Falcon (1 on the ground in a corn-stubble field).  
  • Waterfowl species seen include the following from highest to lowest numbers: Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Bufflehead, and Green-winged Teal.
Intersection of Brady Loop and Foster Rd.
  • large flock of Dunlin and Black-bellied Plover continues. 
  • A single male Northern Harrier was also seen near the intersection. 
  • Further down Foster Rd., there was one Red-tailed Hawk and a Rough-legged Hawk which presumably was the same one seen on the west side of the loop.
Southeastern portion of Brady Loop Rd.
  • At least 25 "red-shafted" Northern Flicker. This location which is at the corner with the old abandoned house has been producing large numbers of flickers in the past few weeks. Its awesome to see them all fly up out of the field at the same time. 
  • Also, seen a little further east of here, were one adult Bald Eagle and one Peregrine Falcon. 
  • 14 Tundra Swans were also present on a small pond.
On the ponds, near the intersection of Brady Loop and Willis St.
  • Plenty of waterfowl to be looked at. I could not pick out any Redhead this time, but there were several ducks too far away to confirm an ID.
  • Duck species here from highest numbers to lowest included: Northern Pintail, Mallard, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Scaup, and Bufflehead. There were also two separate groups of Canada Geese and 3 Trumpeter Swans here.
I then drove down to Wenzel Slough Rd
  • I was hoping to get some good looks at the big group of swans that have been in the corn-stubble field just south of Highway 12 near Keys Rd. as reported by Ruth and Patrick Sullivan.  To my delight, the swans had moved closer to Wenzel Slough Rd. this morning. I didn't take the time to identify every individual out of the 96 that I counted, but the majority of the group were Trumpeter with the lesser amount being Tundra. 
  • I spent most of my time trying to get a good look at a green neck collar on one of the Trumpeters. The collared swan wasn't being very cooperative. The swan finally moved to where I could see the collar which had a vertical 3 and a horizontal 1T. I filed a report of the band as soon as I got home. 
  • Also, along Keys Rd. there was an American Kestrel and a Peregrine Falcon, who was chasing a flock of about 25 Rock Pigeons.
Tim O'Brien     Elma, WA     kertim7179@centurytel.net

12/5/03
Grays Harbour area.

Ocean Shores
  • Driving south to the North Jetty we had Yellow-rumped Warbler,Steller's Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Ring-necked Pheasant,Glaucous-winged Gull and Brewer's Blackbird
  • At the jetty we had Black Turnstones and Rock sandpiper, also a fly over Pelagic Cormorant.
  • At the marina we had Surf Scotter, Red-necked Grebe, Common Loon, Western Grebe, and a Belted Kingfisher 
  • Next we drove north to the small parking area where you can go to the bay. On the bay we added Northern Pintail, Barrow's Goldeneye, Ring-billed Gull and one Brant.
  • At the airport we had 5 Killdeer and a Robin.
Hoquiam Airport
  • Time to return to K street. A short stop at the Hoquiam airport added Northern Shrike, Common Goldeneye, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, and some Dunlin along the bay.
  • At K street a small group of geese produces the two Pink-footed and one White-fronted among with 20 or so Canadas.
Brady Loop Area
  • One Rough-legged hawk, one Red-tailed Hawk, and one Northern Harrier.
  • Also a large group of swan having both Trumpeter and Tundra.
  • Took the short Hiriam Hall road to its end. Found two Scrub Jays and a Lincoln Sparrow just then two Bald Eagles flew over
  • On the Wenzel Slough road we found a flock of Starlings and Red-winged Blackbirds that covered the land like a black carpet. Also 5 Mourning Doves with them.
Larry and Jacque Goodhew     Walla Walla

12/5/03
Bohemian Waxwings - Newcastle, King County
  • This morning I found a group of 17 Bohemian Waxwings feeding on rotting apples just off of Thomas Rouse Road (SE 136th) in Newcastle just south of  Coal Creek-Newcastle Road (King County). My speculation is that they came in with the big blow through of yesterday. I've seen Cedars in the vicinity but there none mixed in with this flock.

    Also, yesterday I had a Surf Scoter just on the water just to the north of the West Channel of the I90 floating bridge.
Rob Conway     Bellevue, WA      robin_birder@hotmail.com

12/6/03
Hoquiam STP
  • The 2 Pink-footed Geese were observed at 1:30pm at the eastern portion of the Bowerman Basin Airport foraging amongst a scattered flock of Canada Geese (including 2 "Dusky"Canada Geese) and 2 Greater White-fronted Geese.
  • The largest flock of Canvasback that we have personally observed at the Hoquiam STP, which contained 110 birds during our initial visit and seemed very noteworthy for the location. We checked the Hoquiam STP three times during our visit to Bowerman Basin and each time different numbers of Canvasback were counted until we left the location at 2:30pm. We presume any of the Canvasback flew south into nearby Grays Harbor along with scattered flocks of both species of scaup and other waterfowl species during outgoing tide.
  • Our only other notable waterbird species observed at the Hoquiam STP consisted of a single Eared Grebe, as good numbers of Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, and other waterfowl species were noted in lesser numbers. 
Other highlights noted in the general Bowerman Basin/Hoquiam STP vicinity included the following:
  • 25 Western Grebes (observed in Grays Harbor)
  • 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Peregrine Falcon
  • 19 Semipalmated Plovers, 12 Sanderlings, 3 Western Sandpipers, 30 Least Sandpipers,
    4,500+ Dunlin
  • 1 Am.Pipit
 Western portion of the Brady Loop Rd. complex at 3pm:
  • 5 Tundra Swans
  • 2 Rough-legged Hawks
  • 97 Black-bellied Plovers, 340+ Dunlin, 4 Long-billed Dowitchers
  • 2 Western Scrub Jays
On our way home an additional Western Scrub Jay was observed along Monte-Elma Rd. in Satsop along with 45+ Mourning Doves.
  
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     Tacoma,WA     godwit@worldnet.att.net

12/7/03
Nisqually NWR sightings
 
This afternoon my mother and I spent 2 hours at the Nisqually NWR between 2pm-4pm amongst light drizzle
at times.
  • We encountered relatively good numbers of raptors,primarily observed from the Twin Barns observation overlook, as well as along the McAllister Creek trail from the main parking lot. 
  • The 2 Ross Geese were observed flying in overhead at 2:15pm from the south in the direction from the large, open fields off of Nisqually Cut-Off Rd(south and east of I-5). The Ross' Geese flew overhead amongst a very large flock of Canada Geese and circled just south of the McAllister Creek trail,as we stood along the trail to the Twin Barns ,in which the large geese flock separated in three main groups. It is presumed the 2 Ross' Geese landed in a portion of open fields concealed from the McAllister Creek trail, as we were unable to relocate them later during our visit. 
  • Other notable highlights included up to 3 up to 3 Short-eared Owls observed hunting over the large brushy areas northwest of the Twin Barns at 3:45pm, as we stood along the McAllister Creek trail. 
A list of additional highlights to the Nisqually NWR noted during our visit include the following:
  • 1 apparent Greater White-fronted Goose/Canada Goose intergrade
  • 1 male Eurasian Wigeon, 14 Ring-necked Ducks
  • 15 Northern Harriers (13 females,1 adult male,1 immature male), 18 Red-tailed Hawks(including 1 adult dark-morph bird), 1 adult Rough-legged Hawk, 3 adult Peregrine Falcons
  • 5 Dunlin
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 2 Northern Shrikes (1 adult,1 immature)
  • 9 Golden-crowned Sparrows, 28 White-crowned Sparrows
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     Tacoma,WA     godwit@worldnet.att.net

12/7/03
Cle Elum-Vantage; 7 Dec. 2003.

I led a small group of birders to snow-covered areas east of the cascades today.  No waxwings, but there were a number of interesting birds to be listed below.
Overcast; occasional snow flurries; calm wind; 27-35 F.

Getty's Cove
  • 25 Green-winged Teal
  • 4 Hooded Merganser
Vantage
  • 4 Ring-necked Duck, 30 Greater Scaup, 700 Lesser Scaup, 20 Bufflehead
  • 1 WHITE-WINGED SCOTER - Wanapum Lake
  • 4 Red-necked Grebe -Wanapum Lake, 28 Horned Grebe
  • 4 Herring Gull
  • 1 Cooper's Hawk
Ginkgo State Park
  • 2 Rock Wren, 1 Townsend's Solitaire, 2 Varied Thrush, 1 Cedar Waxwing
  • 1 White-crowned Sparrow - Ginkgo boat launch, 1 Slate-colored Junco - Ginkgo boat launch, plus one "Cassiar" Junco
  • 1 Eared Grebe - Ginkgo boat launch
Priest Lake
  • 1 PACIFIC LOON (juv.) near Wanapum Dam, 6 Common Loon
  • 13 American White Pelican
Huntzinger Rd.
  • 2 Horned Lark, 2 American Tree Sparrow
Reecer Ck Rd
  • 90 American Goldfinch 
  • 1 Prairie Falcon
So. Cle Elum
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker
  • 3 Varied Thrush, 2 Spotted Towhee
  • 1 COMMON REDPOLL, 100 Pine Siskin
Misc locations
  • 5 Northern Harrier (all hatch years), 51 Red-tailed Hawk, 14 Rough-legged Hawk (all light morph); 5 in the Swauk Prairie area
  • 18 American Kestrel, 1 Prairie Falcon w/prey at Bettas Rd, chased by RL Hawk
  • 6 Northern Shrike (64 juv., 2 ad.)
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com
 

12/7/03
Cle Elum, the Kittitas Valley, and down to Vantage.

In many ways our list of highlights looks much like the list posted earlier tonight by Charlie Wright, but we did hit a few different areas and found a few other species.

Highlights included
  • Flock of 130-plus WILD TURKEY in the Teanaway River Valley Saturday night (blocked the road at times as we passed) 
  • One adult NORTHERN SHRIKE along Ballard Hill Road near Swauk Prairie, in addition to a dark morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and a HARLAN'S HAWK on Hidden Valley Road that same night.
  • On Sunday we were awash in game birds and raptors, with California Quail everywhere
    • 100+ California Quail in the Wanapum State Park campground)
    • Flock of 12 GRAY PARTRIDGE in a field off N. 81 Road near Kittitas
    • Flock of 20 CHUKAR in the middle of Huntzinger Road near Wanapum State Park
    • Two groups of California Quail (one of 30 birds and the other of 15) in Teanaway River Valley:
    • Along the way we also noted a number of hawks (Rough-legged, Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned, and Coopers) as well as a handful of Northern Harrier and a GOLDEN EAGLE feasting on a catch near Wanapum Dam.
Rob McNair-Huff      rob@whiterabbits.com

 

12/8/03
Samish Flats

Bob Kuntz and I saw a flock of over 100 Pacific Loons at Samish Island Public Beach

Gary Bletsch     near Lyman (Skagit County)     garybletsch@yahoo.com

12/8/03
Protection Island Cruise

With calm water and sunshine, we had a great day of birding on the November 29 trip to Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge and the tide flat at Rat Island (near Marrowstone Island).  Sightings were as follows:
  • Common Loon, Red-throated Loon
  • Red Necked Grebe, Horned Grebe
  • Double Crested Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant,  Pelagic Cormorant
  • Great Blue Heron, Black Brant
  • White Wing Scooter,  Surf Scoter
  •  Harlequin Duck, Oldsquaw, Common Golden Eye, Bufflehead, Red Breasted Merganser
  • Black Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper
  • Bonaparte Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Glaucous Wing Gull
  • Common Murre, Pigeon Gillemot
  • Bald Eagle, Northwestern Crow.
  • Also, perhaps 200 Harbor Seals hauled up on PI and 14 Deer.
PT Marine Science Center      info@ptmsc.org

12/9/03
Hoquiam/Tokeland

Hoquiam: Saw the P/FOOTED GEESE (and 2 W/Fronteds) yesterday at K Street (about 8:30ish AM). 

Reached Tokeland marina before 10:00 with mist and pretty high winds (15mph at times?).  Here we had huge numbers of the normal shorebird species for Tokeland. 
  • > 900 MARBLED GODWITS were present at times, they seemed to now prefer standing along any exposed sand in front of the large dropoff in front of the parking area.  When the moved to roost on the dock they almost completely covered it.  
  • 14 WILLETS (most I've seen here) 
  • 42 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER (also a high count here for me).  
  • We had a flyby of 4 SEMIPALMATED PLOVER calling, they were later seen foraging in the open grassy area behind the parking area with some Killdeer.  
  • Gary flushed a WILSON'S SNIPE near the Scotch Broom behind the parking area.  
  • Also had 2 each of WHIMBREL and DUNLIN, the latter eventually becoming closer to 15 birds.  
  • The marina waters had good close views of a Common Loon and 6 or 7 WESTERN GREBES.  
  • In the vast H. Blackberry patches behind the trailers we pished up 6 "Sooty" FOX SPARROWS easily with some silent B/C Chickadees mixed in.  
  • Also here were both R/W Blackbirds and smaller numbers of Brewer's Blackbirds with one W/CROWNED SPARROW (I believe 'pugetensis' if I remember the details right).
At Graveyard Spit further down the road we had: 1 each BALD EAGLE (adult) and N. Harrier.  A solo MARBLED GODWIT and nice mixed flock of foraging SANDERLING and more DUNLIN.

Stopped at Brady Loop (west portion) and Foster RD where we saw the A. Kestrel, R/LEGGED HAWK, PEREGRINE FALCON and a MERLIN (the last swooping in on the large shorebird flock in the flooded fields at Foster RD).  The shorebirds were many, but only 2 species noted: B/B PLOVER and the many DUNLIN.  No swans noted in these sections.

Also on 10/08 I birded downtown Olympia
  • Flock of 30 DUNLIN near Genoa's (at the end of Marine View DR near Swantown Marina off East Bay).  
  • Also here was a nice flock of 70 MEW GULL.  
  • At Capitol Lake (north section) I had 50 more DUNLIN swarming about near the parking area off 5th Street.  
  • Across the lake was another swarm of 60 DUNLIN, eventually they landed on some rocks near the railroad tracks.  
  • When I looked up I was treated to a flyover of a nice adult PEREGRINE FALCON.  Both the falcon and Dunlin can be hard to see in downtown Olympia, more so with the Dunlin.  
  • Also counted 170 pigeons above Bayview Thriftway just for the hell of it, they were lined up so nicely on the wires and I needed to practice for the X-Mas count!
Jason Paulios     Jpaulios@earthlink.net     Olympia, WA

12/10/03
Okanagan Valley (BC) Rare Bird Alert (250-491-7738)
(highly edited)

December 10
  • In Kelowna, 6 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were reported along the Kelowna waterfront, at both the Maude Roxby Bird Sanctuary and Rotary Marsh (HV).
  • Three AMERICAN DIPPERS were counted along Mission Creek in Kelowna, between Gordon Road and Casorso Road (HV).
  • At the McCulloch Cross Country Ski area, SE. of Kelowna, 3 THREE-TOED WOODPECKERS were seen foraging in the woods near the main cabin (DW). 
    • 4 LYNX were noted by observers while skiing the trails (DW,m.ob).
December 7
  • The GYRFALCON was again seen at the Marshall's Feedlot along the W. side of Hwy 97, at McCurdy Road in Kelowna (HV).
November 30
  • A GREAT GRAY OWL was seen at the McCulloch Cross Country Ski Trails near Kelowna (fide DW).
  • A GREAT GRAY OWL was also seen W. of Penticton near the Nickleplate Cross Country Ski Trails (fide LR).
Chris Charlesworth      c_charlesworth23@hotmail.com

12/11/03
RBA: Portland, OR 12-11-03
(highly edited)
  • Up to 13 TRUMPETER SWANS are now on Sauvie Island.
  • On December 7, 144 GREAT EGRETS were in Scappoose Bottoms.
  • 30 CANVASBACK and over 200 RING-NECKED DUCKS are at the Fernhill wetlands.
Harry Nehls      hnehls@teleport.com


1/12/03
Samish Gyr

I spent most of the day up on the Samish Flats and finished up down at the Skagit/Fir Island.
  • Coming up along the Chuckanut Drive road there were several fields with TRUMPETER SWANS in them, and one had a few TUNDRA SWANS in the group.
  • There were loads of RED-TAILED HAWKS around, including a couple of really dark morphs - I probably saw close to thirty birds yesterday.
  • Also present were a couple of ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS including one completely dark morph. This bird was an extremely dark brown (almost black), but confirmed it's identity when it flew showing the characteristic underwing and tail patterns. It was hanging out most of the morning just to the north of the east 90 (Bayview Edison Rd) perched on one of the telephone poles.
  • Also present was a dark morph HARLAN'S RED-TAILED HAWK. Part of the time it was just east of the T of Bayfview Edison Rd and Samish Island Rd. and part of the time in the grove near the intersection of Bayview Edison and Sullivan Rds.
  • In the same vicinity was a PEREGRINE FALCON perched on one of the power poles - it's position was such that you have to find just the right angle to get a good view - but it was a pretty bird.
  • Out at the WDFW lot at the West 90 there was lots of activity with at least 5 NORTHERN HARRIERS visible. There was one male, a couple of females and the rest either females or immatures including one of Jack Bettesworth's wing tagged birds.
  • A SHORT-EARED OWL was also coursing over the fields.
  • The highlight of the day was the juvenile grey-morph GYRFALCON. It was perched on a pole south of the lot at a distance of about 200 yards, but facing the lot and gave a large chesty appearance with a heavily streaked breast. I walked part of the way out toward the bird and got to within about 75 yards of it. Very nice looking bird through the scope, with heavy dark brown vertical streaks on the breast and belly, lightish head with a somewhat pale supercilium and faint darker eyeline and darkish moustachial mark. A brief glimpse was had of the banded tail, but the shorter primaries than the tail were prominent.
  • Around 30 BALD EAGLES, mostly adults were seen during the day.
  • Later in the day, there was another PEREGRINE FALCON along the portion of Bayview Edison Rd north of SR20 and before the ninety degree turn to the east.
  • Further south, a female AMERICAN KESTREL was perched alongside Dodge Valley Rd as it begins it's turn around the hill (DeLorme p. 95, AB5).
  • On Fir Island a couple of red-tails were seen.
  • Several large flights of SNOW GEESE heading east off of Skagit Bay and then turning slightly to the northeast (toward Mt Vernon, not Fir Island).
  • A while later, south of Stanwood there were large numbers of SNOW GEESE in the field south of Boe Rd (with several hunters sitting in empty fields north of the road).
Brian H. Bell     Woodinville WA     bellasoc@isomedia.com


12/13/03
Ocean Shores area

We located the 2 Pink-footed Geese during our brief visit to the large,open fields at the south end of "K" Street in Hoquiam at 11:30am that were again observed with 2 Greater White-fronted Geese,as in past visits.
Hoquiam STP highlights
  • 78 Canvasback, 1 male Redhead, 10 Hooded Merganser, 8 Ruddy Duck
  • 2 Rough-legged Hawk
A single Greater Yellowlegs was observed along S.R.109 at MP 7.5 in a flooded cow pasture near Grays Gables, then an extensive check along Burrows Road produced a fairly large shorebird flock at the mouth of the Humptulips River that contained 54 Black-bellied Plovers and 500+ Dunlin,as they frantically looked for any available land due to high water conditions.

We arrived at Ocean Shores at 12:30pm, where we remained until 3pm
The Ocean Shores Jetty was fairly productive, despite increasing windy conditions during our visit
  • Up to 10+ dark-morph Northern Fulmars flying 20-25 yards offshore along with a single Short-tailed Shearwater, and 7+ Black-legged Kittiwakes. 
  • We were only able to locate 1 Rock Sandpiper (of the dominant race) that was noted amongst a flock of 32 Black Turnstones resting atop the jetty immediately south of the main parking lot.
  • Red-throated Loon
  • Greater White-fronted Goose at the Ocean Shores STP
  • 15 "Dusky"Canada Goose at the Ocean Shores Golf Course(with a single "Aleutian" Canada Goose)
  • 1 pair Eurasian Wigeon at Lake Minard 
  • 3 Eared Grebe at Lake Minard (observed behind the large cement water tower along Marine View Drive north of the Oyhut Wildlife Area)
  • 14 Hooded Merganser at Lake Minard 
  • 1 adult Peregrine Falcon at the Ocean Shores STP; 1 at Damon Point
  • 32 Black Turnstone at the Ocean Shores Jetty; 5 at the Oyhut Wildlife Area (accessed behind the Ocean Shores STP)
  • 6 Herring Gull at Damon Point
  • 1 pair Anna's Hummingbird near Bill's Spit
  • 35 Bushtit near Bill's Spit
  • 15 Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler near Bill's Spit (with additional small numbers noted at other Ocean Shores locations)
Oyhut Wildlife Area
  • 14 Black Scoter
  • 18 Sanderling, 60+ Western Sandpiper, 35+ Least Sandpiper
  • 850+ Dunlin; 50 at Damon Point
  • 3 Black-legged Kittiwake (including one bird flying at close range with red fishing line tangled in it's foot); 7+ off the Ocean Shores Jetty
On route to Hoquiam this morning we observed the following species:
  •  80+ swan species along Hwy.12 east of Satsop
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     godwit@worldnet.att.net


12/14/03
Strait of Juan de Fuca

Returned late last eve from Graysmarsh, and although that was not so eventful for rarities, the 4th annual Port Angeles-to-Victoria ferry CBC, held on Sunday, December 14th, was. 
 
The trend of this run producing hot rarities in December continues: 
  • I had a brief view of a winter-plum. adult RED-FACED CORMORANT about 5-6 miles due south of Victoria (and thus in BC waters), at the edge of a feeding flock of 175-200 Brandt's Cormorants and several hundred gulls in open water. 
Other notable birds from the 40-species list seen on the run:
  • N. Fulmar 6 (2 light, 3 dark morphs, 1 intermediate; most in the middle waters)
  • Red Phalarope 1 (spotted by Ann, middle waters)
  • Ancient Murrelet 8 (down from previous years)
  • Brandt's Cormorant was way up for numbers and there were more divers than usual in Port Angeles harbor.  
  • Thayer's Gull was down some from recent years. 
  • We had a sea-lion, sp., Harbor Seal, and significant counts of Harbor Porpoise, which several times spotted the vessel and made for it, in order to engage in their usual criss-crossing antics just ahead of the fast-moving hull.
Scott Atkinson     Lake Stevens     scottratkinson@hotmail.com


12/15/03
Walla Walla CBC Report
  • Also saw 160 Bohemian Waxwing today at Bennington Lake
Mike & MerryLynn Denny      College Place, WA      509.529.0080 (h)     m.denny@charter.net

12/15/03
Sequim-Dungeness CBC Area 10 (BOAT)

Bruce LaBar, Bill Tweit, Vivian Gross (master scribe!), and myself had a most successful day birding from a sailboat from John Wayne Marina (Sequim Bay) west around Protection Island, then over the rather deep water to the light at Dungeness Spit and back to the harbor.  The numbers of several species out beyond reasonable sight from shore was fairly mind-boggling. 
  • 204 Black Brant,  11 Harlequin Duck
  • 636 Surf Scoter, 61 White-winged Scoter, 4 Black Scoter
  • 990 Long-tailed Duck, 6 Bufflehead, 5 Common Goldeneye, 98 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 3 Red-throated Loon, 203 Pacific Loon, 50 Common Loon, 4 Yellow-billed Loon (1 juv; 2 ad. basic; 1 ad. in partial alternate)
  • 53 Horned Grebe, 88 Red-necked Grebe, 5 Western Grebe
  • 20 Brandt's Cormorant, 5 Double-crested Cormorant, 116 Pelagic Cormorant
  • 1 Bonaparte's Gull, 315 Mew Gull, 2 Thayer's Gull, 8 Herring Gull, 10 Western Gull, 167 Glaucous-winged Gull, 111 Gl.-winged x Western Gull
  • 411 Common Murre, 750 Pigeon Guillemot, 3 Rhinoceros Auklet
  • 21 Marbled Murrelet, 1802 Ancient Murrelet: flocks of 100's in tidal rips near D. Spit.
  • 20+ Harbor Seal
  • 1 Elephant Seal (young male)-Protection Island.
  • 6+ Harbor Porpoise
Charlie Wright       Sumner, WA       charlie@birdwright.com


12/18/03
Skagit Game Range (yesterday) and the Swan Reserve on Francis Rd. in the Skagit today. 
  • At SWA I had probably 10 Lincoln's in the masses of song and fox sparrows within only the first fewhundred yards of the dike trail.  I also had a tan-striped white-throated sparrow in with a few other sparrows.  Also had a very tame barred owl that sat above the trail as I walked by.  
  • At the swan reserve I saw another 10 or so Lincoln's along with the several hundred song sparrows all along the bramble patch that runs north along the slough.  Again, I ran into one white-throated sparrow as well.  Also witnessed a huge RW blackbird flock doing their best impression of a dunlin flock. 
Kurt Ranta     Mt. Vernon, WA     mailto:kckar@earthlink.net

12/19/03
Sayres Park, Seattle
  • They're back. Counted 30+ canvasbacks late this afternoon at Sayres Park, Lake Washington Blvd between 42nd and 46th Ave South.
Catherine Alexander     Lakewood Neighborhood, Seattle     Squeakyfiddle@aol.com


12/20/03
Marsh Island, Seattle

We birded the Marsh Island area (near the History of Museum and Industry in Seattle) this morning, and found three male and two female REDHEADS in the area south of the island partly under the various highway 520 overpasses--the area where HOODED MERGANSERS are usually found (they were present, too).  Also around:  Merlin, female Canvasbacks, and more usual critters.

Alan Grenon     Seattle     panmail@fastmail.fm

12/20/03
Pierce County/Tacoma CBC boat trip; 20 Dec. 2003
 
Bruce LaBar, Faye McAdams, and I counted from a tugboat all through the Gig Harbor and Tacoma areas of the Puget Sound. 
South Puget Sound via boat (8:00am-3:30pm) - 12,816 individuals (several small numbers omitted by Sunny)
  • 210 American Wigeon (210), 45 Northern Pintail
  • 474 Surf Scoter, 32, White-winged Scoter, 12 Black Scoter (12)-Asarco vicinity.
  • 276 Bufflehead, 272 Common Goldeneye, 29 Barrow's Goldeneye
  • 14 Hooded Merganser, 1276 Common Merganser, 288 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 7 Red-throated Loon, 526 Pacific Loon (high count for area), 11 Common Loon
  • 72 Horned Grebe, 352 Red-necked Grebe, 26 Eared Grebe. 1150 Western Grebe, 3 CLARK'S GREBE (scattered throughout WEGR rafts).
  • 470 Brandt's Cormorant (a high count), 1273 Double-crested Cormorant, 319 Pelagic Cormorant
  • 47 Great Blue Heron (47)
  • 9 Bald Eagle (7ad., 2imm.)
  • 488 Bonaparte's Gull (very low numbers), 2235 Mew Gull, 1 Ring-billed Gull, 32 California Gull, 6 Herring Gull, 3 Thayer's Gull, 7 Western Gull, 357 Glaucous-winged Gull, 913 Gl.winged x Western Gull
  • 628 Common Murre, 294 Pigeon Guillemot, 563 Rhinoceros Auklet
  • 50+ Harbor Seal, 10 California Sea-Lion, 6 ORCA (Dalco Passage/Commencement Bay).
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com

12/21/03
2003 Sauvie Island C.B.C.
Below are the combined Oregon/Washington results of the 2003 Sauvie Island C.B.C.

  • 39 Pied-billed Grebe, 13 Horned Grebe,  4 Western Grebe
  • 346 Double-crested Cormorant
  • American Bittern  count week
  • 209 Great Blue Heron, 212 Great Egret, Green Heron  count week
  • 1 Greater White-fronted Goose, 1670 Snow Goose, 32087 Canada Goose
  • 6 Trumpeter Swan, 1546 Tundra Swan, 241 swan species
  • 263 Gadwall,  3572 American Wigeon, 3718 Mallard,  605 Northern Shoveler
  • 7931 Northern Pintail, 8443 Green-winged Teal, Canvasback  count week
  • 363 Ring-necked Duck, 4 Greater Scaup, 264 Lesser Scaup
  • 195 Bufflehead, 25 Hooded Merganser, 107 Common Merganser, 334 Ruddy Duck
  • 35 Bald Eagle, 87 Northern Harrier, 10 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 6 Cooper's Hawk
  • 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 157 Red-tailed Hawk, 12 Rough-legged Hawk
  • 64 American Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 3 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Prairie Falcon
  • 2 California Quail, 5 Virginia Rail, 572 American Coot
  • 2015 Sandhill Crane
  • 61 Killdeer, 45 Least Sandpiper, 20 Wilson's Snipe
  • 46 Mew Gull, 548 Ring-billed Gull, 11 Herring Gull, 5 Western Gull, 60 Glaucous-winged Gull, 4 Glaucous Gull, 3 Hybrid (GWxW), 3646 Gull sp.
  • 64 Rock Pigeon, 124 Mourning Dove
  • 2 Barn Owl, 23 Great Horned Owl, 16 Short-eared Owl, 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl
  • 5 Anna's Hummingbird, 18 Belted Kingfisher
  • 10 Red-breasted Sapsucker, 38 Downy Woodpecker, 110 Northern Flicker, 8 Pileated Woodpecker, 5 Northern Shrike
  • 36 Steller's Jay, 93 Western Scrub Jay, 1150 American Crow
  • 5 Barn Swallow, 217 Black-capped Chickadee, 9 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 145 Bushtit
  • 4 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 15 White-breasted Nuthatch, 14 Brown Creeper  14
  • 62 Bewick's Wren, 23 Winter Wren, 42 Marsh Wren
  • 141 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 308 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • 2 Hermit Thrush, 392 American Robin, 7 Varied Thrush
  • 3876 European Starling
  • 38 American Pipit
  • 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, 25 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 Common Yellowthroat 
  • 117 Spotted Towhee
  • 7 Savannah Sparrow, 42 Fox Sparrow, 759 Song Sparrow, 26 Lincoln's Sparrow, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 2 White-throated Sparrow, 1 Harris' Sparrow, 147 White-crowned Sparrow, 731 Golden-crowned Sparrow, 346 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
  • 812 Red-winged Blackbird, 100 Western  Meadowlark, 626 Brewer's Blackbird, 15 Brown-headed Cowbird, 472 Blackbird sp.
  • 214 House Finch, 48 American Goldfinch, 76 House Sparrow
Wilson Cady     Washougal, Skamania County     gorgebirds@juno.com


12/20/03
TOKELAND

Dennis Duffy and I, deprived of our Port Gardner Bay pelagic, went on a goose chase instead.
  • The PF Geese at the end of K street in Hoquiam were there.
Had the shorebirds racked up at Tokeland.
  • 1000+ Marbled Godwits, but no Huds. And they were even nice enough to hallucinate a falcon and fly around for a bit so we could get a satsifying look. 
  • There were 57 LB Curlews at Graveyard Spit, plus 100 Western Sands or so.
  • The finest bird of the day, in our humble opinions, was an imm gray phase Gyr on a log on the beach between Warrenton Cannery and Midway Beach. It probably explained why the 15000 Dunlin were packed so close together, you could've canned 'em. The Gyr also probably explained the bleeding half-eaten gull nearby.
Steven Mlodinow     Everett WA      SGMlod@aol.com


12/22/03
Juanita Bay Park - 12/22/2003

I birded Juanita Bay Park from 7:30-9:30 this morning and found 46 species of birds including:
  • 1 Northern Shoveler, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Lesser Scaup, ~30 Canvasback, 2 Hooded Mergansers
  • numerous Coots, American Wigeon, Ring-necked and Wood Ducks
  • 15+ Wilson's Snipe - in the mud at the end of the bridge
  • 1 Western Gull - flying around the West Boardwalk, 1 California Gull, 1 Mew Gull
  • 2 Cooper's Hawks
  • 1 Brown Creeper, 2 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS - on the gravel road near the firestation with Song, GC & Fox Sparrows
Ryan Merrill     merrillr@bc.edu

12/1 to 12/23/03
Washington Birdbox Dedember 1 to December 23

12/1
Birding Fir Island today at the Game Refuge on the Dike Trail
I had a number of AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS and a couple of WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. Also had a juvenile and an adult NORTHERN SHRIKE, a PEREGRINE FALCON and a SHORT-EARED OWL.

12/2
The SAY'S PHOEBE that's been present north of Silverdale at the Clear Creek Trails was again seen today.

12/5
Port Townsend in Jefferson County.
Near the Boat Haven wescrambled out on the marina rock jetty and observed 4 ROCK SANDPIPERS and
one RUDDY TURNSTONE along with 4 SURFBIRDS mixed in with a large flock of BLACK TURNSTONES. They were on the old wood dock structure in the water that's just beyond the jetty.

12/6
Dennis Duffy and I had 3 WESTERN BLUEBIRDS along Schmuck Road near Sequim.
We also had 5 MARBLED GODWITS at the Oyster House Viewpoint near Dungeness Spit.

12/15
West Seattle at Lincoln Park
We had a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE. The bird was in a madrone about a hundred yards north of the
restrooms that are down on the water.

12/17
The juvenile GYRFALCON is still in the area of the Sammish T west 90.
Also about 4 HARLAN'S HAWKS in the Sammish Flats.
At the Fir Island Game Range, there were 4 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS and a SWAMP SPARROW, all within a couple hundred yards of the parking lot. West of the parking lot in the wet fields.

Bob Norton     Joyce (near Port Angeles), WA     norton36@olypen.com

12/23/03
RBA: Portland, OR 12-24-03

12/21
TREE SPARROW was north of Bandon on the North Spit of the Coquille River.

12/17
BREWER’ SPARROW and a BLACK PHOEBE were along Fiddle Creek Road on the east side of Siltcoos Lake. A BLACK PHOEBE and over 20 KITES were seen on the December 20 Tillamook Christmas Count.

12/21
YELLOW-BILLED LOON was off Cape Meares. A flock of 25 COMMON REDPOLLS and two BLUE-WINGED TEAL were seen on the December 21 Columbia Estuary Count.

12/17
6 BARN SWALLOWS were at Ridgefield NWR.

12/21
BLUE-WINGED TEAL was at Burlington Bottoms near the Sauvie Island Bridge, a PRAIRIE
FALCON was on the east side of the Island along Rentenaar Road, and 12 SHORT-EARED
OWLS and four ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were in Scappoose Bottoms.

12/20
MACGILLIVRAY’S WARBLER was at Jackson Bottom in Hillsboro.

12/21
A juvenile gray phase GYRFALCON has been at Baskett Slough NWR since December 21.

12/20
A ROSS’S GOOSE was in SE Salem and two HARRIS’S SPARROWS and a SWAMP SPARROW were in Minto-Brown Park

12/21: Ankeny NWR
6 CINNAMON TEAL and five EURASIAN WIGEON

12/22
A SAY’S PHOEBE was near Harrisburg.

12/20
SAGE THRASHER and 24 KITES were at Fern Ridge Reservoir.

12/22
22 ten BARN SWALLOWS and a probable VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW were there.

12/23
GREATER SCAUP and a MACGILLIVRAY’S WARBLER were at Grants Pass.

12/21
TREE SWALLOW was at Cave Junction1.

Harry Nehls     hnehls@teleport.com


12/24/03
Seattle Birding

Golden Gardens Park in Seattle (Ballard)
  • There's been at least one EURASIAN WIGEON in the flock of Americans for about a month.
  • Nothing exotic in the pond -- three female BUCEPHELIDS, (sp?? Common and Barrows Goldeneye and Bufflehead) one of each, and a pair of NORTHERN SHOVELERS.
  • CACKLING CANADA GOOSE on the lawn
  • The highlights were a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS near pier J in the marina and two COMMON LOONS right off the main parking lot , 30 feet from the car.
The locks were interesting but fairly ordinary
  • 10 or so GREAT BLUE HERONS, 14 DC CORMORANTS in the large lock alone, (The locks are a great place to watch them fish!) 
  • Three COMMON GOLDENEYES and six BARROW'S GOLDENEYES, Five COMMON MERGANSERS. 
  • The Bald Eagle pair weren't there today but they're in the Lawtonwood lookout tree a lot. 
  • Lots of little guys, BUSHTITS, JUNCOS, there are several WINTER WREN territories,  male ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS are often fighting it out in the Ballard entrance area, sometimes three at a time. I saw them diving at ROBINS, FLICKERS, and even a GB HERON.
  • The most interesting birds there this morning were a handful of SPOTTED TOWHEES showing off nicely.  They're such pretty little guys.
Cliff Drake     Ballard,  Seattle WA     cliff@cliffdrake.net

12/25/03
Nisqually Area (highlights only)
 
Today my mother and I spent a few hours checking areas surrounding the Nisqually NWR in northern Thurston Co. between 11am-2pm.  A list of our most noteworthy sightings follows below:
 
Luhr Beach
  • 8 Red-throated Loon
  • 11 Eared Grebe
  • 6 "Black" Brant
  • 3 California Sea Lions off the Nisqually Reach (observed from Luhr Beach)
Nisqually NWR
  • 2 Ross' Goose amongst good numbers of "Cackling"Canada Geese off McAllister Creek trail
  • 3 male Eurasian Wigeon
  • 12 Ring-necked Duck
  • 60+ Dunlin along the Nisqually Cut-off Rd.
  • 7 Wilson's Snipe
  • 58+ Am.Pipit along the Nisqually Cut-off Rd.
  • 35 Western Meadowlark along the Nisqually Cut-off Rd.
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     godwit@worldnet.att.net


12/26/03
Renton to Nisqually

Cameron Cox and I birded all day in the south Puget Sound area.  It was a quite enjoyable day, plenty of birds all over the place.

Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park, Renton (8:30-9:20):
  • 2 Canvasback, 10 Ring-necked Duck, 12 Greater Scaup, 200 Lesser Scaup
  • 1 Ring-necked Duck x Scaup hybrid (m), 20 Common Merganser
  • 3 Pied-billed Grebe, 8 Horned Grebe, 1 Red-necked Grebe-not common in Lk Wash, 4 Eared Grebe
  • 35 Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, 2 Thayer's Gull , 4 Western Gull, 300 Glaucous-winged Gull, 200 Gl-winged x Western, 1 possible Gl-winged x Herring
  • 1 Anna's Hummingbird (m), 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cedar River estuary (9:30-9:45):
  • 1 Hooded Merganser (m)
  • 2 Eared Grebe, 500 Western Grebe
  • 2 California Gull, 10 Herring Gull, 3 Thayer's Gull, 1 Western Gull, 1 apparent Gl-winged x Glaucous Gull
Nisqually NWR, Thurston County (10:00am-2:00pm):
  • 2 ROSS'S GOOSE, 900 Canada Goose (Cackling)
  • 3 Eurasian Wigeon (m), 12 Ring-necked Duck
  • 2 Bald Eagle, 8 Northern Harrier, 14 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 HARLAN'S HAWK, 1 Rough-legged Hawk
  • 2 Virginia Rail, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 10 Dunlin, 5 Long-billed Dowitcher, 7 Wilson's Snipe
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker
  • 2 BARN SWALLOW (m)
  • 35 Marsh Wren , 2 American Pipit, 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
  • 2 Fox Sparrow, 50 Song Sparrow (1 partial albino bird, with mostly white head), 9 Lincoln's Sparrow
  • 1 SWAMP SPARROW -nicely viewed in marsh behind visitor's center, responded well to pishing
  • 40 White-crowned Sparrow, 40 Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • 10 Western Meadowlark, 2 Purple Finch
Gog-le-hi-ti vicinity, Tacoma (2:30-3:00):
  • 4 Mew Gull, 10 Ring-billed Gull, 22 Herring Gull, 400 Thayer's Gull (no juveniles), 12 Western Gull
Marine View Drive logbooms (3:10-3:20):
  • 5 Surf Scoter, 10 Common Goldeneye, 30 Barrow's Goldeneye, 120 Common Merganser
  • 160+ Brandt's Cormorant
  • 500 Mew Gull, 15 California Gull, 3 Herring Gull
  • 8 Pigeon Guillemot
Brown's Point, Pierce County (3:30-3:50):
  • 10 Surf Scoter, 10 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 1 Red-throated Loon
  • 15 Common Murre, 10 Pigeon Guillemot, 6 Marbled Murrelet, 20 Rhinoceros Auklet
Dash Point Fishing Pier (4:00-4:20):
  • 15 Surf Scoter, 6 White-winged Scoter, 1 Black Scoter (m)
  • 30 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 13 Red-throated Loon, 1 Pacific Loon
  • 35 Red-necked Grebe, 1 probable Clark's x Western Grebe hybrid (1)
  • 20 Brandt's Cormorant, 1 Pelagic Cormorant
  • 6 Common Murre, 1 Pigeon Guillemot, 2 Marbled Murrelet, 15 Rhinoceros Auklet
Saltwater State Park, Des Moines (4:40-4:50):
  • 25 White-winged Scoter, 60 Surf Scoter
  • 1 Common Loon, 1 Eared Grebe
  • 1 Anna's Hummingbird
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com


12/26/03
Samish

My son and I birded the Samish and Skagit flats.
We saw large numbers of previously reported raptors, but no gyrfalcon. Highlight of the trip was a tossup. 
  • Golden sunset skirmishes between and among at least ten northern harriers and ten short eared owls at the Samish Unit of the WDFW parking lot. This is located at the "West 90" (where the east-west Samish Island Road makes a right angle turn to the north). 
  • Also at sunset, a long-eared owl (from the car window at 15ft!) perched on a roadside metal fence post about two hundred yards west of the Samish T (the junction of Bayview-Edison and Samish Island Roads). 
Dave Parent     Freeland WA     dpdvm@whidbey.com


12/28/03
Grays Harbor

Jay Withgott, Susan Masta, Netta Smith and I visited Grays Harbor today to see the Pink-footed Geese, which we did easily at Goose Heaven at the end of K Street in Hoquiam. A dog chased them all up, so we got to see the Pink-foots flying with the two Greater White-fronts. There were three subspecies of Canada Geese present, also (Dusky, Lesser, and Great Basin).

Other than the geese, our best bird of the day was a Gyrfalcon at Midway Beach. Much of the area behind the beach was flooded, quite a wetland but with nothing in it. The beach had large flocks of Sanderlings and Dunlins.

At Bottle Beach there were more Sanderlings and Dunlins and Black-bellied Plovers on the sand flats, and in the freshwater marshland on Ocosta Third Street, there were 8 Greater Yellowlegs, 5 Black-bellies, 5 Long-billed Dowitchers, 5 Killdeers, and a snipe.

Our best shorebirding was at the Westport Marina, where we found a flock of rock shorebirds on the rocks below the fishing pier (the place you walk to across a bridge). There were at least 80 Surfbirds, 15 or so Black Turnstones, and exactly 16 Rock Sandpipers. We were a bit surprised that the Black Turnstones tended to stay separate from the sandpipers and Surfbirds and also noted how orange the legs of some of the turnstones were, easily as bright as the dullest juvenile Ruddies.

The other shorebird spot was Tokeland, where we watched the usual suspects. There were about a dozen Long-billed Dowitchers there, too, along with all the Marbled Godwits, Willets, Dunlins, and a Whimbrel. I estimated no more than 500 Marbled Godwits, so I guess the much larger numbers that have been reported by others weren't present. We saw no Long-billed Curlews either. A Bald Eagle scared all the birds up, and it was a spectacular sight to see the godwits wheeling around for several minutes. A Merlin had scared up the rock shorebirds at Westport earlier, and again today I realized how often these birds are scared up by their predators, making me a little less guilty feeling when I scare them myself.

I was much impressed as always by how dead Grays Harbor is in the winter in comparison with spring to fall. Our seabird list in the harbor included a few Common Loons, quite a few Western Grebes and Surf Scoters, a few Pelagic and one Double-crested Cormorant, a Red-necked Grebe and a few Western and Mew Gulls. We looked long and hard for more, but on some scans with the scope I saw scarcely a bird.

A big herd of elk at the Johns River added to the day's enjoyment.

Dennis Paulson     Netta Smith <nettasmith@comcast.net>


12/29/03
A four (4) Falcon day

I had a four falcon day birding in Thurston, Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. 
  • My first falcon, American Kestrel, was near Rochester on Hwy 12 near Gate. 
  • I then saw a Merlin on Foster Road, in the Brady Loop vicinity and later another Merlin in Tokeland.
  • An awesome looking Peregrine Falcon was on a power pole crossing the bridge near Bay City
  • The fourth and final falcon was the Gyrfalcon on Midway beach just as Dennis Paulson described it so eloquently in his post yesterday. I observed the Gyrfalcon sitting on a log on the north side of Midway Beach road.  It was oblivious to everything around it.  I watched it for about 20 minutes. 
Larry Heinz     Rochester, WA     RochWarrBB@aol.com

12/26-28/03
Olympic Coast

Karen and I took three days on the Olympic Peninsula; snowy weather to the north limited our visit to the coastal area from the Quinault rain forest to Ruby Beach, but we found plenty to see.
  • The Quinault River was hosting a major salmon run; in one spot we counted over 20 salmon resting in a cluster along the bank, with an American Dipper exploring the shallows nearby.  With all the salmon, there were numerous Bald Eagles; in fact, from one viewpoint along the road on the north side of the Quinault, we counted 12 eagles at once.  We wondered just how many eagles could be along the river and if they have ever been seriously counted as they are along the Skagit.  The river passes through NPS, USFS, and tribal lands, so it struck me that a coordinated yearly count may not be done.
  • From an overlook along Route 101 just south of Ruby Beach, we counted four Sea Otters diving and feeding in the surf.  We had previously observed Sea Otters at Point of Arches and the Ozette loop. 
  • At Fourth Beach, the rocks and sea stacks at the point are a reliable place to see Black Oystercatchers, and we saw four.  We also reliably see a large group of Surfbirds feeding at low tide on these rocks; this time we were able to observe and photograph them from about 15 feet away.  We also watched a determined Western Gull feeding on California Mussels as the tide was coming in.  The bird clung to the side of a low rock, pecking at the mussels and occasionally coming up with one; whenever a wave crashed over the rock, the gull would fly up just above the spray and would then float back down to the rock--usually, but not always, safe from a drenching. 
  • Bald Eagles sailed over Fourth Beach; Double-crested Cormorants and Surf Scoters dove just offshore.  In our Kalaloch Beach campsite, a pair of Winter Wrens, a Spotted Towhee, and Hermit Thrushes explored nearby.  Crows and jays hung around, hoping to dash to our picnic table during an unprotected moment.
  • On the trip home we saw four swans a-flying near Elma.
Lee Rentz     Shelton, WA     lee@leerentz.com


12/30/03
Montlake Fill thoughts

The Fill was cold and windy. Shoveler Pond was completely iced over, as was a quarter of the main pond. This happy event seemed to concentrate vast hordes of ducks on Union Bay. The spot of the day had to be a tossup between four gloriously lit-up REDHEAD ducks close in to shore and three WILSON'S SNIPES flying straight past my head against a postcard-blue sky with Mt. Rainier in the background. Or maybe I'd have to say an even better spot was the dozen COMMON MERGANSERS in full breeding plumage. Or perhaps it was the YELLOW-SHAFTED NORTHERN FLICKER feeding on the ground at the main pond and letting me approach to within a couple of feet. Or maybe the COOPER'S HAWK dive-bombing a flock of starlings like a Japanese kite-fighter attacking lesser kites. Or perhaps the two RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS arguing with each other by showing off their ruby crowns, to such an extent that it looked like their entire pates were flaming red. I've never seen so much of their ruby crowns before.

Connie Sidles     Seattle     csidles@isomedia.com


12/28-30/03
Bridgeport-Mansfield Area

I just returned from a great extended weekend searching for winter nomadic species in the Bridgeport area and had a few sightings I thought others might be interested in. 
  • On the morning of December 28 at first light, I had about 60 common REDPOLLS feeding on water birch trees about half way up Bridgeport Hill Road (no sharp-tailed grouse).  Up on the plateau I encountered patchy thick fog (and 4-6" snow) over much of the area.  The fog was particularly thick in the area south and east of Mansfield (Atkins Lake area).  
  • A pair of tree sparrows were in the pine grove west of Lamoine on highway 172 and another was found in the thicket just south of 172 along Heritage (Woods) Road east of Mansfield (the comparison between the road signs in this area and the DeLorme Atlas is really messy!!).  
  • I encountered several flocks of horned larks but no snow buntings until I found one SNOW BUNTING in a large flock of horned larks (mostly the pale arctic subspecies) late in the day just west of Heritage Road along 172.  
  • There was also a flock of 15 REDPOLLS feeding on weed seeds in this same area along Mansfield Road just north of 172. 
  •  In my travels on the plateau I also encountered seven NORTHERN SHRIKES, one PRAIRIE FALCON and only one ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.   
  • The next morning (12/29) I again searched Bridgeport Hill Road, no redpolls this time but I was rewarded with my first Washington SHARP-TAILED GROUSE feeding on birch buds in the same thicket where I saw the redpolls the day before. 
  •  Just before dropping down into Central Ferry Canyon I encountered three SNOW BUNTINGS feeding on mullein stalks along the road.  
  • As I passed the Brewster Bridge (Highway 173) an adult GOSHAWK flew over the road and I encountered a flock of 150 or so BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS sunning in a cottonwood along Moe Road on the Bridgeport Bar.  
  • Found another 100 or so BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS feeding on some fruiting trees down in a draw about half way up the hill on Cameron Lake Road and near the top I was inundated by a swirling flock of 700+ SNOW BUNTINGS while watching a small flock of horned larks.  
  • There was another small flock of 10 SNOW BUNTINGS along the first mile of Timentwa Road and a flock of 20 or so RED CROSSBILLS feeding in a Ponderosa as I passed through the pines on the way down to Okanogan.  
  • Stopped by Daroga State Park and found the BLACK & WHITE WARBLER as mentioned earlier by Phil Mattocks.  
  • On my way home yesterday (12/30) I noticed a flock of dark colored birds off to the west of highway 97 just over the hill from Toppenish Refuge (at the intersection of Oak Springs Road).  These turned out to be a huge flock of 600 + GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES feeding and swirling along the hillside. 
  • Just past Lyle along the lower east end of Old Highway No. 8 there was a large flock of 60+ LESSER GOLDFINCHES feeding in the weedy area west of the road.  
Temps were in the low teens at night and mid twenties during the day, excellent winter birding weather (except the fog on Waterville Plateau!).  The roads were mostly snow covered and good tires and four-wheel drive are definite assets!

Gary Fredricks     Washougal     fredricks@worldaccessnet.com


12/31/03
Washington BirdBox

This is Tom Aversa reporting on a trip today to the Sammish Flats.
  • The juvenile GYRFALCON is at the west 90 still. 
  • A flock of about 125 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH flew in and landed in a bush up there. 
  • There were good numbers of waterfowl, possibly newly arriving birds even, about 10,000 DABBLING DUCKS in the area, at least 7,000 AMERICAN WIGEON and a high concentration of EURASIANS up near Sammish Island in the fields. At least 45 males - probably quite a few more than that.
Friday, 1-2-04, 10:40 AM Hi.  I birded from Point No Point to Port Townsend. The main highlight were two YELLLOW-BILLED LOONS. These were on the south side of the Hood Canal Bridge on the west side of
the Hood Canal.

Bob Norton     Joyce (near Port Angeles), WA     norton36@olypen.com

12/28-31/03
RBA Vancouver, BC
  • Another SHORT-EARED OWL was observed near the mouth of the Serpentine River.
  • Also at this location were the 3 AMERICAN AVOCETS.
  • At Boundary Bay between the Mansion & 88th was a GYRFALCON.
  • The GREAT GRAY OWL was seen in Jericho Park about 500 meters west of the pond area on the south trail and also near the youth hostel, where it was being harassed by crows.
  • Two BLUEBIRDS, probably MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were seen in Port Coquitlam between Peace Park and the dyke marker at kilometre 11.
  • The VIRGINIA RAIL was observed under the stone bridge at Lost lagoon in Stanley Park.
  • A BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER and 2 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS were seen in Vancouver's
  • Stanley Park at the Prospect Point picnic area, on the north side in deciduous trees.
  • There were 110 LAPLAND LONGSPURS in a field between 104th and 112th Streets in Delta. Also in Delta, the gray morph immature GYRFALCON was at the foot of 88th Street.
  • The TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE that was seen during the White Rock/Surrey Christmas Bird Count was relocated at the 14900 block of 24A Avenue in South Surrey.
For further information on birding in the Vancouver area, log onto the Vancouver Natural History Society's web site at:  http://www.naturalhistory.bc.ca/VNHS/


Late fall/winter 2003 turkey vulture report

I was hoping some of these handsome birds would show up on Washington Christmas Counts, but I guess it was not to be. They stayed on Vancouver Island, loathe to cross the strait at so late a date. :-)   Following are
the few reports from November and December 2003 (singles deleted by Sunny):

26 Nov -- 9 south of Fern Ridge, Oregon
30 Nov -- 2 on Lopez Island; 1 in North Saanich, B.C.
16 Dec -- 11 at the south end of Fern Ridge Reservoir, Oregon
26 Dec -- 3 over the fields in Central Saanich, B.C.
27 Dec -- 2 at Weirs Beach near William Head, B.C. (Sooke CBC)

Diann MacRae     tvulture@vei.net

12/30-31/03
SW Washington

We did the Brady Loop for the first time (nice having birding guides with maps to describe locations) and had a good representation of raptors: MERLIN, PEREGRINE FALCON, BALD EAGLE, N ROUGH-LEGGED & RED-TAILED HAWK, and N HARRIER, plus AM PIPIT, W SCRUB-JAY, BB PLOVER, loads of MOURNING DOVES, and a flock of 40 W MEADOWLARKS among others.
There was 2-4 inches of snow covering fields, and most of the water was frozen.
 
Hoquiam was the next destination.  Denny Grandstrand arrived ahead of us at the end of K Street, had already found the PINK-FOOTED GEESE, and even held the umbrella over his scope as Elaine and I viewed the geese without getting wet before they wandered out of view.   There was at least one GR WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE there as well.
 
On to Ocean Shores (there was snow there as well), where the setting sun was covered by clouds at the jetty.  Denny was there also, and we saw SURFBIRD, BLACK TURNSTONE, and ROCK SANDPIPER. 
 
Wednesday morning was much calmer, but no shearwaters visible from the jetty.  I did see a couple of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES in the distance.  The ROCK SANDPIPERS and BLACK TURNSTONES that had huddled in a roost behind a rock on the beach scattered when I approached.  At the WTP a lone GR WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was present.  All three scoters were together on the bay, and lots of DUNLIN, SANDERLINGS, and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS worked the edge of the out-going tide.
 
Randy Hill     Othello     hill@cbnn.net


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