Sunny Walter's
Washington Nature Weekends

Tweeters Bird Sightings - November

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:
November
11/1/03
Tokeland

Continuing on towards Tokeland at MP 9.1 along S.R.105 we made an extensive visit from a pull-off and scoped the vast,extensive exposed mudflats of Willapa Bay and the mouth of the North River during outgoing tide, which was active with waterfowl and shorebirds. Our main efforts were shorebirds,as we encountered our first large flocks of Marbled Godwits along with large numbers of Dunlin and other shorebirds that were actively feeding along good numbers of Am.Wigeon, Northern Pintails and Green-winged Teal. At this location we highlight numbers and species included the following:
  • 3 Eurasian Wigeon, 35 Bufflehead, 6 Red-breasted Mergansers
  • 43+ Black-bellied Plovers, 17 Greater Yellowlegs, 450+ Marbled Godwits, 22 Western Sandpipers, 3,200+ Dunlin, 5 Long-billed Dowitchers
6 Trumpeter Swans were observed along the Cedar River along MP16 north of S.R.105 to and from Tokeland.

A list of additional notable highlightsnoted from multiple locations at Tokeland include the following:
  • 1 Red-throated Loon, 5 Red-necked Grebes
  • 1 Short-tailed Shearwater(observed from Toke Point near the Tokeland Marina in Willapa Bay at 2:20pm)
  • 17 Red-breasted Mergansers
  • 3 Northern Harriers, 1 Peregrine Falcon
  • 4 Black-bellied Plovers, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, 13 Willets
  • 2 Whimbrel, 13 Long-billed Curlews, 125+ Marbled Godwits
  • 7 Sanderlings, 45 Dunlin, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers
  • 1 Red Phalarope (observed from Toke Point bordering Willapa Bay near the Tokeland Marina at 2:15pm,then presumably the same bird observed within the sheltered waters with the Tokeland Marina at 4pm)
  • 1 Bonaparte's Gull, 8 Caspian Terns
  • 1 adult Northern Shrike
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan      godwit@worldnet.att.net      Tacoma

11/1/03
Columbian Basin Report

Spokane Audubon field trip to the Columbian Basin. Temperatures ranged from the teens to near 40 degrees
with a thin overcast.  Despite the cold weather, most of the lakes were free of ice.

Some of our trip highlights included
  • Tundra Swans on Reardan Marsh, Brook's Lake, and Lake Lenore;
  • Winter Wren in Davenport Cemetery,
  • four Northern Shrikes scattered along the route in both Lincoln & Grant Counties;
  • Peregrine Falcon west of Wilson Creek;
  • Merlin in Soap Lake;
  • classic looking light phase Rough-Legged Hawk west of Odessa;
  • Dunlin around Soap Lake (East Beach) & along Lake Lenore;
  • Long-Billed Dowitchers along Lake Lenore;
  • Barrow's Goldeneye on Lake Lenore & the marina in Coulee City;
  • Eared & Horned Grebes on Soap Lake & Coulee City;
  • Canyon Wren worked the basaltic roadside cliffs north of Soap Lake;
  • Bald Eagle & Bonaparte's Gulls on Sun Lake;
  • SNOW BUNTINGS on the grassy plateau on Hwy 28 south of Harrington;
  • 3 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS on Sun Lake before you reach the campground;
  • 2 AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS on Dry Falls Lake.
  • Good numbers of American Kestrel and Red-Tailed Hawk were noted too.
The only mammal sighting of the day was a rather remarkable one. As we were watching the Bald Eagle perched a on butte across Sun Lake, a BOBCAT strolled out of the Water Birches and crossed the road.

Gina Sheridan     Spokane, WA


11/2/03

Skagit/Samish
Today I lead a Seattle Audubon field trip up to the Skagit/Samish area and we had a great day! We found 70 species in all. Highlights were:
  • Great Egret- Fir Island
    Large flock of Snow Geese- Jensen Access, 8 Trumpeter Swans - Fir Island
    13 Long-tailed Ducks- Samish Island State Park
    1 Rough-legged Hawks- Dry Slough road, 3 Rough-legged Hawks- West90, ALSO 2 more Dark Morph Rough-legged Hawks- West90, American Kestrel- Dry Slough Rd
    1 Barn Owl (roosting)- West90
    1 Northern Shrike (juv)- Fir Island, 1 Northern Shrike (juv)- Base of Samish Is.
    12 American Pipits- Fir Is., 1 Vesper Sparrow- Fir Is.
    4+ Purple finches- Padilla Bay and Game HQ, 1 Male Cassin's Finch- Game HQ
Colin Thoreen     teenbirder@hotmail.com
11/2/03
Whidbey Island and a little bit of the Samish flats.
The snow stopped and by 10:30 the sun was shining and would remain so the rest of the day.
Highlights included
  • Crockett Lake -- Lapaland Longspur as well as a few Least Sandpipers with a large flock of Dunlin and Western Sandpipers.
  • south side of Penn Cove -- a single Black Turnstone along with huge numbers of mostly Surf Scoters but several White-winged as well. There were probably 1500 or so Western Grebes right in the middle of the cove, but this figure could be off.  The raft was awfully large.
  • Norman Rd. near Silvana -- one Cattle Egret 
Michael Dossett     Bothell, WA     Phainopepla@yahoo.com

11/02/03)
Snohomish and Skagit counties.
  • On Norman Road near Silvana we saw our first TRUMPETER SWANS of the season. We stopped to view 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and Marcia spied a MERLIN perched at treetop as usual. Up the road was a single CATTLE EGRET.
  • On to Boe Road, where we stumbled onto an AMERICAN KESTRAL and at the end of Boe Road was a tan striped WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. This was in the brambles at the entrance to The Nature Conservancy Port Susan Preserve.
  • We headed for Stanwood and noticed a flooded field just before we got to town. A young PEREGRINE FALCON put on quite a show of stooping and strafing. Each pass came up empty as it worked the gulls, ducks and shorebirds, all in good supply. The BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were quickly chased away not to return during our 30 minute visit at this location.  Marcia noticed an unusual plover that turned out to be an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER.
  • At Jensen Access in Skagit County was a beautiful juvenile NORTHERN SHRIKE. The rich brown of the bird was accentuated by the low light. We ended our day with a SHORT-EARED OWL at the end of Rawlins Road.
Marv Breece     Seattle, WA

11/3/03
TRUMPETER SWANS IN THE FRASER DELTA

Trumpeter Swans are arriving in the Fraser Delta as well, although most of them do not seem to be here yet. My sightings so far this fall have been:
  • October 29-- 2 at Brunswick Point, S of Westham I. (my first of the fall)
  • October 30-- 4 at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, Delta
  • November 2-- 12 (10 ad., 2 imm.) in a field near Highway 10 and 112th Street in Delta (near where a flock of 100 or so spent most of last winter). Later in the day, 15 were seen on the Boundary Bay shoreline from the foot of 104th Street.
  • November 3-- Total of 23 seen from the Roberts Bank dyke at the foot of 34th Street in Delta (just N of the coal port jetty and south of Brunswick Point)-- 11 on the water, and another flock of 12 flying southward overhead.
Wayne C. Weber     Delta, BC     contopus@telus.net

11/4/03
Luhr Beach and Capitol Lake

I started at Luhr Beach where the tide was out.
  • Thousands of A. WIGEON and at least 1,000 DUNLIN working the edge of the Nisqually reach.
  • My first Goldeneye of the fall with 3 male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE swimming right past the boat launch and about 15 COMMON GOLDENEYE around the oyster bed (?) area. They, and a few SURF SCOTER, were doing the pull-the-head-back-with-beak-in-the-air move to one another...not sure if this is related to breeding at all.
  • 4 R/T LOON (possible BRANT) way out past the reach (bad lighting and heatwaves), 8 R/B Merganser 1 Hooded Merganser, 1 Varied Thrush singing.
North part of Capitol Lake:
  • Pair of REDHEADS (male and female) in close to the NE side of the lake (on the bathroom side).
  • Also here were two female-type CANVASBACK and a ratty looking male COMMON MERGANSER.
  • Lots of SCAUP and good numbers of BUFFLEHEAD and RUDDY DUCKS.
  • Some nice looking GADWALL as well, really puffing up that crown.
Jason Paulios     Jpaulios@earthlink.net     Olympia, WA

11/5/03
Coastal Birding

This morning we started our one day blitz to get in some coastal birding during the cool clear weather. Following are some of the highlights of our trip.

Hoquium Sewage Pond
  • 2 Red-necked Phalarope
Bowerman Basin Airstrip
  • 2 PINK-FOOTED GEESE, 1 White-fronted Goose
Bowerman Basin NWR
  • 2 European Wigeon
Ocosta
  • 1 Great Egret
Grayland Beach
  • 3 Lapland Longspurs, 6 Snow Buntings
  • 52 Heermanns Gull
Break along Twin Harbors Beach.
  • 48 Bonapartes Gull
Tokeland
  • 21 Long-billed Curlew (over Tokeland), 3 Whimbrel, 12 Willet
  • 1 Tropical Kingbird
  • 18 Brant
MP 13.2 east of Tokeland
  • 282 Marbled Godwits, 1 HUDSONIAN GODWIT
Mike & MerryLynn Denny     College Place, WA     509.529.0080 (h)
11/6/03
Fraser River

I was up the valley taking some pictures today along the Fraser River and had a little action crop up in front of me. Seven Bald Eagles up against 1 juvenile gull sp?. The harassment went on for about 5 minutes before everybody gave up. Most of the attacking was done by the juvenile eagles.

http://members.shaw.ca/xtreme-rr/174_7431-7to1.jpg

Roger Craik     Maple Ridge BC


11/6/03
Grays Harbor & Pacific County - 109 species (not inc. PFGO)
Clear all day; E 10-15 mph; 28-52 F.

Hoquiam STP/Bowerman Airstrip/Basin (9:00-10:45am)
  • 3 Snow Goose, 200 Canada Goose
  • 4 Eurasian Wigeon, 300 American Wigeon, 50+ Canvasback, 1 Redhead
  • 1 Surf Scoter, 15 Common Goldeneye, 6 Hooded Merganser, 20 Ruddy Duck
  • 1 Eared Grebe
  • 3 Northern Harrier, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Merlin (juv. male captured Dunlin and consumed it on boardwalk), 2 Peregrine Falcon
  • 400 Western Sandpiper, 30 Least Sandpiper, 1800 Dunlin. 1 Wilson's Snipe
  • 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2 Lincoln's Sparrow
K Street fields (11:10-11:30)
  • 2 Pink-footed Goose, 150 Canada Goose
  • 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Northern Flicker
  • 1 Horned Lark, 4 Fox Sparrow, 12 Golden-crowned Sparrow, 5Western Meadowlark
South Bend field along Hwy 101 (12:20-12:35pm)
  • 7 Greater White-fronted Goose, 3 Snow Goose, 120 Canada Goose
  • 2 Northern Harrier, 1 Rough-legged Hawk
  • 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 10 Savannah Sparrow, 1 Purple Finch
Graveyard Spit (1:15-1:25)
  • 36 Black-bellied Plover, 9 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Whimbrel, 47 Long-billed Curlew, 5 Western Sandpiper, 800 Dunlin
  • 3 Heermann's Gull, 250 Mew Gull, 150 California Gull, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Thayer's Gull (1 juv.)

Tokeland Marina (1:30-2:45)
  • 1 Horned Grebe
  • 4 Willet, 5 Whimbrel, 4 Long-billed Curlew, 25 Marbled Godwit, 1 Least Sandpiper, 300 Dunlin, 12 Long-billed Dowitcher
  • 1 Tropical Kingbird (1)
Willapa Bay/MP 13.2 on Hwy 105 (3:10-3:30)
  • 5 Trumpeter Swan
  • 300 American Wigeon, 125 Green-winged Teal
  • 1 Black-bellied Plover, 13 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Long-billed Curlew (2)
  • 1 Hudsonian Godwit, 260+ Marbled Godwit
  • 3 Bonaparte's Gull
Westport Jetty/Westhaven State Park (4:15-5:00)
  • 120 Surf Scoter (south)
  • 3 Red-throated Loon (north), 15 Pacific Loon (north)
  • 12 Western Grebe (on water)
  • 800+ Northern Fulmar - >2 miles out; mainly feeding, some south, 7 Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater
  • 8 Brown Pelican
  • 50 Double-crested Cormorant (most migrating), 70 Pelagic Cormorant (most flying north)
  • 10 Sanderling, 30+ Black Turnstone, 11 Surfbird, 5 Rock Sandpiper
  • Bonaparte's Gull (900 traveling south)
  • 25 Heermann's Gull, 1000+ California Gull
  • 4 Black-legged Kittiwake (on jetty), 48 Common Murre (flying south)
A last highlight of the day was seeing a spectacular Green Flash from Westport, just as the sun sunk below the horizon at 4:53. The conditions were optimal with the onshore winds and no haze or anything.

Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com

11/6/03
I stopped for an hour or so at Capitol Lake in Olympia, which I had not birded before. This place reminds me very much of Lost Lagoon in Vancouver's Stanley Park-- an urban lake, immediately adjacent to salt water, which hosts large numbers of diving ducks and other waterbirds in winter.
  • I found 3 REDHEADS, 7 RING-NECKED DUCKS, and 8 CANVASBACKS among much larger numbers of LESSER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEADS, GADWALL, etc.
Wayne C. Weber Delta, BC contopus@telus.net

11/7/03
On the Duwamish

12:40pm start: Water level at 8.1ft; 12:57pm end: Water level at 8.5ft

Some of the better sightings actually occurred around 8am, when a brief walk turned up the following:
  • Peregrine Falcon (flyover from the south; spotted later on the power tower),
  • Bald Eagle being harassed by a Glaucous-winged Gull
  • Harbor seal eating a salmon.
However, there was a big change on the river between 8:15am and now: the gill nets are gone! The five sets of nets that were in view in the morning have all been taken up.  Birds seen during this period include the following:
  • 3 Common Merganser, 8 Double-crested Cormorant, 1 Great Blue Heron
  • 1 Ring-billed Gull, 2 California Gull, 9 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 34 Rock Pigeon
  • Belted Kingfisher, 18 American Crow (18), 3 Black-capped Chickadee (3), 1 Bushtit, Bewick's Wren
  • 15 European Starling
Denis DeSilvis     Seattle, WA     denis.j.desilvis@boeing.com

11/5/03
Pacific Loon on the Duwamish River

On Wednesday the 5th I saw a Pacific Loon fishing in the Duwamish between the Turning Basin and Hamm Creek Estuary.

Bruce Clifton Seattle, WA bhc@eskimo.com

11/5/03
Eld Inlet Mud Bay, Thurston County, Washington
Wind direction: E; Prevailing wind speed: 6-11 km/h

Between about 1:15 and 2:00 PM at the Mud Bay Road crossing of Mud Bay (upper Eld Inlet), west of Olympia, WA. The tide was rapidly flooding during this time period. Substantial areas of exposed mud were present at 1:15, but were completely underwater by 2:00.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):
  • 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 6 Horned Grebe, 1 Red-necked Grebe
  • 7 Double-crested Cormorant, 1 Great Blue Heron
  • 30 Mallard, 15 Green-Winged Teal
  • 7 Surf Scoter, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 150 Bufflehead, 1 Common Goldeneye, 32 Hooded Merganser feeding in small groups among Buffleheads
  • 1 Killdeer, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Spotted Sandpiper 1 [4]
  • 1 Ring-billed Gull, 6 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 American Crow
  • 1Bewick's Wren, 2Song Sparrow
In additional to the birds, a HARBOR SEAL was observed just north of the Mud Bay Road crossing.

Wayne Weber


11/5/03
Willapa Bay, Pacific County Census count

Temperature: 50 degrees fahrenheit
Wind direction: E; Prevailing wind speed: 6-11 km/h
Between about 3:30 and 4:15 PM on November 5, 2003

Near mile marker 14 on State Highway 105, on the north side of Willapa Bay, about 4.5 miles east of the turnoff
to Tokeland.  The tide was low, and there was a fringe of exposed tideflats about 400 to 800 metres wide along the north side of the bay.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):
  • 5 Horned Grebe
  • 20 Great Blue Heron
  • 80 Canada Goose
  • 300 American Wigeon, 6 Mallard, 100 Northern Pintail, 30 Bufflehead
  • 1 Bald Eagle
  • 2 Black-bellied Plover, 1 Hudsonian Godwit, 400 Marbled Godwit, 500 Dunlin
  • 10 Ring-billed Gull, 30 Western Gull, 100 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 6 American Crow
  • 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 5 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 1 Winter Wren, 1 Hermit Thrush
Wayne Weber


11/6/03
Capitol Lake, Olympia, WA.
Between about 2:30 and 4:00 PM
  • 4 Pied-billed Grebe
  • 4 Double-crested Cormorant
  • 60 Gadwall, 12 American Wigeon, 20 Mallard, 8 Northern Shoveler, 8 Canvasback, 3 Redhead [Males coming out of eclipse, not quite in full breeding plumage yet], 7 Ring-necked Duck
  • 10 Greater Scaup, 200 Lesser Scaup
  • 50 Bufflehead, 15 Ruddy Duck
  • 45 American Coot
  • 2 Mew Gull, 12 Ring-billed Gull, 50 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 200 Rock Dove
  • 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Northern Flicker, 2 American Crow, 1 American Robin
  • 1 Song Sparrow, 5 Dark-eyed Junco
Wayne Weber


11/6-7/03
Reifel Sanctuary and other areas

Reifel Bird Sanctuary -- Sat morning
  • It was wonderful to see the sky full of calling SNOW GEESE. 
  • Two BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS at the expected location on Fuller Slough. 
  • There were 30-40 TRUMPETER SWANS in fields on the way in. 
  • We saw 19 other wildfowl species. 
  • About 100 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were near the viewing tower. 
  • Included in five raptor species was a PEREGRINE FALCON. (A PEFA was also at Tsassawwsen). 
  • On the east side of the trail at Reifel we got good VIEWS of a NO. SAW-WHET OWL. 
  • In the woods on the south side of the road, just east of the parking lot, we could see GREAT HORNED OWL and BARN OWL perched about 50-60 apart. The Barn Owl was hunkered down like it was afraid to move with the GHOW nearby. 
  • At Tsassawwsen there were a few MARBLED GODWIT, but not the Hudsonian reported a few days earlier, a lone WILLET and a number of WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. 
  • We stayed at Blaine Sat. night and had the added bonus of watching the lunar eclipse through our scopes.
Blaine Marine Park -- Sun. morning
  • There were hundreds of DUNLIN, a few SANDERLING and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and hundreds of ducks, with AMERICAN WIGEON and GREEN-WINGED TEAL predominating. 
  • At the end of the pier there were PELAGIC CORMORANT and BLACK TURNSTONE on pilings on the Semiahmoo side of the channel. 
  • A few LONG-TAILED DUCKS were far out in the bay. 
  • At the base of the Semiahmoo spit there was a brief glimpse at a HERMIT THRUSH on a picnic table and ORANGE-CROWNED and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER feeding in nearby willow trees.
  • Birch Bay resulted in HARLEQUIN DUCKS and EARED GREBES. 
  • The Lummi Flats, as usual, was good for many raptors including two ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. Also, seen was SHORT-EARED OWL to complete a four owl weekend. A NORTHERN SHRIKE and a flock of WESTERN MEADOWLARK
Hugh Jennings     Bellevue, WA     hughbirder@bigzoo.net


11/7/03
Okanagan Valley birding
  • We met at 6:30 AM in Kelowna in the dark and drove S. to Summerland, where as dawn broke we easily found the resident LEWIS'S WOODPECKER at Trout Ck Point. The bird was feeding on a birch tree along May St.
  • A quick check of the Penticton waterfront was very "gully". There were more gulls here than I've ever seen. Most were CALIFORNIA GULLS (lifer for Susan), but there were also some HERRING and RING-BILLED GULLS and a half a dozen GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS (lifer for Susan). The best bird was a first winter ICELAND GULL.
  • Our next stop produced another lifer for Susan, AMERICAN DIPPERS. There were about 5 of them feeding in the rapids at Okanagan Falls. Also on the river were many BARROW'S GOLDENEYE.
  • A walk along the boardwalk at Vaseux Lake was very productive. From the blind we got our target bird, a male EURASIAN WIGEON. He was feeding with a large flock of AMERICAN WIGEON in amongst a mixed group of TUNDRA and TRUMPETER SWANS.
    • We enjoyed very close views of large rafts of CANVASBACKS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, GREATER SCAUP, HOODED MERGANSER and AMERICAN COOTS.
    • An EARED GREBE was with a PIED-BILLED GREBE off the Vaseux Lk Campsite. Three KILLDEER were on the sandbar at the N. end of the lake.
  • A short drive up Irrigation Ck Rd produced very little, but we did get our one target bird, CANYON WREN. 
  • As we drove past the S. end of Vaseux we pulled into a little pull-off and scanned through some loons...two of which turned into classic imm. PACIFIC LOONS. 
  • After a pit-stop in Oliver we drove through the orchards on the W. side of town and found a flock of approx. 40 CEDAR WAXWINGS with 1 BOHEMIAN WAXWING mixed in. 
  • Our next goal was to locate "western" forest birds along McKinney Road. This was harder than I expected and it took us numerous stops to finally locate PYGMY NUTHATCH, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, STELLER'S JAY, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER, of which we found all in the end. Also in the woods were RED CROSSBILLS, WINTER WREN, WHITE-BREASTED and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, a RUFFED GROUSE and GRAY JAYS. 
  • We hurried S. towards Rd. 22, stopping briefly at Southern Plus Feedlots to get Susan her lifer BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. 
  • Along the way we found another LEWIS'S WOODPECKER perched on a telephone wire on Black Sage Rd. 
  • In a vineyard we bumped into another nice lifer for Sue, a flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. 
  • In the Rd. 22 area we got NORTHERN SHRIKE, RED-TAILED HAWK, AM. KESTREL, NORTHERN HARRIER and GREAT BLUE HERONS. 
  • The adult breeding plumage PACIFIC LOON was obliginly swimming and feeding along the river on the E. Dyke S. of Road 22, making for a great lunch stop. A VIRGINIA RAIL let out a few calls here also. 
  • We then drove over the Richter Pass, stopping at Elkink Ranch. Right beside the road a dozen CHUKAR were heading in to the hay bails to spend the night! 
  • Once in Cawston we made a quick detour and saw about 30 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES on Ferko Road. 
Chris Charlesworth     Avocet Tours     Kelowna, BC V1X 2X5     (250) 718-0335 c_charlesworth@avocettours.com www.avocettours.com

11/8/03
Frye Cove Park (Thurston Co.)
  • There were in excess of 80 Barrows Goldeneyes, roughly 60 males and 20 females. The total was probably a good deal higher than that, as I could get glimpses of more birds farther up the cove, but visiblity is too limited to get any kind of accurate count. Last weekend there were none at this location.
Rob Saecker     rsaecker@thurston.com

11/8/03
Additional highlights noted during the day at selected locations included the following:

Grayland Beach Rd.
  • 42+ Pacific Loon, 1 Red-throated Loon
  • 150+ Sanderling, 1,200+ Dunlin
  • 125+ Bonaparte's Gull, 8 Heermann's Gull
Tokeland
  • 1 Red-necked Grebe
  • 1 Merlin, 1 Northern Harrier
  • 1 Black-bellied Plover, 25 Dunlin
  • 75+ Bonaparte's Gull at Tokeland (Willapa Bay), 1 Caspian Tern at the Tokeland Marina
Bowerman Basin
  • 1 "Aleutian"Canada Goose, 12 "Cackling"Canada Goose, 6 "Dusky"Canada Goose
  • 2 Northern Harrier, 1 Cooper's Hawk
  • 1 Semipalmated Plover, 40 Western Sandpiper, 72+ Least Sandpiper at Bowerman Basin/Airport Way, 6,500+ Dunlin 
Along S.R.105 at the mouth of the Elk River(North Bay)at Bay City
  • 3 Great Egret
K Street (Hoquiam)
  • 4 "Cackling"Canada Goose
Midway Beach Rd.
  • 35 Bonaparte's Gull 
  • 38 "Streaked"Horned Lark
  • 1 Northern Harrier
  • 8 Lapland Longspur
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     godwit@worldnet.att.net     Tacoma

11/8/03
Rosario Head

Members of a WOS field trip enjoyed good birding in Skagit County today.
  • At Rosario Head was a Yellow-billed Loon at close range, eating a big red fish. There were also a Common Loon, two Pacifics, and quite a few Red-throated Loons present there, which made for eighty percent of the world's loon species, all visible from the head. Although we could not find any Ancient Murrelets, there were several each of Marbled Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Common Murre, and Pigeon Guillemot, as well as all three cormorants.
  • At Fir Island Snow Goose Preserve was at least one Lapland Longspur with American Pipits. We could not find the Cassin's Finch at the Game Range, and decided not even to try for the Vesper Sparrow.
  • Other fun birds included big flocks of Snow Geese (Fir Island), Northern Pintail, Black-bellied Plover and Dunlin (Samish Flats), and two Tundra Swans with seventy Trumpters near the Worline Road.
Gary Bletsch     near Lyman (Skagit County)     garybletsch@yahoo.com


11/9/03
Woodland

This morning from 6:30-8 am I birded Dike Access Rd., Dike Rd. and area near Woodland. Directions to this spot are: go west on Dike Ac cess Rd. from I-5, turn south onto Dike Rd. Go 0.4 mile and park on right side of road just pass gate (do not block gate).
  • Found a nice size sparrow flock with a tan striped form of White-throated Sparrow.  The sparrows are just north of this gate along the road side down to the edge of the water. 
  • Lots of Golden-crowned, a few White-crowned, Song, Lincoln's, Savannah just up the road.  Sparrows along with Towhees, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos to sort through. 
  • Saw 17 American Kestrels, 6 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 3 Bald Eagles for raptors. 
  • Also 400+ Sandhill Cranes.
Ken Knittle     Vancouver, WA     washingtonbirder@hotmail.com

11/9/03
Walla Walla River delta

The Walla Walla River delta was very low yesterday and we found 85 Dunlin, 7 Killdeer and hundreds of gulls returning from the Walla Walla City dump. Time to start looking the gulls over.

Mike & MerryLynn Denny     College Place, WA     509.529.0080 (h)

11/9/03
Potholes Reservoir/Moses Lake

My wife and I finally got away for a day of birding around the local area. It was a grand day and we enjoyed the moderating temperatures as did the birds. Many of the common suspects were observed, as well as some that we do not often observe. The following highlights were noted during the day.

Potholes State Park:
  • 1 Cooper's Hawk, 1 Northern Shrike
    1 Winter Wren, 1 Bewick's Wren
Moses Lake Spillway:
  • 4 Western Grebe - lingering, 1 Horned Grebe
Montlake Park (Moses Lake):
  • 1 Bald Eagle - first this year
    25 Tundra Swan, 1 TRUMPETER SWAN associating with the Tundra Swans
    6 Hooded Merganser, 3 males displaying and 3 females ignoring them
    4 Bonaparte's Gull
Doug & Barb Schonewald     Moses Lake, WA     dschone8@donobi.net

11/10/03
Dash Point State Park, Federal Way
  • I saw 2-4 Ancient Murrelets among other things.
  • The "other things" present offshore included half a dozen Bonaparte's Gulls, a female Barrow's Goldeneye, a female Common Merganser (seemed unusual feeding with the gulls, cormorants and Rhino Auklets in mid-channel of the sound), a female Eurasian Wigeon with a pair of Americans and about six Common Murres.
  • Grebes, scoters and other winter residents seem to be showing up well, although the huge flock of wigeon usually present in fall at Dumas Bay Park (just north of Dash Point) were not there.
  • Did see all three species of scoters (3 Black, 1 White-winged), 25 Barrow's Goldeneyes and a flock of  33 Greater Scaup with a token male Lesser in the bay.
Jim Flynn     buteoreg@comcast.net     Seattle, WA

11/8/03
Tokeland/Westport

It was another good day to spend on the coast. Mostly cloudy; gentle NW breeze; 45-54 F.

Highlights:
Brady Loop Road (8:00-8:45):
  • 3 Trumpeter Swan (2ad., 1juv.)
  • 1 Bald Eagle, 2 Northern Harrier, 2 American Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 1 Peregrine Falcon (juv anatum)
  • 2 Black-bellied Plover
  • 1 Western Scrub-Jay, 1 Varied Thrush
  • 10 Fox Sparrow, 2 Lincoln's Sparrow, 1 White-crowned Sparrow, 8 Golden-crowned Sparrow, 12 Dark-eyed Junco
  • 1 Western Meadowlark, 320 Brewer's Blackbird, 6 Evening Grosbeak (6)
Elk River Bridge, Westport (9:45-1:00am):
  • 2 Lesser Scaup, 4 Common Loon
  • 4 Great Egret, 1 Pied-billed Grebe
  • 40 Black-bellied Plover, 100 Dunlin
  • 5 Golden-crowned Sparrow
Tokeland Marina (10:30am-12:00pm):
(At Tokeland, we eventually got very close, though mostly obscurred, looks at the HUDSONIAN GODWIT which we only saw at an extreme distance on Thursday. I counted far more godwits on the dock than I have ever seen here before; my personal tally came out to an amazing 1044 Marbled Godwits.)
  • 15 Greater Scaup, 20 Surf Scoter
  • 16 Common Goldeneye, 1 Hooded Merganser, 125 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 130 Common Loon, 5 Horned Grebe, 3 Red-necked Grebe, 20 Western Grebe
  • 14 Willet, 2 Whimbrel, 1 HUDSONIAN GODWIT (1W), 1044 Marbled Godwit
  • 3 Least Sandpiper, 10 Dunlin, 12 Long-billed Dowitcher
  • 75 Bonaparte's Gull, 80 Mew Gull, 1 Herring Gull (1)
  • 1 TROPICAL KINGBIRD (1)-3rd & Emerson.
Graveyard Spit/Fisher Avenue (12:15-12:35):
At the main viewing area for Graveyard Spit, I studied four RED KNOTS in a flock of Dunlin and Western Sandpipers.
  • 5 White-winged Scoter, 20 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 1 Northern Harrier
  • 5 Black-bellied Plover, 4 RED KNOT, 20 Sanderling, 12 Western Sandpiper, 50 Dunlin, 1 Long-billed Dowitcher
  • 1 Hutton's Vireo
Grayland Beach Road access (1:00-1:25):
  • 1 Ring-necked Pheasant
  • 100 Red-throated Loon -most on water, some flying both directions, 150 Pacific Loon -as with Red-throated, 10 Common Loon
  • 300+ Western Grebe -all appeared to be swimming south.
  • 7 Brown Pelican
  • 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Peregrine Falcon (ad.)
  • 200 Sanderling, 1000 Dunlin, 25 Heermann's Gull (25)
  • 37 Herring Gull, 3 Thayer's Gull
  • 1 Western Scrub-Jay
Midway Beach Road, Grayland (1:40-3:40):
A SNOW BUNTING was heard over Midway Beach, and the Sullivans alerted us to a PALM WARBLER found earlier by either Marcus Roeing or Brian Bell and others. I saw the bird actually foraging on the ground under our parked car briefly. There were very large numbers of Herring Gulls loafing on the outer beach.
  • 35 Greater Scaup, 100 Surf Scoter
  • 250 Red-throated Loon -S, 300 Pacific Loon -both directions.
  • 28 Northern Fulmar, 2 Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater
  • 5 Brown Pelican
  • 100 Bonaparte's Gull, 30 Heermann's Gull, 150 Mew Gull, 160 Herring Gull, 8 Thayer's Gull (8)
  • 25+ Black-legged Kittiwake, 12 Common Murre, 5 Rhinoceros Auklet
  • 10 Horned Lark, 2 Hermit Thrush
  • 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, 23 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 PALM WARBLER (1)-at parking area.
  • 12 Fox Sparrow, 1 SNOW BUNTING, 1 Western Meadowlark
Westport Coast Guard Station (4:00-4:40):
  • 1 Harlequin Duck, 13 Surf Scoter
  • 6 Common Loon, 5 Horned Grebe, 2 Red-necked Grebe
  • 10 Brown Pelican
  • 2 Brandt's Cormorant
  • 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Peregrine Falcon
  • 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 1 Wilson's Snipe -flushed from Scotch Broom.
  • 1 Herring Gull
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com


11/9/03
Hoquiam / Tokeland area.
  • We arrived at Hoquiam early and proceeded to scan the various CANADA GOOSE flocks. Lots of those, including some nice looking duskies. In one of the flocks were three SNOW GEESE and a couple of odd looking hybrids (probably with Greylag genes). But, no PINK-FOOTED GEESE.
  • Hoquiam pond -- a large variety of ducks -- MALLARDS, GADWALL, BUFFLEHEAD, GREATER and LESSER SCAUP, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, RUDDY DUCK, HOODED MERGANSERS, RING-NECKED DUCK among others.
  • We then headed down to Tokeland. When the morning activity began at the marina, the godwits all flew, and when the godwits settled on the float there was no sign of the HUDSONIAN. We all continuously scanned the approximately 800 MARBELED GODWITS and a few WILLETS, a WHIMBREL, and some dowitchers, but with no luck.
    • After about 15-20 minutes a new flock of godwits came in and in among them was this smaller, greyer bird with darkish underwings. The HUDSONIAN settled in among the Marbleds and periodically disappeared.
  • The TROPICAL KINGBIRD was located today at 3rd and Emerson. I variously perched on the wires or on snags and sallied forth for insects. A nicely colored bird, and generally cooperative.
  • There were many HORNED LARKS at Midway Beach, with a great variety of types and plumages. Some were extremely brightly colored. Mixed in with them was a PALM WARBLER.
Brian Bell     Woodinville Wa     bellasoc@isomedia.com

11/9/03
Cape Flattery

Spent Sunday afternoon birding Cape Flattery and Neah Bay.
  • At the west end of Neah Bay, just after the road to Cape Flattery turns south past the marina, a TROPICAL KINGBIRD was hanging out on the electric lines. While I observed it, it flew to several different perches in the immediate residential neighborhood. 
  • At Cape Flattery, approx. 25 FULMARS (mostly dark phase, two light phase) were milling about between the Cape and Tatoosh Is. They were present all afternoon.
Jeremy Nance     jnance@fhcrc.org


11/11/03
West Point (in Seattle's Discovery Park) this morning
  • I watched a steady stream of N. FULMARS fly south alone or in small groups. 1-2 per minute for an hour! Nearly all were dark phase (2 light phase). The majority were well out in the sound, but several flew by fairly close to the point.
  • Also of note: ANCIENT MURRELET (9), PARASITIC JAEGER (1), HEERMANN'S GULL (1), CALIFORNIA GULL (1), THAYER'S GULL (1)
Jeremy Nance

11/11/03
Nisqually NWR and Luhr Beach at Nisqually Head
afternoon

Luhr Beach highlights
  • 2 dark-morph Northern Fulmars flying amongst a very large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls off the Nisqually Reach. 
  • 1 Pacific Loon
  • 1 male Harlequin Duck
  • 800+ Dunlin(observed on the Nisqually Reach)
  • 7 Common Murres, 1 Rhinoceros Auklet
Nisqually NWR 12pm-1pm
  • We immediately located the 2 Ross' Geese as we were approaching the Twin Barns.  The 2 Ross' Geese were well observed amongst a very large flock of "Cackling" Canada Geese grazing in the large mowed field immediately north of the Twin Barns, as well as observed from the large green metal gate next to the Twin Barns within 15 minutes of viewing the birds at the Twin Barns the entire flock lifted and flew to the south and landed just north of the McAllister Creek trail,where they remained for another 15 minutes, then again lifted along with the "Cackling"Canada Geese and flew to the west and later relocated in a large mowed field north of the McAllister Creek trail, where they remained until a Northern Harrier and immature Red-tailed Hawk flew over and agitated the entire flock. The entire flock lifted yet another time and flew north (including the 2 Ross' Geese) in the same large mowed field, but out of our view. It seems the Ross's Geese move around somewhat, but seem to favor the vast areas of mowed areas of the Nisqually NWR. 
Other highlights:
  • 1 "Aleutian"Canada Goose (observed amongst the very large flocks of "Cackling"Canada Geese)
  • 3 male Eurasian Wigeon
  • 7 female Northern Harriers, 4 Red-tailed Hawks (including presumably the same dark-morph adult bird reported by Jason Paulios yesterday)
  • 1 Wilson's Snipe
  • 4 Brown Creepers (observed in the large Big Leaf Maple tress at the Nisqually NWR headquarters)
  • 45+ Cedar Waxwings
  • 1 adult Northern Shrike
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     godwit@worldnet.att.net     Tacoma

11/11/03
Bainbridge

Brad Waggoner and I took his boat out to get a closer look at some fulmars. We headed towards
Skiff Point on Bainbridge (Opposite Discovery Park in Seattle).
  • We spotted a couple fulmars and then a few more. Most were dark morphs but 3 or 4 were light morphs.
  • Then I spotted a phalarope which turned out to be a RED PHALAROPE in basic plumage (and a Lifer for me!). 
  • We then found a group of about 30 fulmars feeding on a fish carcass. Some of the fulmars would swim up to the boat looking for a handout! Brad managed to video the whole thing! We ended up with about 80 birds total! It was weird seeing the Space Needle and fulmars at the same time. 
  • We also had a Parasitic Jaeger, a Western Gull and the usual alcids (no Ancient Murrelets though!). 
  • We checked Blakely Rocks -- 100 Brandt's Cormorants.
  • We checked Western Grebe flocks for Clark's but could only find one intermediate type. 
  • Earlier in the day Brad had a flock of 18 Tundra Swans flying over Restoration Point calling as they flew. The Fulmars and swans are new to the island list. 
If you want to see the fulmars FROM SHORE try scoping out the KELP BEDS near Discovery Park (Seattle) or Rolling Bay (Bainbridge Island). It was in the kelp beds that most of the fulmars were seen.

Ian Paulsen     Bainbridge Island, WA

11/11/03
Fulmars inshore

This unusual influx of fulmars inshore is certainly great for birders, but I want to remind folks that it's probably not so great for the fulmars. These are birds that are adapted for life on the ocean. This influx into the sound (the south sound at that!) is concurrent with numbers of dead and dying fulmars being reported on the ocean beaches in Washington and California (where they also found dead birds out in Monterey Bay, too) over the last month. (I don't know what's going on on the ocean beaches in Oregon, but I assume they've got dead and dying fulmars, too.)

Mike Donahue     Seattle

11/11/03
Clark County
  • Today tried for Short-eared Owls at Ridgefield NWR and Vancouver Lake and Lower River Rd., but could not find any. There were over 20 Northern Harriers working the fields everywhere which may have kept the owls hanging low. 
Other highlights:
  • 34 Great Egrets at Post Office Lake
  • > 80 Great Egrets just north of 179th St. (at it's most western part of 179th which is south of the refuge entrance) 
  • all swans identified were Tundras
  • 1 male Canvasback
  • many cranes flying around 8 am, but heard only a few in the afternoon
  • 26 Long-billed Dowitchers at Post Office Lake
  • 1 Brown Creeper at the photo blind
  • still Savannah Sparrows on the back half of the loop.
Ken Knittle    Vancouver, WA     washingtonbirder@hotmail.com


11/11/03
Lummi Flats, Whatcom County

Low temperature: 50 degrees fahrenheit High temperature: 52 degrees fahrenheit
between 3:30 and 5:00 PM

Areas birded were mainly along Hillaire Road, Kwina Road, and North Red River Road.
  • A good assortment of raptors was seen, including 7 RED-TAILED HAWKS, 4 SHORT-EARED OWLS, 3 NORTHERN HARRIERS, and one BALD EAGLE.  2 GREAT HORNED OWLS were heard.
  • Notable was a flock of at least 30 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS which landed in a field near the intersection of Hillaire and Kwina Roads.
  • At least 5 PACIFIC TREE-FROGS were heard calling at various points.
Birds seen (in taxonomic order):
  • 2 Great Blue Heron
  • 7 Trumpeter Swan [flying south over Kwina Road]
  • 2 Mallard, 2 Bufflehead
  • 1 Bald Eagle, 3 Northern Harrier, 7 Red-tailed Hawk
  • 8 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 2 Great Horned Owl 2 [pair heard calling near sunset, in woods N of N Red River Road, W of Hillaire Road junction], 4 Short-eared Owl
  • 3 Northern Flicker, 1 Northern Shrike [perched in shrub near intersection of Hillaire and Kwina Roads]
  • 3 Marsh Wren, 5 Spotted Towhee, 4 Fox Sparrow, 20 Song Sparrow, 12 White-crowned Sparrow
  • 2 Dark-eyed Junco, 2 House Finch
  • 10 Red-winged Blackbird, 2 Brewer's Blackbird
  • 30 Western Meadowlark 30 [flock of 30 flew into field near intersection of Hillaire and Kwina Roads, landed in short grass]
Wayne Weber

11/12/03
Point-No-Point
  • Today at about 3:45 p.m. we had good views of a pod of orcas, northern fulmars, ancient murrelets and pacific loons at Point-No-Point Lighthouse.
Gene & Sandy Bullock     Poulsbo

11/12/03
Vance Creek/Brady Loop

This morning I headed out in the fog with the intention of finding some swans in the Chehalis river valley around Elma. Well, I didn't find any swans today, but I did have a few highlights.

Vance Creek County park
  • 4 Hooded Mergansers (1 male, 3 females) on the pond on the opposite side of the road from the main pond.
Wenzel Slough Rd
  • Great views of a Red-tailed Hawk that was perched in a dead tree. 
  • Also, at Bill Goeres farm there was a huge mixed flock of starlings, Brewer's Blackbirds, and Red-winged Blackbirds.
Brady Loop Rd. near Willis St
  • 3 female Bufflehead and one female Goldeneye
  • Also, near the public fishing access I had incredible views of a juvenile Rough-legged Hawk. It flew off to be mobbed by a large flock of crows.
  • On the western side of the loop, I stopped at one point to look at two female Northern Harriers that were working the fields. To my delight, the same juvenile Rough-legged Hawk flew in while I was scanning the area. I also spotted a mature Bald Eagle and an American Kestrel in the same area.
Tim O'Brien     Elma, WA     kertim7179@centurytel.net

11/12/03
Thurston County

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (9:45am-12:45pm; 3:45-4:45pm):

We walked out to the Twin Barns and saw the pair of Ross's Geese which are still very comfortable in the noisy flock of Cacklers.

Right at dusk many people were able to observe up to five Short-eared Owls interacting over the meadows.
  • 3 Greater White-fronted Goose, 1 Gr. White-fronted x Canada Goose hybrid, 2 ROSS'S GOOSE, 1200 Cackling Canada Goose
  • 4 Gadwal, 2 Eurasian Wigeon, 250 American Wigeon, 60 Northern Shoveler, 120 Northern Pintail, 80 Green-winged Teal, 1 Ring-necked Duck, 8 Greater Scaup, 20 Bufflehead, 1 Ruddy Duck
  • 1 Pied-billed Grebe
  • 3 Bald Eagle, 15+ Northern Harrier, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 10+ Red-tailed Hawk, 1 American Kestrel, 1 Merlin, 2 Peregrine Falcon
  • 4 Virginia Rail, 1 Greater Yellowlegs (McAllister Creek), 1 SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER, 6 Dunlin, 15 Long-billed Dowitcher, 2 Wilson's Snipe
  • 70 Mew Gull, 150 Ring-billed Gull, 1 California Gull, 40 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 1 Mourning Dove
  • 5 SHORT-EARED OWL
  • 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Common Raven
  • 2 Varied Thrush, 3 American Pipit, 80 Cedar Waxwing, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 4 Fox Sparrow, 6 Lincoln's Sparrow, 20 White-crowned Sparrow, 15 Golden-crowned Sparrow
  • 2 Purple Finch, 3 Red Crossbill, 50 Pine Siskin
Luhr Beach Public Boat Launch (1:15-3:15):
  • In a extensive scan of the Nisqually Reach, I eventually got 6 NORTHERN FULMAR
  • 50 American Wigeon, 15 Greater Scaup, 170 Surf Scoter, 150 White-winged Scoter
  • 60 Bufflehead, 60 Common Goldeneye, 10 Barrow's Goldeneye (10)
  • 225 Hooded Merganser, 14 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 18 Red-throated Loon, 15 Common Loon, 23 Horned Grebe, 3 Red-necked Grebe, 7 Eared Grebe (7)
  • 10 Double-crested Cormorant, 12 Pelagic Cormorant
  • 2 Peregrine Falcon -same birds as observed at Nisqually.
  • 400 Dunlin
  • 500+ Bonaparte's Gull, 300 Mew Gull, 3 Western Gull, 100 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 5 Rhinoceros Auklet
  • 3000 European Starling
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com


11/13/03
Hoquiam
  • Two Pink-footeds at the K Street spot, with Canadas and two White-fronted Geese, an adult and an immature, for a nice comparison.
Tokeland
  • By the way, my contribution to the Marbled Godwit sweepstakes is 1400 last Saturday afternoon (November 8). The size of this flock seems to be growing year by year. The Hudsonian was buried in their midst
  • Also, at sundown on Saturday I found 6 Snowy Plovers on the beach at the foot of Midway Beach Rd.
Gene Hunn.

11/13/03
Spencer Island changes
  • There is now a gate across the road about 100 feet or so west of the old parking lot.
  • The Army Corps has widened and raised the road leading up to the access bridge. This means you are the same level as the top of NE end of the sewage Lagoon dike and so get a nice overlook at the lagoon. At this time there is no fence and you can walk right up to edge of the lagoon. Today I got very close to some Shovelers, AM widgeons and other ducks. I was surprised how tame they were, considering the hunting going on not all that far away. It would be a good photo opportunity.
  • The record rainfall floods washed out a bridge at the far end of the center trail so you can no longer hike the whole south loop. I talked with the Parks Dept. Ranger who was enjoying a nice sunny afternoon and she thought it was unlikely the bridge would be fixed anytime soon.
  • There is a lot more water in places now, the old barn is in the water, apparently the dike has washed out one or more of the fancy control culverts so water is flowing where it wants to. I was there on the approaching high tide.
  • A flock of shorebirds (Dunlin?) swooped and soared, flashing several times in the low sun, being chased by a falcon which was too far away to be sure, but had the fluid sort of wing beats of a peregrine. I love how shorebirds do that undulating ripple of dark and light, one second a dark cloud, which then explodes in a flash of light, as the whole flock changes shape and wheels instantly in a new direction. With the sun so low in the sky it really shows up the dark, then light contrast making the show all that more spectacular.
Rob Sandelin     South Snohomish County at the headwaters of Ricci Creek     Floriferous@msn.com

11/13/03
N. Seattle Comm. College

35 minute walk through past the surge pond and through the north green space. The plants around the pond (blackberries, shrubs, trees) are not as grown up as in the past, so finding happy WOODDUCKS was really nice. The green space tree plantings are popping very nicely, and some trails are being somewhat formalized, but still pretty natural.

Surge Pond:
  • 30+ gadwalls, 2 pair of wood ducks
  • 2 pied billed grebes
  • 1 American wigeon, 1 female hooded merganser
Elsewhere:
  • lots of black capped chickadees, several gold crowned kinglets, a flurry of house finches, a few gold finches, a bungle of bushtits, several bewick's wrens
  • robins, flickers, several ruby crowned kinglets
Douglas Daily, Patricia Federighi, Bargello      Northgate, Seattle     mailto: dfdaily@juno.com

11/14/03
Hines Marsh on the Long Beach Peninsula, Pacific County

This is a note to let you know that for the second year, trumpeter swans have returned to Hines Marsh. For all those who may be visiting the Leadbetter Point area, you may want to take a walking diversion to see the marsh. If you do, please try to get a count of the birds, note adults and juveniles and let me know. This is an exciting event. More of the marsh has been cleared of dead willow -- about 60 acres of open water have been restored.

Directions: Go north up Stackpole Road (off the Oysterville Road) as you would go to Leadbetter Point State Park and the wildlife refuge.  Just south of the sign for Leadbetter Point State Park on your left you will notice a gate with bronze life size lions across a road. This is the easement road to the interior section of the Park and the marsh. You can park FREE in the vacant lot just north of this gate. Be sure to not block the driveway or the gravel piles. Walk back, go around the gate and walk in to the marsh. Please stay on the main road as this area is bordered by private property. You will come to the open water area and water control structure on Park land.
Look south, the swans are there along with other birds.

Martha Jordan     http://www.swansociety.org

11/14/03
Samish Flats & Rosario Beach
  • Mike West and I found the Samish Gyrfalcon yesterday 11/14 atop the pole at the East 90 -- a beautiful bird.
  • At the West 90 there were two Rough-legged Hawks, a Short-eared Owl, and several harriers.
  • 1/2 mile south of the T there a Peregrine Falcon perched on a power pole.
  • At the park on the north side of Samish Island was a good assortment of ducks -- including Harlequin and Long-tailed -- cormorants, gulls, and a Common Loon.
  • At Rosario Beach on the north side of Deception Pass we had good numbers of birds just as the tide began to ebb: Rhinocerous Auklets, Common Murres, four Red-throated Loons, one Pacific Loon, and in the bay -- just west of the park's headland and adjacent to the Walla Walla College research station -- we had good views of a Yellow-billed Loon.
Paul Webster     Seattle     paul.webster@comcast.net

11/15/03
Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Bird Alert
  • Bill LaFramboise found 3 WESTERN BLUEBIRDS at the WSU  Tri-Cities campus in North Richland.
  • He also found 6 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS at the corner of Harris and Spring Streets in North Richland.
  • There was a EURASIAN WIGEON at the duck pond in Columbia Park in Kennewick.
  • Bill then found 2 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS in Hood Park.
Bill & Nancy LaFramboise     wlafra@owt.com     Richland, WA


11/15/03
Discovery Park, Seattle, 15 Nov
  • Most surprising sighting of the day was a pair of ORCA swimming north, just off West Point. I've not seen them this far into the  Sound before, and it seemed fitting that they appeared as the sun peeked out between clouds.
In the bird category, here are some highlights:
  • PEREGRINE - one or two. One sitting on a snag over the stairs leading down from the north bluff, around 11:00am, one in the south bluff  meadow several hours later. The latter one was chasing a model airplane for a while, then it broke off and almost nailed a bird  instead.
  • MERLIN - One sitting on a snag right in the middle of the same meadow.
  • Also a COOPERS & a RED-TAILED were in the general area.
  • PILEATED WOODPECKERS - a pair in the ravine along the loop trail. The male almost did himself in when he drilled off a huge chunk of bark &  tree and it fell almost onto him. Together w/ a HAIRY, DOWNY & FLICKER, it was a 4-woodpecker day.
  • HERMIT THRUSH - One down at the point where the trail from the south beach begins to head up the stairs.
  • On the water were hundreds of WESTERN GREBE, dozens of HORNED GREBE, many RED-NECKED GREBE, several WHITE-WINGED & SURF SCOTERS. One PIGEON GUILLEMOT was the only alcid I got on. 3 LOONS flew by at different times. About 15-20 SANDERLING wandered from one beach to the other periodically.
Matt Bartels     Seattle WA

11/15/03
Protection Island and Dungeness Spit

Today my family and I took a boat ride out to Protection Island and Dungeness Spit. About a mile west of Destruction Island we came across five orcas (2 adult females, 2 juv, and 1 calf). They were quite active as we approached, breaching and splashing their tails on the water. As we got closer I noticed a harbor seal in the middle of the group. For the next 20 minutes, they tossed the seal around between them like a beach ball. My
assumption was that this behavior was the females giving the youngsters a hunting lesson. Then they all disappeared for a few minutes. Then the orcas surfaced along with miscellaneous seal parts. These seal parts then attracted a large group of gulls. In with the gulls was one NORTHERN FULMAR.

Later on the seaward side of Destruction Island and Dungeness Spit I saw several more NORTHERN FULMARS quite a distant out on the water. Also of note, there were approx. 300 LONG-TAILED DUCKS between Destruction Island and the spit.

Russell Rogers     Sequim WA     rrogers@olypen.com

11/15/03
Penn Cove Glaucous Gull

I birded Whidbey Island leading a field trip for Pilchuck Audubon Society.  We had ~70 species for the day with some nice birds and a few gaping holes (Canada Goose and Steller's Jay for example).
  • The highlight was a second winter GLAUCOUS GULL at Penn Cove on the beach with a flock of around 200 or so Black Turnstones and Surfbirds as well as the requisite Glaucous-winged x Western mutts. 
Michael Dossett


11/17/03
Chelan and Okanogan Co. Trumpeter Swans

Made a quick trip to the Tonasket area this weekend and saw Trumpeter Swans at a number of locations on the way.
  • 2 were just south of the Beebe bridge on the Chelan side of the Columbia Saturday
  • 52 were at Duley Lake on the Colville Plateau.
  • 4 were in a pond at the base of the big cliff on the west side of Hwy 97 between Tonasket and Riverside.
  • Also saw several Northern Shrike and Rough-legged Hawks in the Aeneas Valley and Colville Plateau. Didn't see any Snow Bunting flocks going over the Colville Plateau but visibility was bad both days with either fog or snow flurries.
Ed Swan     Vashon Island

[Randy Hill reminded me that Tundra Swans are much more common in E.Washington than Trumpeters and I have to admit I didn't scope the Duley Lake group of swans or probably look at them closely enough. I did scope the birds by the Beebe Bridge, which were definitely Trumpeters but it's quite possible I wasn't careful enough in the identification for the Duley Lake group.]

(missing 3 days)

11/21/03
Point Roberts, Whatcom County, Washington

Low temperature: 40 degrees fahrenheit High temperature: 40 degrees fahrenheit

The only areas visited were Lighthouse Marine Park and Edwards Drive, with a quick stop for songbirds at the west end of Benson Road.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):
  • 5 Red-throated Loon, 2 Common Loon
  • 12 Horned Grebe, 25 Western Grebe
  • 1 Brandt's Cormorant, 30 Double-crested Cormorantm, 70 Pelagic Cormorant
  • 15 American Wigeon, 12 Mallard, 4 Canvasback, 6 Greater Scaup, 7 Harlequin Duck
  • 30 Surf Scoter, 15 Bufflehead, 2 Common Goldeneye
  • 9 Hooded Merganser, 2 Red-breasted Merganser
  • 2 Bald Eagle
  • 26 Black Turnstone
  • 40 Mew Gull, 50 Glaucous-winged Gull
  • 8 Common Murre
  • 1 Downy Woodpecker
  • 2 Fox Sparrow, 4
  • Song Sparrow, 12 Brewer's Blackbird
Pond on Edwards Drive-- MALLARDS, WIGEON, BUFFLEHEADS, GREATER SCAUP, HOODED MERGANSERS, plus 4 CANVASBACKS, which are rarely seen at Point Roberts.
Wayne Weber

11/25/03
Sedro Woolley

I finally located the flock next to milepost 3 on Hoehn Road, at the Kiefer farm, where Hoehn Road begins to curve back westward toward Sedro Woolley.

For the first 30 minutes I was there, most of the blackbirds and Starlings were feeding in a wet pasture south of Hoehn Road, on the Skagit floodplain about 30 feet below road level, and could be seen well with a scope from the road.
  • I estimated 300 STARLINGS, 300 BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, and 200 RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS in the flock-- possibly an underestimate.
  • There were also at least 200 NORTHWESTERN CROWS and 100 MEW GULLS feeding in the fields along with the Starling/blackbird flock.
I did find 34 species of birds in the area, including a few of mild interest.
  • A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen along Utopia Road east of Hoehn Road.
  • In flooded fields along Burmaster Road, not far west of its junction with Hoehn Road, were a number of diving ducks including 5 RING-NECKED DUCKS, 4 LESSER SCAUP, a HOODED MERGANSER, a COMMON GOLDENEYE, and 25 BUFFLEHEADS as well as the inevitable MALLARDS.
  • A flock of at least 300 small CANADA GEESE-- probably CACKLING GEESE-- took off from the fields and flew westward over Burmaster Road, looking like they planned to fly some distance before realighting.
Samish Flats near Edison
  • One of the first birds I saw after arriving at the flats at about 3:20 was the GYRFALCON, sitting atop the 3rd telephone pole north of the bend in the Bay View-Edison Road known as the Samish "East 90". From inside my car, I had great scope views of this immature gray-phase bird at less than 100 feet distance. After a few minutes, it left the pole and landed in the grass about 70 feet east of the road and proceeded to feed on the remains of a kill (duck?) partially concealed in the tall grass. It then returned to the telephone pole, where I was able to drive slowly up to the very base of the pole for "crippling views" of the bird without frightening it off.
  • My coverage of the Samish Flats was very brief, however, I did see at least 6 NORTHERN HARRIERS, 5 RED-TAILED HAWKS, one adult BALD EAGLE, and one dark-phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK as well as the GYRFALCON.
Wayne C. Weber     Delta, BC     contopus@telus.net

11/26/03
Brady Loop, Grays Harbor County, Washington

Skies were partly cloudy and visibility was great.

Western portion of the loop.
  • My first highlight was a single Rough-legged Hawk that was perched on top of an utility pole. I watched the hawk dive on a female Northern Harrier that had presumably just made a kill. The hawk took over the kill and the Harrier flew out of the area.
  • I also had great looks at a first winter male Common Goldeneye that was on a pond very close to the road.
  • Other waterfowl that were in the area included Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, and American Coot.
Near the intersection of Brady Loop Rd., and Foster Rd
  • Merlin on top of an utility pole.
  • A flock of shorebirds was working the edge of some of the flooded areas of the fields. 
On the eastern portion of Brady Loop Rd
  • 26 Tundra Swans and 22 Trumpeter Swans near the intersection of Willis St. and Brady Loop Rd. The Tundra swans were on a couple different ponds while the Trumpeters were out in a corn-stubble field. 
  • I also checked out the pond where I had spotted 4 Redhead about a week and a half ago. All four (2 males, 2 females) were there again mixed in with some Scaup.
Moore Rd. which is off the Monte-Elma Rd. in between Satsop and Elma.
  • Large flock of Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers out in the field just to the northeast of the railroad tracks.
  • 1 American Kestrel and one Western Scrub Jay along Moore Rd..
Tim O'Brien     Elma, WA     kertim7179@centurytel.net

11/26/03
Skagit Co.

Wonderful area just E of Sedro-Woolley. I have dubbed it the Minkler Flats -- the area east of Sedro-Woolley, west of Minkler Lake, north of the Skagit River (we are talking about Skagit County here), and south of Highway 20.

The big puddles on Burmaster Road, especially where the powerlines cross it, and the various other fields, woodlots, and farmyards, offer excellent habitat--although access can be cramped. Rarities are bound to turn up there if more people check it out. The rails-to-trails effort here provides a quiet way to access the area, if driving around farm roads looking for wide shoulders loses its appeal.

Incidentally, if anyone wants to see really huge flocks of "stackbirds," and other farmyard birds, then the Gardner Road, just south of Cook Road, is a great place. There have been on the order of three to five thousand starlings, Brewer's, and Red-winged Blackbirds there, the last several times I have gone by, with close to a thousand Ring-billed Gulls, too, on some visits.


Gary Bletsch     garybletsch@yahoo.com

11/27/03

Marine View Drive (S.R.509) south of Browns Point
  • A Heermann's Gull was observed amongst a flock of Mew, Bonaparte's and a few California Gulls, as they were roosting on floating logbooms furthest away from shore
  • 204 Barrow's Goldeneyes
  • 2 Red-tailed Hawks
  • 10 Killdeers
  • 2 Spotted Sandpipers, 14 Black Turnstones, 17 Least Sandpipers, 12 Dunlin
  • 48+ Bonaparte's Gulls
  • 2 Hermit Thrushes, 8 Varied Thrushes, 42+ Cedar Waxwings
Flett Basin (accessed from the Mountain View Cemetary in Lakewood, Pierce Co.)
conditions remained cloudy, but calm.
  • 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 1 Double-crested Cormorant
  • 1 Am.Coot
  • 4 Gadwall, 98 Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Buffleheads
  • 1 Red-tailed Hawk
  • 32 California Quail, 17 Mourning Doves
  • 8 Western Scrub Jays
  • 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  • 3 Bewick's Wrens, 3 Winter Wrens, 7 Marsh Wrens
  • 24 "Sooty" Fox Sparrows, 4 Lincoln's Sparrows, 47 Song Sparrows, 32 Golden-crowned Sparrows, 2 White-crowned Sparrows, 105+ Pine Siskins
Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     godwit AT worldnet.att.net

11/27/03
Northeast Tacoma and Des Moines birding

Saltwater State Park (King County), starting at 11 a.m. (many singles are omitted)
  • 1 Red-necked Grebe, 4 Horned Grebe, 2 Western Grebe
  • 1 Great Blue Heron
  • 30 Surf Scoter, 1 White-winged Scoter
  • 2 Double-crested Cormorant
  • 3 Western Gull, 1 Glaucous-winged Gull, 15 Bonaparte's Gull, 1 Thayer's Gull
  • 2 Killdeer
  • 1 Northern Flicker, 100+ American Crow
  • 9 Common Goldeneye, 8 Barrow's Goldeneye,10 Bufflehead
  • 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2 Song Sparrow, 15 Bushtit, 2 Spotted Towhee
Dash Point Park and Pier (Pierce County), starting at 12:30 p.m.
  • 2 Double-crested Cormorant, 4 Horned Grebe
  • 4 Marbled Murrelet, 2 Rhinocerous Auklet
  • 2 Bonaparte's Gull
  • 40 American Crow
  • 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Bald Eagle (seen earlier in the day as we were heading north)
Browns Point (Pierce County), starting at 1 p.m.
  • 5 Red-necked Grebe, 4 Horned Grebe
  • 2 Surf Scoter, 4 Bufflehead
  • 6  Marbled Murrelet, 8 Rhinocerous Auklet
  • 10 Double-crested Cormorant, 5  Brandt's Cormorant  flying past to the north toward Dash Point
  • 150 Bonaparte's Gul, 1 Western Gull, 1 Ring-billed Gull, 1 Glaucous-winged Gull
Marine View Drive (Pierce County) in the NE 5000 block at a gravel pull out
  • 250+ seals hauled up on the logs inside the log boom
  • 4 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Hooded Merganser
  • 100+ Barrow's Goldeneye
  • 40+ Great Blue Heron
  • 2 Horned Grebe
  • 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 1 Black Turnstone
  • 20+ Varied Thrush, 2 Hermit Thrush
  • 300+ American Robin flocking and feeding in the madrona trees on the north side of the road. high above SR 509
  • 20 Dunlin flocking at the mouth of the Puyallup River
  • 3 Mallard
  • 1 Black-throated Gray Warbler, 1 Song Sparrow
Gog-le-hi-te Wetland (Pierce County), starting at 2:15 p.m.
  • 100+ American Crow
  • Great Blue Heron
  • 20 Bushtit
  • Ring-billed Gull, Mew Gull, 25 Thayer's Gull, 15 Glaucous-winged Gull
We also noticed 23 KILLDEER feeding in the fields at Lakota Park in Federal Way, which was interesting since earlier this week on Monday I noted 21 Killdeer along the shore of Commencement Bay at Dickman Mill Park on Ruston Way.

Two days ago I watched a mature BALD EAGLE scare up 18 GREAT BLUE HERONS from the old Asarco property on Ruston Way.

Rob McNair-Huff rob@whiterabbits.com


11/28/03
Longview

West end of Longview, Cowlitz Co.
  • Found 1 White-tailed Kite across from the entrance to Willow Grove Park sitting quite low on top of some blackberry brambles.
  • Not far away from Willow Grove on Barlow Point Rd. were two more White-tailed Kites again sitting very low along a fence row with blackberries and small trees being used for vantage points.
Ken Knittle     Vancouver, WA     washingtonbirder AT hotmail.com

11/28/03
Nisqually NWR, Thurston County.

2 ROSS'S GOOSE, 250 Canada Goose
5 Eurasian Wigeon (m.), 800 American Wigeon
1 Peregrine Falcon
1 Barn Swallow, 3 American Pipit, 2 Western Meadowlark

11/29/03 (7:30am-4:30pm).
Clark & Cowlitz Counties

Vancouver Lake vicinity (7:30-8:00)
  • 12 Common Merganser
  • 3 Great Egret
  • 2 Pileated Woodpecker
Lower River Road complex (8:00-10:30)
  • 1000+ Canada Goose, 100 Tundra Swan
  • 1 Eurasian Wigeon, 100 American Wigeon, 20 Hooded Merganser
  • 15 Great Egret, 200 Sandhill Crane
  • 12 Greater Yellowlegs, 15 Long-billed Dowitcher, 1 Wilson's Snipe
  • 2 Herring Gull
  • 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, 5 Lincoln's Sparrow
  • 120+ Brown-headed Cowbird
Vancouver STP (11:00-11:20)
  • 5 Canvasback, 200 Ring-necked Duck, 30 Greater Scaup, 200 Lesser Scaup, 10 Ruddy Duck
Ridgefield NWR (12:00-2:15pm)
  • 1 Greater White-fronted Goose, 300 Canada Goose incl. 15 Dusky & a number of prob. Aleutians.
  • 80 Tundra Swan
  • 3 Rough-legged Hawk (light morph), 1 HARLAN'S HAWK (dark juvenile)
  • 3 Herring Gull
  • 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker, 4 Lincoln's Sparrow, 3 SWAMP SPARROW
  • 20 Nutria
  • Pacific Tree Frog (many dozens)
Woodland/Dike Access Rd area (2:45-3:45)
  • 2 Western Grebe
  • 3 Great Egret
  • 1 Rough-legged Hawk (light)
  • 600+ Mourning Dove -they blotted out the sun!
  • 2 Common Raven
  • 2 Myrtle Warbler, 18 Savannah Sparrow, 30+ Western Meadowlark
Charlie Wright     Sumner, WA     charlie@birdwright.com
11/29/03
Samish Island
  • At about 1:00 pm Barbara and I found an American Avocet next to Samish Island, as we stood in the parking lot of the church just above Alice Bay, the water that separates the island from the Samish Flats. The avocet was standing in the water next to a Northern Pintail just off the point of land closest to the church.
  • Beyond that, the raptors continue plentiful: Gyr, Peregrine, Merlin all seen, plus Rough-legged Hawks, harriers, and lots of Red-tails -- including 1 dark phase bird, and probably a Harlan's. Someone reportedly also saw a Prairie Falcon in the vicinity.
  • Interesting happenings: three ravens cornered an injured Dunlin and quickly killed it, and a Short-eared Owl repeatedly dived on a perched Rough-legged Hawk while another Short-eared Owl sat nearby andwatched.
Paul Webster     Seattle     paul.webster@comcast.net

11/29/03
Seward Park
  • Earlier in the week on one of the side trails in Seward Park (entry at Lake Washington Blvd and So. Orcas Street) a Hermit Thrush popped out of the underbrush to land directly at my feet. We both did classic cartoon double takes, I froze and it whirled around and flew back into the brush. Had I not stopped mid-stride I think I would have stepped on it. I continued my best imitation of a tree, was able to relocate it and watched for about five minutes as it foraged the leaf litter at the edges of the path before heading deeper into the woods. 
  • Deeper in the park were Varied Thrushes, both kinglets, Bushtits, Bewick's and Winter Wrens, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, nuthatches, towhees, and Song Sparrows.
  • I heard the eagles but couldn't locate them. Two good sized owl pellets under a tree very near the origin of one of the main trails were a nice compensation.
Catherine Alexander     South Seattle     Squeakyfiddle AT aol.com

11/30/03
Gyrfalcon and Common Redpolls at Ocean Shores
 
Extremely stiff north-northeasterly winds during our entire visit at Ocean Shores.

Our main highlights occurred at the Oyhut Wildlife Area 11:45am-1pm (accessed behind the Ocean Shores STP)
  • Pure flock of 18 Common Redpolls flushed up from dune grass and other vegetation along the trail from the Ocean Shores STP to the Oyhut Wildlife Area giving their high, rising call notes well heard as they continued north towards the northern portion of Oyhut Wildlife Area.
  • The only other "finch" flock that we observed in the general vicinity was 3 House Finches observed on the open,sandy area that occurs north of the tall
Perhaps these birds were blown down by the recent northerly winds, but this account for this number of birds seems extremely rare since no other records have occurred to our personal knowledge in western WA away from the recent report of
  1. 60 Common Redpolls near Surrey,BC on Nov. 29th as reported onto the Vancouver,BC RBA. 
Our other highlight noted at the Oyhut Wildlife Area included a single juvenile dark-morph Gyrfalcon well observed in flight as well as on the ground and perched atop large driftwood snags at 12:15-12:30pm immediately north of the large sandy area north of the tall navigation tower,as we were continuing north of foot. The bird was harassed twice in flight by an adult Peregrine Falcon. The Gyrfalcon was quite wary of
our approach and flew short distances continuously, as we watched it looking north at the Oyhut Wildlife Area
until the bird flew east towards Damon Point at 12:30pm.
 
Ocean Shores Jetty  1:10pm-1:35pm wind conditions seemed the most fierce, but we were able to locate a fairly large rock shorebird flock flying in and out of the wet rocks and crashing waves along the north side of the Ocean Shores Jetty.
  • We were able to separate but not accurately count Surfbirds, Black Turnstones, and dominant race Rock Sandpipers We encountered increasing numbers of Surfbirds compared to our visit yesterday, but the other 2 rock shorebird species seemed equal in numbers.
  • 1  Sanderling
Lake Minard
  • 4 Eared Grebe (observed from the Tonquin Ave. bridge north of Marine View Drive along with 2 RuddyDucks)
  • 1 Eurasian Wigeon male (observed behind the large cement water tower along Marine View Drive, with 1 pair present at this location yesterday)
Ocean Shores STP
  • 1 immature Greater White-fronted Goose

Ocean Shores Golf Course
  • 15 "Dusky"Canada Goose
 Oyhut Wildlife Area (accessed behind the Ocean Shores STP)
  • 2 Rough-legged Hawk
  • 17+ Black Scoter (observed in the inner bay behind the Ocean Shores STP)
  • 11 Black-bellied Plover
  • 55+ Sanderling
  • 4 Least Sandpiper
  • 230+ Dunlin
Point Brown Ave.(south of the Ocean Shores Golf Course)  
  • 1 Merlin
Bill's Spit 
  • 1 Least Sandpiper
Earlier in the day on route to Ocean Shores we briefly stopped by the "K" Street goose location at Hoquiam at 10:50am and immediately located the 2 Pink-footed Geese foraging with 2 Greater White-fronted Geese and a small flock of Canada Geese.  

The 2 Ross' Geese were observed along I-5 at the Nisqually NWR 9:30am,as we continued on our way to Hoquiam amongst a large flock of Canada Geese

A few additional observations on route to Hoquiam this morning included the following:
  • large swan flock noted along Hwy.12 east of Satsop,as noted in our posting yesterday with decreasing numbers noted today to and from destinations.
  • Amer. Kestrel -- 1 along Hwy.12(just east of Schouweiler Rd. near Elma); 1 along Hwy.12 west of Montesano
On our way home we checked the Brady Loop Rd. complex at 4pm and encountered a few noteworthy
species including the following:
  •  10 Tundra Swans
  • 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Am.Kestrel
  • 8 Black-bellied Plovers, 75+ Dunlin
 Ruth and Patrick Sullivan     Tacoma,WA     godwit@worldnet.att.net


11/29/03
NW Walla Walla Co.

MerryLynn and I spent a few hours birding the Hood Park area and Burbank Heights as opposed to Burbank Pits. We did locate some interesting species:
  • 5 Hermit Thrush
  • 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk  HY sub-adult bird. Unexpected in this area.
  • 2 Varied Thrush, 6 Bewicks Wren
  • 1 Merlin, 14 N. Flicker
  • 27 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 65+ Am. Robin
In Burbank Heights we located a nice flock of 24 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS.

Mike & MerryLynn Denny     College Place, WA      509.529.0080 (h)

11/29 & 11/30
San Juan & Orcas Island

This past Saturday & Sunday, I birded on San Juan & Orcas Islands.   The weather was clear, wind was low & the water was calm most of both days.
  • AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS - several among a larger group (~20) of  Black-Bellied Plovers on the South Beach bluff fields.
    HARLEQUIN DUCKS were abundant off Cattle Point, PACIFIC LOONS & COMMON LOONS popped up occasionally at all beach stops  
    BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, BLACK TURNSTONES & a few SURFBIRDS hopped on the rocks & washed up timber on South Beach and off Cattle Point.
    One NORTHERN SHRIKE perched on a bush along the south beach bluff fields.
Other Birds seen, 11/29 & 11/30 (single birds removed by Sunny):
  • ~ 50 Brandt's Cormorant in flock on water, seen from inter-island ferry
  • Trumpeter Swan (6 on SJ, 4 in Zylstra Lake, 2 nearby) 
  • Harlequin Duck (abundant at Cattle Point & South Beach) 
  • Long-tailed Duck (one pair off South Beach)
  • 2 Common Merganser seen in Killebrew Lake on Orcas Island
  • 10 Killdeer (South Beach bluff fields)
  • Black Oystercatcher ((~15 along South Beach, 3-4 at Cattle Point)
  • 2 Greater Yellowlegs at Jackson Beach
  • Black Turnstone (7 at Jackson Beach, ~15 at South Beach)
  • 4 Surfbird among BLTUs at South Beach
  • ~30 Dunlin in South Beach bluff fields, w/ BBPL
  • Black-legged Kittiwake (at least 3-4, probably many more, near Goose Island off Cattle Point)
  • 3 Common Murre (only seen on Inter-island ferry)
  • Pigeon Guillemot (South Beach, Cattle Point & Ferry)
  • Marbled Murrelet (2 at Cattle Point, 1 from Ferry)
  • Western Meadowlark (South Beach bluff fields & elsewhere)
The  new ABA Birders Guide to Washington was very helpful and included everywhere I stopped [and more], with the exception of Jackson Beach on San Juan. Thanks to a Tweeters message back in September, I added Jackson Beach to the itinerary and wasn't disappointed.

Matt Bartels     Seattle, WA


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