My birding the last 2 days is a great example of the highlights of birding in Pierce County in mid September. Yesterday I was deciding where to go when Charlie Wright put a message on our county Whats App group that he had a juv. Sabine’s Gull at Dune Peninsula. That made up my mind about where to go, and I got there at the same time as Bruce LaBar, and many other local birders followed as more birds were found. In addition to two juvenile Sabine’s Gulls, it was a spectacular day for Jaegers, with 22 Parasitic and one Long-tailed Jaegers seen, including on the water and in flight groups of 12 and 6 individuals. This is likely a high count for Dune. In addition three Red-necked Phalaropes, a sub-adult Herring Gull, >200 Rhinoceros Auklets, and most amazingly a Brewer’s Sparrow that Charlie heard chipping near the tip of the peninsula. This bird was well photographed and seen by all, and after review of the photos, much discussion of Brewer’s vs. Clay-colored, as of this time the consensus is Brewer’s. By early afternoon, about 4 hours into the seawatch, about a dozen local birders called it a day.
Today I got up at 5:30 and was at Sunrise parking lot by 8:20. It was a great day there, with a new race of Red Fox for me, Cascade Red Fox seen twice, initially in the picnic area, and a different individual on the Sourdough Trail coming back down. In addition I saw three species of falcon, American Kestrel, Merlin, and Prairie Falcon, many mountain goats, the foxes, and at the end of the day 12 Mountain Bluebirds circling over the picnic area!
All-and-all a great two days of birding.