Author: birdbanter

A Day of Mason County Birding with Ken

Barn Owl

County Birding has becoome my way of expanding my birding experiences in WA over the last couple of years. In the winter of 2019 Ken, Brian, Ryan and I took a 4-day trip to the far Southeast corner of the state to get the gray our of our county maps on eBird. By this I mean that when you look at the profile page of an eBird users profile page, areas with no sigtings are colored gray. The color changes by the number of species reported. For me the last 3 states without reported sightings were Asotin, Columbia and Garfield. We birded those three areas and that got color over the whole state. It seems like that visual has been removed in favor of a list of counties and information about birds seen in each county with the latest upgrade to eBird, so that visual is gone, but we joked about it at the time.
This week Ken took me birding on Wednesday in Mason County. I sent him my eBird Needs list and he thought I could find maybe 8 first county birds on the fabulous route he planned. We met a little after 7 AM and headed for Belfair State Park. It is good shorebird area where I expected to find Western Sandpiper, and we hoped for a Semi-palmated Sandpiper. I havn’t birded the county in shorebird migration before, so both would be first county birds for me. Western was easy, along with lots of Least Sandpipers, but as we looked around I spotted the head of a larger sandpiper just over the vegitation farther away. I thought dowitdher by size and behavior, and sure enough it was the FOY Long-billed Dowicher for Ken and a county first for me. Ken did his first victory dance of the day.
A quick stop at East Adler Road added no new species, but Bayshore Preserve had all the finds Ken hoped for and more. He thought we could find California Scrub Jay, Chipping Sparrow, and Brown Creeper, and with some effort we added all of these, but on the walk out Ken spotted an owl in a tree, his county first Barn Owl. Owls are always special, and we got great looks and Ken added a Mason County lifer. Completely unexpected. A flyover Red Crossbill was also sweet.

The tide was too low to see much at the Hwy 106 Skykomish Delta Overlook, and a brief stop at Hunter farms didn’t yield the hoped for American Kestrel, but we made our day great at Potlatch State Park. Marbled Murrelet was the target county first for me. We looked a full bay scan and found little, but on the second pass Ken spotted a not-too-distant MAMU. Then, way out in the bay Ken spotted a huge brown bird, and though ?Brown Pelican? We both got scopes focused and sure enough there was a Brown Pelican floating in the water. It may be only the 3rd or 4th county sighting of this species, another county first for Ken, bringing his county life list to 199. We were really pumped, and as I watched the pelican a Common Murre flew right through my binos view. I called it out, and Ken couldn’t believe it. I was certain, it’s an easy ID when seen well in flight, a black head, breast and back with a sharply demarkeded gleeming white belly and alcid flight and shape. We looked for a bit and it had circled back and landed on the water in the distance, so presto! Mason lifeer #200 for Ken, and it wasn’t even noon yet.
We finished up the day with stops at North Sunnyside Road where we got my county first Cassin’s Vireo and American Kestrel, and I got to meet Ryan , a very good young birder who lives on that road with his family on a large farm, and then went on to stops at Forest Road 2340 and finished at the George Adams Salmon Hatchery where two adult American Dippers were looking after a young bird.
All-in-all a spectacular day, 12 county first for me, 3 county lifers and 4 FOY birds for Ken, and a really fine day of birding with a good buddy. Life is good.
Good birding and good day.

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #67 with Dr. Roger Lederer Additional Info.


On The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #67 with Dr. Roger Lederer we talk about a nice variety of subjects, including his birding story, his experience as a university professor of ornithology at California State Chico, about his website Ornithology.com as well as tips to listeners who might be interested in a career in ornithology or just learning more about bird biology.

He has done a number of seminars at the Osher Foundations events, a learning for adults >50 years of age program. See the link to that program.

On a recent episode the Andrew Emlen we talked about his sea kayak programs on the lower Columbia river with the Roads Scholar program, another destination focused adult experiential education program.

In the intro I talk about county birding. As guests in the past I’ve had some top county birders. Brad Waggoner is the #1 county birder in Kitsap County, and Bruce LaBar is the Pierce County birder still living with the largest county life list. (Patrick Sullivan deceased reported having seen more species per the WA Birder Website county birding pages.
On the day of birding I talk about with Ken Brown, here a couple of photos and the list of the 12 new Mason County species I saw that day.
American Dipper

Amerian Dipper

American Kestrel
Cassin’s Vireo
Common Murre
Marbled Murrelet
Brown Pelican
A terrible digiscope photo for documentation of this unlikely Mason County bird.

Barn Owl
How cool are Barn Owls?

California Scrub Jay
Brown Creeper
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow

Western Sandpiper
This individual was photographed the day prior in Pierce County.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Thanks for listening.
Good birding and good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #66 with Andrew Emlen Additional Info


Andrew trying to hear a Hutton’s Vireo from his Alcyon Farm.

 

To record this episode of The Bird Banter Podcast I had the privilege of spending the day birding in Wahkiakum County, WA with my guest Andrew Emlen. Andrew is the top eBird lister in Wahkiakum County, is a very good birder, and a super nice guy. In addition he lives on and owns the Alcyon Farm, a fabulous Creekside property with a large area of restored riparian habitat and is a proprietor of Columbia River Kayaking.

Andrew and me looking for an American Dipper from the bridge across the creek on his farm.

On our day in Wahkiakum Andrew took Marian and me birding on his farm, and in local areas before we sat in the shade in the early afternoon at one of his Kayak put-in spots to talk about his birding story and his esperiences birding, kayaking and living in the area.

A Barn Swallow nest on Andrew’s porch viewed through a mirror on a pole to show the nestlings.

Many of Andrews Kayak trips are for Road Scholars, the over-55 experience based learning network. He leads 5-day kayak and nature courses in the lower Columbia River area, as well as some trips to the Sea of Cortez, in California Baja.
Andrew talks briefly about Steamboat Slough. Here is an article about the history of the steamboats of the Columbia.
Andrew is also the base violin player for the Skamakowa Swamp Opera band. You can find them on Facebook here. If you like music by birders, check out The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #52 with Stephanie Seymore.
Andrew’s farm is called Alcyon Farm, derived from the generic name for kingfishers, Halcyon, and for the myth of Halcyon. Read about it here.

A female Purple Martin on gourd nest at Alcyon Farm.

Andrew’s Alcyon Farm has made use of the USDA Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) to restore the Creekside riparian corridor at his farm.

One of many Osprey we saw near the Columbia on our day of birding.

The Baja kayak trips that Andrew leads are through Sea Kayak Baja Mexico. Check it out on their web site here.
The Julia Butler Hansen Preserve in Wahkiakum County is well knows for its birding, as well as for the Columbia race of White-tailed Deer.

 

If you enjoyed the music of the Skamakowa  Swamp Opera you can buy their last album on Amazon.

 

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #65 with Patrick O’Donnell


Patrick O’Donnell started birding as a 7-year old in Niagra Falls, NY. From there he has birded many places in the U.S. and for the last few years has lived in San Jose, Costa Rica where he guides day birding trips, is a freelance writer and is active in the Birding Club of Costa Rica.
Patrick has published an eBook available in many formats called How to Find and Identify Birds in Costa Rica. I have bought the Kindle version and it seems to be all that is implied in the title and more. I look forward to reading it soon.
We talk about several of Patrick’s favorite places to bird near San Jose including:

Parque Nacional Braulio Carillo.

In addition we talk about some of the more well known birding hotspots and ecolodges:

Rancho Naturalista

I’ll try to fill in other location links soon. Please come back.

Here is a National Smithsonian Article on Macaws and Clay Licks.

Until next time. Good birding. Good day.

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #64 with Heather Ballash and Marcus Roening Additional Info.


37×1024.jpg” alt=”” width=”937″ height=”1024″ class=”size-large wp-image-1117″ /> Heather and Marcus on the Pacific Crest Trail part of our hike to Government Meadow yesterday. [/caption]
I have known Marcus and Heather Roening for a long time. Marcus has been a prominent Pierce County birder and conservationist for most if not all of the time I’ve lived here, since 1987. More recently I got to know them much better on a birding trip to Morocco. You can hear more about that on several episodes I produced in April 2019. Michael Carmody, the tour leader was my guest on episode #12. We don’t talk much about the trip on this episode, so check there to see more about that trip. I bring this up because it was the time when I feel like I really got to see how fun it was to be around both Heather and Marcus. They are both excellent birders and I enjoyed their company and birding expertise on that trip.

Heather and Marcus with Michael Carmody (left) in Morocco in 2019.

Yesterday we went to Government Meadows, a large meadow near Mt. Rainier, in hopes of finding a few FOY (first-of-year) species for Pierce County. This was Heather’s idea, as we were trying to work out a place to record an episode and she thought it would be fun to do it outdoors, and if we could also manage to find a couple FOY Pierce County birds she might pass Bruce LaBar and go into first place for the most species seen in Pierce so far this year on eBird. We talk on the episode about this ongoing friendly competition. Rain, sleet, snow, and fatigue kept the recording from happening there, and rain pushed us indoors to their garage, a place big and open enough to properly social distance and accomplish the recording.
We saw some great scenery and got a good hike in yesterday, but alas no FOY species for any of us.
I hope you all enjoyed the episode. Feel free to leave comments here with ideas for guests, suggestions for improving the podcast, or just to reach out or give feedback.

Until next time. Good birding. Good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #63 with Mike Denny: More Info


Mike Denny

Mike Denny is my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #63, and what fun we had doing the recording. I called Mike a week or so ahead of a hoped for trip to the Walla Walla area in hopes of seeing my first Washington State Great Gray Owl. I had seen this species in Oregon, on a trip coordinated by Ken Brown for our ABC Birding Club, when a local biologist took us to a known nest box. That was very exciting, as an lifer and we got to see both adults and young birds. Mike offered to take Ken and me to a known nesting area in WA, and though the birds had fledged a week or so earlier, he expected that we would be able to find them in the area.
Gray Catbird

After a nice early morning of birding the lower elevations of Walla Walla County, and adding Veery to our WA year list, we headed up Jasper Mountain. Along the way Mike held told stories
Adult Ferruginous Hawk in a tree right beside the road. Photo taken through open drivers window from passenger seat.
of the Jasper Mountain Land Trust and how important they, and land trusts in general are to habitat preservation, as well as lots of cool info on the birds, butterflies, salamanders, snakes etc of the area.
After getting to the area of the nesting spot, Mike showed us the unusual nest site, a large escavated Pileated Woodpecker working, and we started to look for branching owlets. Mike pointed out scree by the road. He showed us how adult scree is all urea, like most birds, but that the scree of young owls can contain undigested hair and other material. We also saw wolf dung, like large dog poop but containing lots of hair from the deer or elk that they take as prey.
Wolf Dung. Note the hair from prey .

Shortly Ken spotted two owlets on a branch of a tree maybe 75 meters away. We looked at them, and then moved to a place with a clearer view. Mike suggested that we sit and watch, and wait for the parents to come feed them. I thought this was a perfect time to talk, and record the podcast, so Mike, Ken and I sat on a roadside bank, watched the owlets, and recorded this episode. I used an omnidirectional speaker, so listen carefully and hear both the owlets begging, the adult GGOW answering, and lots of other birds in the area.
Two of the 3 Great Gray Owl branching young birds that we watched for an hour or so.

Here is a link to The Secret Life of the Forest: The Northern Blue Mountains.
Here is the web site of the Blue Mountain Land Trust, the group that has helped preserve the land around a top birding area we visited, Coppei Creek https://bmlt.org/
Here is the snake that Mike spotted in the road on the way down from Bethyl Ridge Road.

A species of snake, a “Racer” of some variety, that Mike managed to get to move from the middle of the road to directly underneath his vehicle.

And here is Mike looking for the snake in his engine compartment, after he tried to shoo it away to safety, and instead it hid under his car, then disappeared.
Mike searching for the snake in his engine compartment.

Overall a great day of birding, ending with this fabulous sunset.
Sunset over Rattlesnake Mountain.

Until next time, good birding and good day!

SE WA Trip with Ken Brown and a Day with Mike Denny

Female Bullock’s Oriole on Bateman Island, Day 1.

South Eastern Washington is the part of our state that I have visited the least. Most of western Washington is just a long day trip or an easy overnight trip. Ken led class trips to the North East and north central areas regularly, and most of the Columbia Basin in central WA is both accessible in a day or two, or on the way to other areas, so I feel like I’ve been to most of the top birding areas in other parts of WA. To get to the Southeast of the state is a long drive, and for some reason is not an area I’ve birded much.
This past weekend Ken Brown and I decided it was time to break with our pattern of staying near home during the pandemic, and headed to Walla Walla county, with the bird that has eluded me in the state despite lots of attempts in the Okanogan area, Great Gray Owl as the big prize. We had the advantage of arranging to meet Mike Denny, part of one of the top birding couples, WA and the person to show us birds in Walla Walla county.
American Avocet at the Millet Ponds, Day 1

On the trip over Ken and I stopped at Bateman Island in Benton County, the Blood Tyson Ponds, and at the Millet Ponds after a detour to try for and not see the Least Tern seen the day prior from the 520 bridge in Seattle. Top birds for the trip over were Gray Catbird (FOY for both of us) along with lots of singing Yellow-breasted Chats at Bateman Island, nesting Barn Owls just past the Blood Ponds, and Eastern Kingbird, several Black-crowned Night Herons and lots of mosquitos at the Millet Ponds.
Gray Catbird Bateman Island, Day 1

Another first for us in the pandemic time was a hotel in Walla Walla. The experience was quite good, with easy “no-touch” check-in, a clean room, and we felt pretty safe with the experience.
Mike Denny

The highlight of the trip, by far, was the day with Mike Denny. He met us at the hotel at 7:30 AM, leaving us thinking it might be a low-key day, not getting up too early. We birded Coppei Creek, with lots of Gray Catbirds, chats, and singing Veery. It was a great start to the day, and Mike told us the story of the conservation of that area, just the first of many incredibly educational and interesting stories of the area we enjoyed throughout the day.
A species of snake, a “Racer” of some variety, that Mike managed to get to move from the middle of the road to directly underneath his vehicle.

Next was up Jasper Mountain Road, with several stops looking for Green Towhee, a stop looking for Great Gray Owls, and generally good birding. After a while we came to an area Mike knows for its nesting Great Gray Owls. The young have fledged already, and Ken and I ware concerned we might not find them nearby. Mike remained confident, and after a bit of walking, Mike giving us lessons about owl scree (the young incompletely digest their swallowed-whole prey, so the scree has prey parts in the urea, whereas the adults scree is all white urea) Ken spotted two owlets tucked into a branch maybe 75 meters into the drainage area beside the road. After photos, a minor victory dance for this first WA sighting for me, Mike suggested we circle around for a better look.
Two of the 3 Great Gray Owl branching young birds that we watched for an hour or so.

We walked back to a side road, got close enough for great looks, but far enough not to crowd the birds, and Mike suggested we just sit and wait for the adult to return. This gave me the idea that this was a perfect time to record the Bird Banter Podcast episode Mike and I hoped to take time out of the day of birding to get done. I got the recorder, and we sat, talked about Walla Walla County birding, GGOWs, and told other stories. It was a blast, and the owls performed nicely to keep us entertained.
One of the owlets with a vole one of the adults delivered so quickly I missed the photo op.

From there we walked the few steps to Columbia County along another road where Ken and I added lots of summer species to our county list. We moved on to Bisquit Ridge, where we finally found a Green-tailed Towhee, along with lots of butterflies and a Green Racer snake that was sunning in the road. We all got good laughs as Mike while trying to shoo it out of the road got the snake to hide under his vehicle. Then while Mike got down to try to get it out it just disappeared. Mike thought it might have climbed up into the engine compartment, and we all looked everywhere for the snake, but it somehow eluded us and hopefully just raced into the shrubs.
Mike searching for the snake in his engine compartment.

Ken and I were ecstatic, and thought the day must be wrapping up, as it was about 5 PM. We drove down the road, and near the end Mike asked us if we wanted to get dinner in town before trying for Ferruginous Hawk in the desert on the other side of the county. I learned that Mike is a fellow vegan, and we settled on Impossible Burgers at Burger King.
Probable first spring Ferruginous Hawk

We spent the rest of the daylight seeing an incredible 13 individual Ferruginous Hawks on at least 3 nests, with at least 6 young on nests. This was by far the most FEHA either Ken or I had ever seen in a day. The entire state population of FEHA may be as low as maybe 40 individual birds, as we are on the far northwest part of their range, and their habitat here has been severely degraded by loss of desert areas to agriculture, and the extirpation of Jackrabbits from the area, one of their historical top prey species.
Mike told us about aspects of FEHA that more resemble eagles than other buteos. They have huge powerful talons, and massive bills like eagles. Check out these photos.
Adult Ferruginous Hawk in a tree right beside the road. Photo taken through open drivers window from passenger seat.

Ferruginous Hawk landing gear up.

Three Ferruginous Hawk young on the nest.

We finished the day chatting and watching a fabulous sunset over Rattlesnake Mountain, before parting ways as Ken and I headed for sleep at a hotel in Umatilla.
Mt Hood from the Balsh Cemetery.

Thursday we decided to come home along the Columbia, with stops for Ash-throated Flycatcher (successful FOY for both of us) and Acorn Woodpecker (no luck) and White-breasted Nuthatch (no luck) near Balsh Road in Klickitat County.
Ash-throated Flycatcher fat the cemetery.

A couple of last stops in Skamania County padded our lists for that county, and led to a comical run-in with a red-neck local who puffed all up and tried to look intimidating as he thought with short pants we looked like the Portland protesters, and asked if we were “queer.” He said he hated birds, wanted to shoot or poison all the birds because they spread blackberry seeds everywhere. It was quite a show to end the trip.
More work to do on Butterfly ID for sure. This from the Balsh Rd area.

Home safely with 11 FOY species for me and I think 12 for Ken. Much thanks to Mike Denny. Be sure to watch for the podcast episode to be published soon.

The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #62 with Jean Pullen Additional Information


Jean at her Caribean Food Forest

On The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #62 with Jean Pullen we talk primarily about her passion for restorative agriculture. Other names for this type of food production are Permaculture, Food Forestry, and Agriforestry. Jean and her partner Alan are in the process of restoring a hectacre of previous pastureland into a self-sustaining agricultural forest, with multiple layers of habitat for birds and other animals, along with an abundance of food for themselves and to market.
Jean is also involved with other organizations that are working to improve farming in the tropics and elsewhere, to restore the land, improve the farmers lives, and provide uber-healthy food for their own consumption and as a revenue producing crop. See lots of additional information at Kiss the Ground, where you’ll find podcast, video and blog posts.
You can follow Jean at her Facebook page.

We talk about the relatively tiny 500 M2 property on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica that Alan and Jean have converted from a small lawn into an incredibly abundant food-producing multi-layered forest in just a couple of years.

Jean resting from her agriforestry work.

I cannot wait to have the chance to spend time in Costa Rica with Jean, learning the birds there, of course visiting my daughter, and enjoying the insanely delicious fruit.
I also talk about the Scarlet-rumped Tanager seen in Jean’s garden. Here are some photos of the tanager and a few of the other birds I saw in her garden.

Social Flycatcher

The Clay-colored Thrush, the National Bird of Costa Rica I discuss in the introduction.

You can find my podcast episode with my son Brett at The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #42

Until next time.
Good birding. Good day!

Saturday & Sunday of Labor Day Weekend

Willow Flycatcher

Marian and I got out birding a bit on both Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. Saturday was a day to drive through some of eastern Pierce County, to see some new roads and explore locally. Maybe my favorite spot was a wooded wetland near Kreger Lake. I have been to Kreger Lake at the overlook lots of times, and nearby Silver Lake a few times, but had never driven down the dead end road that is the turn east just before going straight on the dead end road to the overlook at Kreger Lake. It is a road through a wooded wetland, and though nothing rare was seen, it was very quiet, birdy and a nice place to just check out. The day prior I heard my FOY Willow Flycatcher, but here at least 4 WIFL were singing and perching in plain sight.
Here is the same bird just after taking flight.

At the same place Swainson’s Thrushes were singing and giving peek-a-boo looks.
Swainson’s Thrush

Cedar Waxwings were all over the place. It’s amazing that 10 days ago CEWA were hard to find. Not they are everywhere.
Cedar Waxwing

Yesterday we drove to Camano Island, to visit Marian’s youngest sister. This gave me a chance to pad my Island County list. By far my favorite place of the day was Iverson Beach where a trail starts at the parking lot, up to an overlook of the bay, then along the dike, through a mixed forest, and back through a marshy area. It even has a “Hobbit Trail.”
Purple Martin on a perch by a nest box.

Almost as soon as I got on the viewing platform I picked a Parasitic Jaeger out in the distance on the water, and we got to watch it harass Caspian Terns and show off its tail chase stuff. I had not really birded Island County except in the winter. A few years prior Kay and I spent a weekend on Whidby Island in mid winter. My county list going into yesterday was 75 species, and now stands at 109. Low hanging fruit for sure, but the PAJA along with calling Red Crossbills, an Osprey, and just a nice variety of common species made for a great morning of birding.
A wierd looking Spotted Towhee. I think an adult, but with its feathers being blown all over and pushed around by the branch.

Overall easy birding, good weather, and a nice 2-day stretch of birding. Today it is steady rain so far. I missed the Eared Grebes that were seen yesterday at Dune’s Peninsula on a quick check after getting up.
I did publish The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #61 with Stefan Schlick today. Another fun episode to record, as Stefan is smart and super nice.
Good Birding.

Additional Notes on Episode #61 with Stefan Schlick

In this episode of The Bird Banter Podcast with Stefan Schlick we talk about Stefan’s evolution from a relatively causal birdwatcher in Germany to an avid and keen birder after moving to the U.S. He is now a full time trip leader based near Portland, OR and leads trips for the Portland Audubon Society, as well as for other organizations and on his own.

I know Stefan from many winter trips to the Okanogan area of eastern WA, where Ken Brown (see episodes #2 and #46) and I would compare notes with Stefan at the Omak Inn after our first day of leading our groups around the area. Stefan was usually leading trips for WOS, and Ken and I leading trips for Ken’s birding class or more recently for the ABC Birding Club.
Stefan is an avid county birder, has spent time living in Florida, California and lots of time birding in Arizona, so has lots of field time in many of the top ABA birding spots. He is also becoming interested in finding and identifying dragonflies and butterflies, and we talk a bit about these as offshoots of birding.
Here are links to some of the things we talk about on the episode:
Portland Audubon Society Field Trips
“Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest” by Robert Michael Pyle and Caitlin LaBar https://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-Pacific-Northwest-Timber-Press/dp/1604696931/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=butterflies+of+the+pacific+northwest&qid=1590101437&sr=8-1

“Dragonflies and Damselflies of Oregon” by Cary Kerst and Steve Gordon https://www.amazon.com/Dragonflies-Damselflies-Oregon-Field-Guide/dp/0870715895
Here is a link to Stefan’s blog. http://birdmeister.wordpress.com
You can contact Stefan by email at: greenfant – at – hotmail- dot- com.