I gave myself a break today. Ken and Heather Voboril went out owling early, in the cold, wind and rain, and in 3 hours heard one Great-horned Owl. One more than I had predicted when last night after getting home from the Gray’s Harbor CBC I called Ken and bailed on owling on his Vashon CBC. I met Them and Jacob Miller, a young and new-to-birding birder at the Purdy Park & Ride at 7:50. I tried scoping in the barely light for the Black Scoter on Henderson Inlet, but with the weather there was not enough light to see anything that early.
We did our usual routes for the CBC, and it was fun to get to know Jacob a bit, a home-schooled and very sharp 14 year old from Mason County who has been birding for about a year. The birding in general was slow in the AM with far fewer finches, sparrows and the like in the Burley area, and then the rain came in ernest. We spent much of the AM driving neighborhoods looking out the car windows for feeders and flocks. Nothing really notable was found.
In the afternoon we went to Long Lake, a segment of a different section of the count area, where Ken had found some good birds scouting the day prior. Heather spotted the Canvasback, very distant but identifiable. Hundreds of Ringed-neck Ducks dominated, but big numbers of PBGR and AMCO were seen, and in the boat launch area Jacob spotted Hariy Woodpecker and Red-breasted Sapsucker, usual for the area, but good FOY birds for me.
We wrapped up at Blackjack Creek area where Heather and I heard the Virginia Rail we had missed in the AM, and Ken and Jacob scanned the fields for raptors, largely without success.
As usual a good day of friendship and birding, lots of new FOY species (easy in early Jan) and cold hands and ears.
Say goodbye to the CBC season.
Category: Ed’s Birding Notes
This is where I post my personal birding notes.
CBC #1 of a 2-CBC Weekend
Bruce LaBar led our area of the Gray’s Harbor Christmas Bird Count today, and everything worked out better than expected. The weather report called for rain all day, getting worse as the day progressed, along with high winds. The winds came, though maybe less strong than predicted, but we had only maybe 2 minutes of light rain.
We started the day at the Brown’s Point Jetty in Ocean Shores, after Bruce met me here in Tacoma at 5:45 AM, then Gene Revelas in Olympia and Laurel Parshall in 
At the jetty it was high tide and really crazy high seas. The expected rock-loving sandpipers put on a good show at the base of the jetty, with 5 Rock Sandpipers, 50 Black Turnstones, and 20 Surfbirds. Otherwise not a lot to see there. At the Game Range we added loons, gulls, ducks and sandpipers, including a single Long-billed Dowicher, and our best bird of the day IMHO a Black-legged Kittiwake sitting on the backwaters there.
Later we hiked to the end of Damon Point, where Short-eared Owl and a Wilson’s Snipe flushed, and a single Long-tailed Duck floated off the end of the spit.
Overall a much more pleasant day than expected due to good weather, and good birds. I like doing this CBC in part because it gets my WA state list off to a fast start. This brings me to 93 species for WA in 2020, and puts my Gray’s Harbor list ahead of my Pierce County (where I live but have not birded much since the new year).
Tomorrow the Vashon Island CBC with Ken Brown and others.
Good Birding.
A Couple Hours of Birding After Working this Morning
I like to take advantage of being done with precepting at the Puyallup based EPFM Residency when I finish at noon, and even better was finishing by 11AM today. I headed for the recent swan fields at Von Ogel’s Ford Rd, but as Bruce told me they just are not there this winter. Fortunately I saw my Pierce FOY Trumpeter Swan (5) alongside Hwy 162 getting there, and again (23) on the Orting Farm Loop soon after. Also on the loop was a full feeder just after turning off Calistoga onto the loop, were at least 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds were with lots of Red-winged and Brewer’s Blackbirds. The expected American Kestrel was also on a wire on the loop, but nothing else notable.
A stop at the barn on Levee Rd. yielded the roosting pair of Barn Owls, one flushed before I got the camera up, but the LEGO and CORE seen late last year by others did not show near the river and the bridge. A stop at 56th St Stormwater Ponds showed much “progress” on the big housing development where we used to get birds in the field, and the usual wintering Ruddy Ducks with other waterfowl.
A nice diversion on the way back to end yet another short day of light in the Pacific NW.
New Years Day Birding with Friends
This year for New Years Eve Marian and I went to a dance in Seattle, but before the event stopped at a parking lot in Bothell near the well known crow roost there, and for my first time watched the spectacle of my estimated 15,000 crows coming to roost. Pretty cool. On the morning of Jan 1 we headed north to visit Ron and Linda Bahr, and to visit some of the North Puget Sound areas where it is easier to get a few species tougher to find near Tacoma and in the south sound area. On the drive up we drove across Fir Island, with a very quick stop at Wiley Slough NWR, with a distant Rough-legged Hawk the best bird there, though the many thousands of Snow Geese flying around were great too.
Our first stop with Ron and Linda after a really good pizza for lunch in Bellingham was at Birch Bay SP, where lots of Black Brant, sea ducks including a few Long-tailed Ducks were found, but missed Black Scoter which is fairly regular there in winter. It was a beautiful sunny day all day long, despite rain in the forecast, so I took this as a good omen for 2020.
We drove through the town of Birch Bay, then over to the Semiahmoo Spit. There Ron found a pair of distant Black Oystercatchers, we saw Harlequin Duck, Sanderling, and a really nice sunset from the bar at the resort.
After a really good visit, and catching up on family, work, and our lives, Ron dropped us back in Bellingham. He has a new F-150 all decked out with spacious back seats, and we were amazed at the comfort of a pickup truck. We spent the night in LaConnor at the Heron Inn and Day Spa B&B, and they made us a customized vegan breakfast, very nicely done.
By last night the slight cold I seemed to be catching on NY Eve blossomed into a full blown head old, so today instead of birding the Samish Flats we just headed south. I caught a good nap, and birded Ruston Way from the car in late afternoon, adding the usual birds, plus a 5 each Western Meadowlark and Black Turnstones , bood Pierce County birds at Dune Peninsula.
Happy New Years and Good birding.
South King County Birding Day
This morning Marian and I headed to King County to see if I could add a bird or two to my county list. First stop was at the “M” street ponds near the Emerald Down’s race track in Auburn, where there is a good place to see flooded dairy fields and lots of dabbling ducks. It did not disappoint, walking carefully to avoid the dog poop I easily picked a Eurasian Wigeon from the flock of maybe 800 dabbling ducks, with lots of AMEI, GWTE, NOPI and a few NOSH. Few other birds were noted so off to the Kent Ponds area.
At the Kent Ponds, or on eBird the Kent Ponds GRNWR hotspot, I added California Scrub Jay heard calling shortly after parking across the street from the main parking lot because of construction in the lot. We met a young birder from near Bellevue there named Elliot, and later helped him find his lifer Northern Pintail and Lincoln’s Sparrow. Fun to remember when lifers were a near-daily experience.
Another stop at the Redondo Pier was more notable for warming up and iced tea with fries at Salty’s than the few birds seen.
A nice chilly overcast western WA day and now home for the afternoon. Hoping to figure out a guest or topic for TBBP soon.
Link to old birding notes posts
I kept birding notes online for quite a while on an old Countybirding.com website. To access these look HERE
A Great Day Today
It’s been snowy in the Puget Sound area for a few days, and today I was starting to feel really anxious to get out side and go birding. That said, this morning it was raining hard, about 34 degrees, and just not reasonable to go birding.
The day started to pick up when Bruce LaBar texted to see if we could move his time to record The Bird Banter Podcast episode #3 up to this morning, since he chose not to try to drive to his yoga, and instead wanted to walk to my condo.
He got here about 10 AM and we recorded the episode. Here is the podcast.
After Bruce left I was able to get the post-production editing done, and publish the podcast, and decided to go for a walk. On the walk on the Ruston Way waterfront a flock of Bushtits made an appearance, for a Pierce County FOY species for me.
Just as I got home Michael Charest put out a text to our county listers that he had a Sandhill Crane in Orting. It appears that the heavy snow forced an immature SACR down and it has been foraging in a residential neighborhood since yesterday. I called Bruce and Will Brooks, and we dashed out to see the crane, exactly where Michael reported seeing it, and photos were had by all.
This went so easily we had time to drive the Orting Farm loop, where in the same location Will found a Swamp Sparrow last fall, one was calling from out in the field, and I heard it call several times clearly, and this made my second “county first” species of the day.
Pretty good stuff for a day that started as a weather-bound house day.
I hope you enjoy the podcast. You can also find it Here on the iTunes Store.
Good birding!
BirdBanter from conception to reality.
I’ve become a fan of listening to podcasts over the last few years. I find having control over what I listen to while driving, flying, or otherwise being in a position to listen to radio-like content beats the random AM or FM radio options. There are a few pretty good birding podcasts available. Bird Chick has an entertaining and informative show, that I listen to from time to time. The “This Birding Life” podcast from Birdwatcher’s Digest is probably my favorite. It’s a once-a-month podcast often featuring a well known birder or other naturalist.
I envision BirdBanter as a podcast where I can sit and talk with birders with stories to tell that will entertain and captivate the imagination of birders. We will talk about places we’ve been, experiences we’ve had, and dreams we have yet to pursue.
I expect you’ll find Birdbanter something you look forward to hearing and will want to talk about with your friends. If you have birders you’d like to hear from on BirdBanter, contact me using the Contact Page, or leave a comment with the suggestion. I’ll see if I can make it happen.
Good birding.
Black Phoebe (finally)
Today with an assist to Michael C. I finally found the Black Phoebe at the area across the road from the Gog. Not a lot else happening at the main area today, but it was nice to walk the area with Michael, and hear about his recent birding travels.
A Drive to the Snow Today
This midday I was able to get out birding, and since I needed to go to Puyallup anyway I kept going east to Ashford hoping for maybe a Pine grosbeak, N. Pygmy owl or Townsend’s solitaire. What I got was beautiful snowy scenery adn the dipper at the usual Elbe stop. One was singing under the bridge in response to a recording, but didn’t come into view. Another was far upstream and the only photos I could find the bird in were in flight.
Overall a nice drive on a cold snowy day.