Today Bruce and I headed for one last day at Sunrise before it closes for the winter. We are late, looks like it closed already, when we got there the gate was down just past the turnoff to White River Campground. As an alternative we went up to Chinook Pass by Lake Tipsoo and birded there, and on several stops on the way back down, ending our mountain birding at Crystal Ski Area. Very few birds were seen, and we headed back to Tacoma. Quick stops at the Gull Bathing Spot and the new path to the mouth of the Puyallup river showed the usual gulls, a stop at Marine Park yielded my Pierce FOY Black Turnstone, and we ended by looking over the Point Defiance Park Gig Harbor overlook BOGU flock for PAJA without success. Home by 2 PM and the BLTU gave me 212 Pierce species for 2017, tying my prior high from 2015. With 2 1/2 months to go I should find something new to set a new personal best Pierce year list, hopefully soon.
Category: Ed’s Birding Notes
This is where I post my personal birding notes.
Catching Up
Life has been hectic since getting back from the coast ABC trip. See the post on the ABC site for a report on the rest of the trip.
Highlights since returning have included seeing the Franklin’s gull at Dash Point (Pierce FOY) and best of all the Lesser Black-backed Gull at the 11th St. Bridge. I was working at Brett’s house on August 5th, planning a couple of hours of work before heading to Rotary, when Will sent out a group text that he had the LBBG. I quickly left, binos but no scope, and on arrival at the bridge Will and Michael Charest both had the gull in their scopes from the shore just upstream from the bridge. It was only maybe 40 meters out on the sand bar, and I got great looks, a couple digiscope photos on Will’s scope, and drank in great looks. The gull was obvious through binos, by its very dark back and wings, its yellow legs, pale yellow eye, and was felt to be a 3rd year because it lacked much for white spots in the wing tips. This was a Pierce lifer for me.
A Heerman’s gull, again found by Will Brooks, has been hanging out on the Marine Park all this week, and I was just driving into my parking spot here at home when will texted us all. I hopped back in the car and again without a scope easily found the gull on the pilings as described.
Yesterday Bruce and I spent the morning birding Pierce from the south back to Pt. Defiance. Stops at Mount’s Road, Easterday Rd, the trail at the end of McNeil (where Bruce showed me a better place to look over the delta area), a new spot for me called Saltar’s Point Park in Steilacoom, Sunnyside Beach, and Pt. Defiance gave us nice looks at lots of common birds, but nothing outstanding.
Chambers Bay Beach Access for Sanderling
Today, finally, after hoping for the last 2 days that the Sanderlings, found by Bruce Labar and since seen by seemingly all the other Pierce County birders, I got down to Chambers Bay to try for them. I was also hoping the Black turnstone Bruce had might still be around, but since others had not listed this bird I was doubtful.
It was pretty easy as the 3 juv. Sanderlings were with the small flock of WESA and LESA midway down the North Beach side. I could not find the SESA that others had seen, but was pretty happy with the Pierce FOY Sanderlings. They were obliging for photos too.
Owl Not to be at Sunrise Today
The idea was that raptors should be soaring in the afternoon in the passes at Sunrise today so Bruce and I headed that way. It was a slightly overcast day so thoughts of Black swift were in mind also. It was warm not hot, and a nice breeze, so a great day for a hike, but FOY Pierce birds just were not happening today. Hopes were for GOEA, GOHA, ROWR, PRFA, and maybe GCRF in the day, and LEOW and BOOW after dark.
On the way up we met Roy Morris and four women coming down the trail and they had seen 5 Long-eared owls in the meadows near Sunrise campground and Shadow Lake the at dusk yesterday. They were confident we’d also see them tonight. Our hopes were high.
Anyway we hiked to Fremont Lookout, trying for Rock wren and with eyes skyward a lot. Also worked the meadows near Frozen Lake for Horned Lark. No luck at all on the way up, but on the way down we flushed on HOLA while >100 Mountain bluebirds flew by, worked the meadow, and perched on the fence by the lake.
After dark it was really quiet. Clouds covered the sky so no moonlight, and no owls anywhere despite trying all around the campground for LEOW and on the road back to Sunrise in the usual places for BOOW.
Home by about 11:30.
Eclipse
Today was just a terrific day from start to finish. Kay and I drove to Gig Harbor to meet Ken and Rachel at Schmel Homestead Park to have a picnic breakfast and watch the eclipse. Kay and I brought vegan coffee cake, and Ken and Rachel brought fresh berries. Ken also brought toys and ideas on ways to experience the eclipse. He had figured out how to use his spotting scope to focus in the sun onto a notebook to show the sun without looking at it.
This worked great during the eclipse when it got near fully covered by the moon, but at other times it simply started to incinerate whatever it was focused on. A 9 year old at the park had fun burning the moon-shaped eclipse onto a 2×4. Ken also brought metal colanders as a way to see the sun focused on a paper.
It was cool too, but we had more fun pretending to be fending off aliens with the colanders on our heads. We sat, told stories, ate, chatted with a young father and his son, eating, and watching the eclipse happen.
After this I brought Kay home, and while she went to dinner with friends I went to Brett’s house after picking up some lumber at Home Depot, and put up the high trim on the side of the house that needs a gutter, started to find level spots for the shed, and then had dinner and watched the M’s with a beer at the Top of Tacoma bar in his neighborhood.
On the way home I birded 56th St. Stormwater, the Black phoebe is still there,
Levy Pond, and the Freeman Rd Mitigation where the adult Pectoral Sandpiper remains with 16 WESA.
Home just in time to watch the bottom of the 9th inning of the M’s win as Diaz got the save without too much drama.
Pectoral Sandpiper at Levy Pond
I happened to check my email around noon and saw a very recent (hourly) eBird needs alert for Pierce County that Christopher Clark had seen a Pectoral sandpiper at Levy Pond. Kay and I headed right there, and the PESA was feeding near two Long-billed dowitchers on the sand bar. It moved around a from the near side to the far side and back while we were there. Good light and fairly close photos obtained. A good FOY Pierce bird for both of us.
Black Phoebe While Shorebirding
Today I made three quick stops, primarily looking for share birds while Kay was at her book club. At the Freeman Road mitigation the water is nearly dried up and not many birds left. At Levy Pond the mud was good, the SBDO remained, but otherwise just the usual peeps. At 56th St. Stormwater Ponds almost no shorebirds, but there was a Black phoebe perched and calling from the fence initially beside the back pond, but subsequently in various locations. Good things happen when you go birding.
I was pleased with the photos I was able to get, both digiscope initially, and with the camera once I walked closer. See them on my eBird list.
Long-Billed Curlew
Thanks to Will Brooks who found the LBCU and Bruce Labar who called me while he was seeing the bird, I was able to make a frantic dash to the newly plowed field just off Hwy 162 near 80th Ave. to see my first Pierce County Long-billed Curlew about 12:50 today, get photos, and dash back to Good Samaritan Hospital to park and get to work by 1:30 and precept for the East Pierce County Family Medicine Residency program for the afternoon. The power of eBird and a good cell phone network is amazing. Pierce County species # 243 is on record now. Check out my best photos on eBird.
Ft. Steilacom Park and Mountain View Cemetery
Today I chased the Redhead seen for the last 2 days at Waughop Lake and it was sitting with the same 6 Lesser Scaup as yesterday. Overall it was a sunny morning and the breeding birds were in good chorus. As has been typical for me I could not find the Bullock’s Orioles that have been seen there recently, but otherwise saw most of the expected birds. I also spent some effort on photos, trying to practice what Heather has been teaching at the TAS class. My biggest challenge remains getting birds in proper focus.
Best birds of the day were lots of Yellow Warblers, several Black-headed Grosbeaks, Wilson’s Warblers, a nice look at a Cassin’s Vireo, California Quail, and a singing Hammond’s Flycatcher.
From here I made a quick stop at the Mountainview Cemetery and heard the House Wren in full song at his usual nest spot but could not get a look. No Cinnamon Teal in sight either.
Last stop was at JBLM to renew my range pass.
134th St Quickstop
On the way home from working with Brett today I made a stop at 134th St (beside the old Van Lierop’s Farm Stand) looking for the Lesser Goldfinch sighted there recently. I had not really birded this area before, and found that walking the road plus the dirt road beside the big field gives access to large areas of dense brush and trees with a big field on the other side of the dirt road.
Right as I parked on the side of 134th near the ramshackle barn I heard a LEGO calling. It called repeatedly and sang a few times but I never could get a look at it in the big tree beside the road, then it flew away. No luck with callback recordings. Next I walked down the road and onto the dirt road off to the left. There I saw a large flycatcher working from the top of a tree way over by the Shaw Road overpass. It was a WEKI. It then flew high right across the dirt road, singing and sallying about until it landed on the large snag in the far corner of the field. There was another WEKI there, 2 total, and they had ?courtship like interactions and hung out in the snag. ? a nest tree?