It seemed appropriate that the day after talking with Paul Bannick for The Bird Banter Podcast #82 Marian and I got a chance to see the Snowy Owl that has been roosting on rooftops in a Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle for a week or so. It brought to mind the studies done a few years ago about the Snowy Owls in the big invasion year, and how they often hunt sea ducks at night. Maybe this owl is hunting ducks on the nearby Green Lake at night, probably easy picking, and doing just fine in this urban setting.
Snowy Owls are such an iconic bird, and I am looking forward to seeing and reading Paul Bannick’s new book on the life history of Snowy Owls as well as the book on Great Gray Owls. I saw my WA first Great Gray Owl this year when Mike Denny took Ken Brown and me to a site to find them and we sat and recorded The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #63 with Mike Denny sitting on the side of a logging road as recently fledged Great Gray Owls walked on branched very nearby.
On this episode Paul talks about his conservation work for Conservation Northwest, about the wildlife corridors they are working to create, and about newly reintroduced species like Gray Wolves, Wolverine and Fisher. I feel like I better understand the I-90 wildlife bridges that we see on our trips to E WA.
I’ve had other photographers on the podcast in the past, including Dorian Anderson, Nate Chappell and most recently with Idaho birder and photographer Darren Clark.
Please leave comments and give me feedback about this episode, the podcast in general, or if you have thoughts por suggestions for guests you’d like to hear from.
Until next time: Good birding and good day!
This episode is a bit different than some others as I talk with Florence Reed of Sustainable Harvest International and Patrick McMillan, a longtime birder, and recently retired Clemson University professor about how small family agroforestry farms can have real and significant impact on the environment and migratory birds on their wintering grounds.
Maybe the most eye opening moment of the conversation was when I asked if this type of farming was only for local use or could it be scaled to “feed the world.” Florence gently informed me that these small family farms are already feeding far more of the world than are giant monocrop forms run by huge international corporations using unsustainable techniques that require increasingly intense use of harmful pesticides and deplete the soil. My assumption that most of the world goes to the supermarket for their food, rather than the family garden was obviously my ignorance, bias and self-centered thinking in action.
Helping these family farms and farmers grow more food, a healthier mix of diet and do it in a long-term sustainable way makes so much sense to me. The added benefit that our neotropic migrants have more and healthier habitat for much of their life cycle is frosting on the cake.
Habitat is the key to bird populations. Birders know that habitat protection, improvement and restoration is a key to protecting our birds. Patrick speaks to this eloquently when he talks about the changes he helped institute in the Clemsen Botanical Gardens. Changing the focus of the area to more native plants and more wild type areas almost doubled the number of species seen there in less than a decade.
On an earlier episode Dennis Paulson talks about the loss of the shrub-steppe habitat in the Lower Columbia area within his lifetime. Grasslands in general are probably the most threatened habitat in the world. They are exactly the areas where it is most profitable to convert to agriculture, and have largely been converted. The small farmers that Florence and Patrick talk about are using remaining land that is less desirable to large commercial farming, and yet can do it effectively and sustainably to feed their family while helping the environment and the birds.
Here is a link to the Heronswood Garden in Kitsap County, WA where Patrick is now working.
I have learned and become interested in these issues in part because my daughter Jean (see episode #41) and her husband Alan have dedicated their lives to these causes, so they matter to me. Check out the organization Jean works with, Jungle Project, to learn more.
Let me know if you enjoyed this episode, if you have other topics you’d like to hear about, or have suggestions for guests you’d like to hear from.
Until next time. Good birding and Good Day!
Horned Grebe at the Keller Ferry on Day 4
The third day of the trip was without a doubt the toughest day of the trip from a weather and finding birds standpoint. We headed south from Spokane hoping to go to Steptoe Butte and bird around the Rock Lake area. Whitman County is another area I’d not birded much at all in the winter birding timeframe (I know it’s really autumn, but in the birding year migration is mostly past, and the winter residents are largely in place for the winter) and so I had hopes of finding most of the available wintering water birds, as well as a variety of land birds. We headed south in pretty heavy snow. By the time we got to the turnoff from Hwy 905 in Cheney it was really snowing heavily. We continued past Turnbull and got to the overlook to the Whitman Quarry Pond, but couldn’t really find a good overlook, and headed to the south end of Rock Lake. When we got there it was more a freezing rain and pretty stiff wind, and there were almost no waterfowl on the lake. The only duck was Bufflehead, but Black-billed Magpie and Belted Kingfisher made for a disappointing 3 county lifers.
The weather remained really difficult, so instead of trying for Steptoe Butte we drove to Pullman hoping for a FOY Washington Blue Jay. On the drive there we didn’t see a Rough-legged Hawk, expected by me, but did see a flock of about 18 Snow Buntings as they lifted off the road in front of us and flew into the wheat stubble and disappeared. 13 individual BLJAs had been seen the day prior, but no luck for us. It was my first visit to WSU, and in a couple of hours poking around we did add Mourning Dove and Cooper’s Hawk on campus, and another 7 first county species at the Pullman-Koppei Community Gardens by a small creek in town. Great looks at Lesser Goldfinch was probably the highlight.
We tried for Steptoe Butte in the afternoon as the weather cleared, but the access road was blocked by a gate, so this ended a pitiful day of birding. A Bewick’s Wren on the drive down the canyon into Swawilla Basin, Ferry County, WA
Saturday was the day to drive home, and I decided to try for a few winter Ferry County birds on the trip home. We drove to the Keller Ferry, with a short stop at the Reardon Ponds on the way. Nothing there, but it was a beautiful cold clear day. We tried the Davenport Cemetery on the way, but it was blowing a gale, and very few birds were found, despite really trying for an owl in the trees.
By the time we got to the Lincoln County end of the Keller Ferry the wind had died down, and it was spectacular. The Eastern WA ferry system is a free, on-demand ferry system every 20 or so miles along the Columbia River, letting people cross without building little used bridges. We were the only car on board, and I managed to see Horned Grebes on the Ferry side for a county first. The only birding we did was on the Swawilla Basin Road loop, from just above the ferry, through the basin, and up to join the Manilla Creek Road just east of the Coulee Dam. My car’s navigation system suggested to look as a better option than retracing our way back to the ferry area, so I forged ahead. The birding was passable, adding Gray Partridge, and a number of small passerines including Horned Lark and Bewick’s Wren to my Ferry life list, but the road got sketchy and pretty steeply uphill in the last 2-3 miles. I took over driving from Marian half way through the loop, and was glad it was me not her that got us stopped on the icy steep two-track detour around a washed out main road part way up the hill. With some backing up and trying again a few times I managed to skid the way up the hill and we made it without help, but it was really dicey for a while. Memory accomplished.
My goal was to push my county lists over 100 in Spokane and Lincoln Counties, and closer in Whitman and Ferry. This was done, ending at 102 for Spokane, 101 for Lincoln, but only 89 for Ferry (minimal effort) and 71 for Whitman (weather obstructed effort).
Overall a nice get away. The Hampton Inn & Suites in Spokane was great, clean easy and affordable.
A moose, I think a young male was one of two seen at Turnbull NWR
Here is the other moose, likely a young female.
I decided to make a trip to Lincoln, Spokane and WhitWandermere man Counties to add some winter species to my county lists this week. Yesterday Marian and I left Tacoma about 5:30 and drove straight through with just stretch and potty stops to Sprague, where we birded the eastern end (in Lincoln County) where it was clear but cold. Maybe the most productive stop was when I misnavigated and we missed the through-town route to the south side of the lake, and stumbled onto a good mixed flock of ducks in a small body of water east of Hwy 23 (Ebird list here) where we saw 8 species of duck and Tundra Swan. We struggled to see much on the lake, but did make the eBird alert with a Red-breasted Merganser.
From here we headed north to the Reardon Ponds and to the winter route described in the WA Birding guide, as well as Mill Canyon. Birding was slow overall, adding Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Shrike, and on the ponds Hooded Merganser, Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, Canvasback, and Trumpeter Swan (on the part of the ponds across the road from the birding developed area.)
In Mill Canyon birding was slow, adding BCCH and MOCH as wall as RBNU in the forested area, and Horned Grebe, Greater Scaup and Belted Kingfisher at the river at the end of the canyon road.
On the drive to Spokane we saw a Short-eared Owl in Spokane County as twilight came on as is typical with this species. White-winged Crossbills at Mt. Spokane State Park.
Today we headed to Mt. Spokane SP where White-winged and Red Crossbills were easily seen right near the parking lot, and just down the road from there Pine Grosbeak and Townsend’s Solitaire. Red Crossbills again at Mt. Spokane SP. Do you think the bird on the upper right is a WWCR?
We stopped at several places on the way down the hill, with few birds, then at the Feryn Conservation Area while looking for and not adding Rough-legged Hawk we did add American Kestrel and Ring-necked Pheaasnt. The surprise stop of the day was at the Wandermere Golf Course Lake, hoping for Barrow’s Goldeneye, and getting that along with most of the other ducks hoped for in the county. The rest of the afternoon, a drive to and around Turnbull NWR was largely a bust. Incredibly few birds, but 2 Moose, and on the way out a few waterfowl on a pond near the blocked entrance to the refuge.
We ended the day trying for the Blue Jay in town, but no luck. Tomorrow is for Whitman County, hoping for winter birds there. I did manage to get over 100 on my life list for Lincoln and Spokane Counties, just barely at 101 & 102 respectively.
Now to sleep and hope snow allows the birding tomorrow.
I had so much fun talking about birding in Idaho and photography with Darren Clark on this episode. Darren is the top eBird lister in Idaho with 387 species on his eBird list.
Today Marian worked on a school project with her grandson Ethan in Lake Forest Park, so I rode up with her and birded the nearby Snohomish waterfront and at Juanita Bay Park in King County. It was really warm, in the 60’s, but also windy making birding tough.
I had really not done much salt water birding in Snohomish, and at Richmond Beach Saltwater Park the wind and waves made it tough viewing, but at Ocean Ave. I managed to pick up 5 new county species, Horned and Red-necked Grebe, Surf Scoter, Pelagic Cormorant and Pacific Loon. Then in King County across Lake Washington I walked the path at Juanita Bay Park. It was really windy, but I managed to hear one, maybe two Virginia Rails doing their grunt calls. County birding continues.
Canada Jays were seemingly everywhere we got to any elevation this trip, and Marian had fun with them.
Marian and I took a break from politics, seawatching and Pierce County and headed off south so I could try to put a few more WA counties into the >100 species seen bucket. Thursday was a beautiful day, and we started at a clearcut in northern Cowlitz County that is not far from I-5 but gets into higher elevation habitat that I’d not birded in Cowlitz before, Barnes Drive State Forest South. It’s a fairly extensive clearcut with easy parking and access. Canada Jays were seen and heard almost immediately, and when I whistled my NOPY imitation two Northern Pygmy Owls responded almost immediately from either side of the logging road to the cut area. We tried but could not locate them, though they moved around a bit. Lincoln’s Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and Varied Thrush were also new Cowlitz species for me, pushing my county list from 98 to 103 on the first stop. We then headed to Wahkiakum County.
A California Gull at County Line Park was #98 for the county, followed by Pine Siskin at Brook’s Slough and a pair of Downy Woodpeckers near Andrew Emlen’s kayak tour shop on Steamboat Slough for #100. We spent a beautiful late afternoon at Julia Butlere NWR where Lincoln’s Sparrow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Peregrine Falcon and Virginia Rail brough Wahkiakum one ahead of Cowlitz at 104 and the sun set on a beautiful day.
After staying in Kelso we awoke to wind, rain and cold weather. Fog was thick and birding nearly impossible. We tried some car birding in the Woodland Bottoms area, and #104 for the county were a few Northern Shoveler at the Longview Sewer Ponds. We did see lots of Sandhill Cranes in the bottoms, but quit early there and headed for the primary county of my trip, Skamania.
Stops just past the county line at Franz Lake just got me wetter, though even in the heavy rain both swan species were easily seen. We headed for Rock Creek Mill Pond, where a Ross’s Goose had been seen the day prior. Highlight there was meeting Jim Danzenbaker. Jim is a very well known WA birder, prior WOS president and Battleground, WA resident. He had birded the area despite the rain and wind and not seen the ROGO, saving me some wet searching time. We had a nice chat, and I added a somewhat unusual Western Gull, along with American Coot and Pied-billed Grebe to my list.
The rain let up a bit, and several stops along the river added Herring Gull, a somewhat uncommon Surf Scoter, and Greater Scaup. At the Drano Lake Fish Hatchery area a Common Loon was in the protected area of water, and an American Dippers was near the hatchery bridge. Lesser Scaup by the mouth of Windy River, and then time lost wandering around the Strawberry Island area yielded just CBCH and California Gull, leaving me far short of the hoped for list for the day, at 82 life in the county.
No good places we could find to stay in Stevenson, so we crossed the Bridge of the Gods to Hood River, stayed at a nice Best Western, and in a first for the Covid-time at a restaurant on an outside deck with a gas heater and had a vegan burger and I tried a flight of local beers.
Saturday turned beautiful, and we headed for higher elevation Skamania County. My navigation skills failed us, as I tried going up the Wind River Hwy with goal of lots of stops enroute to Takhlakh Lake Campground. Well, we made lost of stops, had plenty of Canada Jays eating our of Marian’s hands, and wound up on a dead end road at Steamboat Lake. I cried uncle, we made it back to Trout Lake, finding “Tire Junction” on the way, and took main roads up to the campground, getting there about noon. Aptly named Tire Junction gave us cause to smile.
Highlights of the wandering route were a Sooty Grouse Marian spotted beside the road, and I managed to relocate just off the road with a little bushwhacking, a flock of Red Crossbills at Old Man Pass Sno Park, and beautiful scenery.
Mt Adams across Takhlakh Lake from the Campground.
The campground at Takhlakh is spectacular, with Mt. Adams just across the lake. A NOPY responded to my whistles, and circled all around us several times eluding visuals. Oddly for Oct 31 an Osprey called and circled overhead. Mountain Chickadee was the only additional county lifer. An unexpected Osprey so late in the year above Takhlakh Lake.
We made our way back down, making a few stops in Klickitat County at Trout Lake and Bingen Pond and adding Yellow-rumped Warbler as the sun set on Halloween, 2020.
at a Pizza Place, great pizza, a couple beers on draft, and a table without service far from other places, and stayed dry.
We stayed in Oregon again in Hood River at another Best Western, and decided to try a Pizza Place, great pizza- really great pizza, a couple beers on draft, and a table without service far from other places, and stayed dry. I decided to try to get Klickitat to 100, and we managed Sunday morning, adding Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier and Virginia Rail at a quick stop back at Bingen Pond before heading for an area familiar to me from summertime birding, the Lyle-Balch Cemetery and Acorn Woodpecker area. In short order we added Varied Thrush, Steller’s Jay, and California Quail, getting to #99. The pond was nearly dry, but on getting down the hill to the old granary area for Acorn Woodpecker, a Red-breasted Sapsucker flew into the small treed just across Old Hwy 8. I found a great parking spot to look for ACWO, about 100 yards east of the Balsh Hill Rd junction with Old Hwy 8, pulled in and set up the scope. In a few minutes an Acorn Woodpecker flew in and perched atop a very tall snag. This turned out to be what I think may be a new granary tree. It’s easy to see, maybe 100-150 yards from the road, and in clear sight just east of straight across from the place I parked. At least 3 ACWO were working the tree, and it had lots of acorn holes.
We wrapped up the trip back at the Rock Creek Mill Pond park, adding Northern Shoveler and an unusual Snow Goose to my county list, leaving it only 94.
The trip home was uneventful, and on getting home we watched the Seahawks (on recording) destroy the 49ers to wrap up a great trip.
I now have >=100 species in all the counties in WA west of I-90. My next big county listing trip may be to Spokane, Ferry, Lincoln and Whitman Counties in a week or two.
On this episode you’ll hear about Lynn Barber’s big years and more. Lynn is an insatiable big year birder, who has done big years in Texas, Alaska, South Dakota, the ABA and has books about the ABA Big Year and the Texas and Alaska Big Years that you can get directly from her by emailing her at dalybar@aol.com to get a signed copy, or on many of the online book sales stores. Lynn put up a supply for book tours just before Covid hit, so be kind and buy yours directly from her if you can.
Lynn has also served as the president of the Texas Ornighologic Society, is active now in the Anchorage Audubon, and offers to show visitors around Anchorage if you visit. I hope to take her up on that sometime. Here is Lynn’s website.
Lynn’s first book about her ABA Big Year Lynn’s book about 40 species of birds in danger.
Good birding and good day!
I had a blast talking with fellow Mainer Nick Lund on The Bird Banter Podcast #78. Nick, “The Birdist”, has carved out a niche in the ABA birding community as one of the top writers, speakers and birders especially in tune with birding in the broader context of life in America. He writes the blog, “The Birdist”, and is a regular guest on the ABA Podcast with Nate Swick, especially on the “this month in birding” segment.
Nick works for Maine Audubon, an independent Maine conservation organization, and his birding story is fun and inspirational. I especially enjoyed hearing how he got started in birding after stumbling across a used Peterson Field Guide with hand-written field notes in the side columns. This reminded me how my late wife Kay taught me to keep my notes as she had been taught by writing the date and county of every first sighting. Kay’s original Golden Guide field guide book, copyright 1966. It is her life list, and essentially a travel diary. It has been to the bottom of McGrath Pond in Oakland, Maine.
Here are Kay’s field notes/life list notation of her “spark bird” a Cedar Waxwing seen on the Middle Fork of the Weiser River in Adams County, ID 9/4/1976 where she first started birding while living with three young CA birders and working on a Boise Cascade brush crew,This is the Peterson Field Guide that I bought at the Ranger Station in the Everglades on my first day of birding there. It is the first Peterson Guide to the Birds East of the Rockies that has the plates in color and next to the descriptions rather than in black and white and in a separate section.Here is the page showing some of the waders I saw on my first day of birding in the Everglades with Kay. 4-17-1986.
I had a total R hip replacement surgery just over a month ago, and though I’m recovering really nicely, I’ve not been able to get out on anything close to normal birding trips. Friday, Brad Waggoner, my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast #34 located a Little Giull at Point-no-Point (PNP). Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus is a bird that is only rarely seen in North America, and has not been seen in WA very often. When I heard about this sighting it was already past midday, and I thought too late to try to chase on Friday. I called Ken Brown, my guest on The Bird Banter Podcast #2 and my great birding buddy, and he was at PNP looking when I called, but had not found the LIGU. We made plans to meet at his house at 6 AM the next AM and go together to try again. Moments later Ken called back to tell me he just got the bird, really close to shore, but he was up to go again with me the next AM.
We met at his house Sat AM, and headed for the point. Enroute we made a short stop to try for a Barn Owl, and insteaed heard Great Horned Owl and Barred Owl, but not the FOY Barn Owl Ken wanted. Still a nice start.
We got to PNP by 7:20 and started looking for the Little Gull. The day prior there was a big flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls at the location. Little Gulls are typically found associating with BOGUs, and for the first 3 hours we had no luck with the gull. We were the first birders there, but over the AM another 20 or so hopeful birders showed up. Finally, about 10:20 after Brad arrived, and the tidal action picked up, a nice flock of BOGUs streamed in. A shout out by Grace Oliver that she was on the gull as it flew in and settled on the water got us all excited. Another birder declared that he was on a gull on the water with white wing tips. This was a really helpful tip. If you look at photos or drawings of Little Gull, you’ll see that in winter plumage the adult has nearly the same grahish cheek sopt as BOGU, but also has some black on the top of the head. In addition the adult LIGU lacks the black wing tips of BOGU. It is not what jumps out of the field guide, but in a flock of birds on the water to me was much easier to spot thatn a little black on the head. I scanned for a gull with no black wing tips, and quickly found a candidate. It also had the black on the top of the head, seemed maybe smaller than the BOGUs, and so I stuck with it. I passed off the scope to Paul Baerny and he saw it, and on getting the scope back the bird had drifted but I got back on it. Then, after a couple of minutes the gull lifted its wings to take flight, and several of us shouted out that the jet black underwings were seen. I followed the gull for a couple of minutes as it flew among the flock of BOGUs, and got great looks.
My only prior LIGUs were in July in Maine when 3 birds were apparently either failed breeders or early returning gulls at the mouth of a coastal river. Those were in breeding pliumage, and cool too, but this was a WA first for me, and WA bird #395 for me. 5 more to 400.
Such a great day to break out of my post-surgery limitations. After leaving the point, Ken and I also found a huge gathering of loons, with about 35 Common Loons, and 355 Pacific Loons at Suquamish.
A great day. Good birding. Good day!
