Author: birdbanter

Ferry County makes it 39×100+

Route in Ferry County

Today I broke away from Marian’s condo at Lake Chelan to get up to Ferry County in hopes of finding the last 11 species there I needed to give me at least 100 species in each of Washington’s 39 counties. The day really depended on finding ducks, as they were the “low hanging fruit” in mid November that I hadn’t seen in Ferry. That really depended on whether the fresh water was still open, and I knew it was nearing time to freeze. Yesterday I had the idea to reach out to Donna Bragg, a birder I’d met at some point on one of Ken’s trips to this area, but didn’t have a contact of any sort. I asked Ken, no help there, and so asked Google. I got a phone number easily, and tried to text her. Whoops! A land line, so no luck and so I did the old fashioned thing and called. Tom, her husband answered, and Debbie is away on a birding trip, but he reached out to her, who reached out to a local birder, and so after a few calls I learned that the water is open here still! Big thanks to the Bragg family for going above and beyond.

A lingering Marsh Wren at the Rail Trail Wetland north of Curlew Lake

As for the day it went great. A mostly overcast but dry and mid-40’s with only moderate wind day, so I left Manson at 5:45, drove across the Waterville Plateau to Grand Coulee, crossed the river, took 155 to Peter Dan Rd across to Hwy 21. About half way across to Rte 21 I entered Ferry County, and promptly saw a single Wild Turkey, not a species I needed. The rest of the day was spent driving south on 21 to the Keller Ferry, the back up to Republic, then on to Curlew Lake, and then across Hwy 20 and Sherman Pass to Colvile where I’m spending the night at the Comfort Inn.
Birding highlights were:
-First Ferry lifer was a Northern Shrike in a utility wire, the first of at least 3 seen today.
-Bufflehead in a small backwater on the road back to Keller Ferry (several more seen later in the day)
-Pacific Wren, heard when I stopped to see a bird on a wire that was a Song Sparrow, but with pishing it came out for a good look.
-At a roadside pool off 21 were 6 Green-winged Teal and a Lesser Scaup, both seen again later.
-Finally a Mallard in an algae filled wet area again off Hwy 21. (many later)
-A little later I stopped to watch in awe as a Ruffed Grouse slowly walked across the road.

Photo through the windshield

-The Republic STP worried me at first, as the two easily visible ponds were pretty empty, but walking back to the back pond gave a lot of ducks, including 95 Northern Shovelers and several Common Goldeneye, bringing me to 98 species by noon of day 1. There were also Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Green-winged Teal, and an Northern Shrike there.
-From here I drove straight to the Rail Trail Wetland north of Curlew Lake. I can’t wait to put this site into BirdingHotspots.org as e-bird’s hotspot pin is at the Rte 21 end of the trail where I had to cross a creek on a fallen tree to access the trail. At the W. Curlew Lake Rd end is a good parking lot, toilet, and easy access. The trail though is great and is the top eBird hotspot in Ferry by species, and traversed a large shallow pond and extensive cattail marsh, and ends at the north end of the lake where by the parking is a nice tressle-turned walking bridge to look at the lake. There I added American Wigeon and #100 for Ferry Common Merganser, along with a loudly singing Marsh Wren, and on the lake from the tressle Red-necked and Western Grebe to end the lowland part of the day’s list at 103. I was having so much fun I forgot to have lunch, so about 3 PM Iad stopped at Curlew Lake SP, closed so I just ate quickly and headed back to cross Sherman Pass on Hwy 20. A few quick stops used up the last of the light, adding only Steller’s Jay at Sherman Pass on a snowy walk to the parking area.

Sunset came early

Beyond Burger and fries at Zip Drive-in for dinner, and now to figure out what’s left for tomorrow.
After a night at the Comfort Inn, I was out before daylight to try for a couple of Stevens County birds at dawn. I headed for two places I’d never been, the mouth of the Colville Rived and Colville Flats, two pretty beautiful spots I realize. The Mouth of the river was pretty, but really few birds, so after a false stop at the recycling center (nothing at all) I headed for the Colville Flats where I added 4 new county birds, Herring Gull, California Gull, Western and Horned Grebes. It’s a pretty place but I made it a quick stop.

From here I headed back to Ferry County and at the Kettle River Campground I lucked out at 4 Trumpter Swans (alert birds) flew in to the wetland. Two American Coots were there too and an Evening Grosbeak was calling regularly, though not seen.

Trumpeter Swans at Kettle RIver Campground

From here I finished my loop around the county, heading south along the river on Inchelium Road, and then across Silver Creek Road to Rte 21, in and out the Swawilla Basin Road (learning the west end is impassible, and back home across the same route I c
I decided not to explore this road.

ame. The highlights were a single Ring-billed Gull along the river, finally Hairy Woodpecker on Silver Creek Road, several stops to put up a NOPY toot and getting nice flocks of chickadees, Pygmy and Red-breasted Nuthatches and eventually a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets. At Swawilla Basin I finished strong with a huge flock of California Quail, a small group of White-crowned Sparrows, and a sub-adult Golden Eagle, bringing my Ferry County list to 113.
Golden Eagles seem to be in the most beautiful places.

What’s next?

The Bird Banter Podcast #164 with Dorian Anderson Additional Info.


Catching up with Dorian Anderson for another podcast episode was really fun, as it seems is pretty much any time I get to spend with Dorian. He is a likable, high-energy, funny and really smart person, and I was really happy that we got to talk again.
Buy Dorian’s bookhere.

Here is a link to the Tropical Birding business where Dorian guides both birding and photography tours.
I talk about Dorian’s posts about birding New Zealand and here is a link to his blog posts about that topic.
I had never heard about the Pop Tech conference, and think it looks pretty cool. Check it out here.
I’d love to see comments from listeners after you read Dorian’s book. Give me feedback and maybe I can mention your review on a future blog post.
Until next time, good birding and good day!

Some Days are Just Special

Exactly where it had been hanging out for the last 2 days. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

A delayed post here about a really terrific day of birding at Tokeland, WA with really good birding buddies Ken Brown and Bruce LaBar. Often days of birding have their ups and downs. Maybe the birds are good, but the weather is lousy. Maybe you find some desired species and miss others. Maybe traffic is tough on the way to or from the destination. Then some days seem like not much could go better. Friday, Oct 27, 2023 was one of those really great days.
Fly-catching

Ken met me at my house at 6:30, a really civilized time we thought, and we picked up Bruce and headed for Tokeland, WA where a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher had been found two days prior and seemed to be sticking around. The drive down was full of talk of Mariners baseball, the MLB playoffs and World Series, along with the usual catching up with each others lives. Immediately on arrival at the designated 8th and Kindred intersection we parked a block away and as we walked to the intersection saw a birder aiming his long lens at the wires over the intersection. I shouted to Ken and Bruce that THE BIRD was on the wire. We walked up in beautiful crisp cool air and morning light to see the WA lifer for Ken and myself Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in exactly the same place it had been for the last 2 days (off-and-on).
Later in the day a second vagrant “Tyranus” flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird in almost the same place.

We all celebrated the great bird, spent some time watching it, and headed off to the marina to look for the other target birds of the day. It was near high tide, and the usual flock of Marbled Godwits were immediately under the bank on the shoerline of the marina, and we quickly located the one Bar-tailed Godwit among the maybe 1000 or so MAGOs. Over 30 Willits were in the flock, along with a few Short-billed Dowichers. A bit later as we walked out to the fishing pier to look for the female King Eider (a.k.a. “Queen Eider”) we got great looks at the county first for me Surfbird, far from surf, huddled at along with the godwits.
Too-many-to-count Marbled Godwits

The one Bar-tailed Godwit

Marbled, flanked by two Marbled Godwits for comparison.

Marbled close-up in flight

The eider was spotted far out off the jetty for identifiable but poor views, but later in the day we all got much better looks. We spent the rest of the day birding the marina, enjoying the sunshine, and generally feeling great.
The Surfbird

The Surfbird as we first saw it, maybe a “quiz bird.
”
Cedar Waxwing

The drive home was easy, and we all got home for dinner safely. Overall an A+ day in my way of looking at life. Great friends, great birds, great weather. It all adds up to a memorable day.
May there be many more!

The Bird Banter Podcast #163 with Michael Hobbs Additional Info.


On this episode Michael Hobbs is my guest. Michael is a longtime WA birder who has done a survey of the birds of Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA weekly for almost 30 years! This is one of the top eBird hotspots in King County, WA, and Michael has documented the weekly occurance of birds there in great detail. This is a fabulous database of birds at a fairly typical varied Puget Sound low elvation park, and has to be unique in its detailed documentation. You can contact Michael by the email on the site if you want to join the survey some Thursday.
Michael is also an avid WA county birder, with >150 species in each of the 39 WA counties. We talk a bit about county birding on the episode. You can see all about county birding and more on the Washington Birder website. Here is an example of the great content on the site, the 2022 year-end report of county birding for the year.
I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
Until next time, good birding!

Lapland Longspurs at the Gravel Lot above Dune

Lapland Longspurs Calcarius lapponicus are a cool bird anywhere, and can be a tough year bird in Pierce County. Yesterday afternoon the WhatsApp group for Pierce County let me know that Craig Miller has found a small flock at the gravel lot above Wilson Way, and a bit later Marcus Roening found a flock of 9 birds there. I headed over and got there at the same time as Bruce LaBar. Marcus was still there, and he quickly got us on the birds as they crept along the tall grass on the west edge of the parking lot. We got great looks as they snuck along, seeming to step on grass blades to bring the seeds down to their level. Photos were challenging as they rarely came into the open, but I persisted and got a few decent shots.
This was a FOY bird for me in the state except for one fly-by with Charlie the day prior at the point on Dune, when he helped me recognize what I had heard fly by unseen. This was needless to say much more satisfying. I think it is the largest group of LALO I’ve seen other than in Alaska decades ago.






Although Lapland Longspurs are uncommon in fall and winter here, in the Arctic they are often the most abundant breeding landbird, and between the Rockie Mountains and the Great Lakes from southern Canada to Okalhoma they can be abundant in the right habitat. Per Birds of the World their non-breeding habitat is described as, “Prairies, open weedy and grassy fields, grain stubbles, shores, and any open ground with no or light snow cover providing access to seed.” They breed in the Arctic in wet and vegetated dryer areas, generally more densely vegetated than the habitat preferred by Snow Buntings. They nest on the ground in slightly excavated areas in dense vegetation and line their nest usually with fur or feathers, laying 3-7 eggs and the eggs hatch after only 10-13 days of incubation, and although born altrical (eyes closed and naked) they fledge in only 8-11 days and don’t fly for a few days after leaving the nest.
It’s always a good day for me in WA when I see a Lapland Longspur, and to see at least 7 today (others counted 9) was extraordinary.

The Bird Banter Podcast #162 with William McLean Greeley Additional Info


Learning about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and about the champion behind the act, Senator George McLean, Birdman of the Senate, has been both enjoyable and eye-awakening for me. It is always inspiring to hear about how one individual can make such a difference in the course of world events. As I mentioned in the episode Snowy Egret, along with many of our other spectacular waders, was one of the birds I saw and was in awe of on my first day of birding in the Everglades.

Will McLean is the author of a biography on his Great-great Uncle, Senator George McLean he titles

    Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: SEnator George P McLean. Birdman of the Senate.

I’m reading the book now and am leaning a lot abouot the late 19th adn early 20th centuries, as well as about the man himself.
You can buy the book on Amazon, or atthe RIT Press site at the links here. Check out Will Greeley’s web site here.

Learn more about the Migratory Bird Treaty Act on the US Fish and Wildlife Website here. Since the initial act with Canada and England in 1918, treaties were signed with Mexico in 1936, and Russia in 1976. Here is a list of the species and families of birds protected by the act.
I also learned about the “Supremacy Clasuse” in the U.S. Constitution.
Article VI, Clause 2:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Will talks about how by making the protection of birds an international treaty the issue of states rights was overcome.
Here is a link to a Field and Stream article about the first commercially successful pump shotguns which became popular in the 1890’s, and at a time with no game limits and plentiful wildlife, as well as a booming trade in feathers, having more than 2 shots with a double-barrel shotgun was wildly popular.
I hope you have enjoyed the hearing Will’s story, find his book a great read, and until next time, good birding and good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast #161 with Frank Izaguirre


On this episode you’ll hear from Frank Izaguirre, an editor of the ABA’s Birding magazine, and a PhD candidate in English with his discertation covering Field Guides and how they have influenced conservation.
We also talk about the relatively new ABA social media channel ABA Community. I’ve started using it and it is pretty cool.
To hear a more detailed discussion of his discertation work, watch this You Tube.

Here is the old Golden Guide that Kay used to keep her life list of birds and as her field guide when we first started birding.

Kay’s Golden Guide that has visited the bottom of McGrath Pond in Oakland, ME and many other places.

An example of how Kay taught me to keep records. Note the Pileated Woodpecker was seen on our first day of birding together in the Everglades.

The Peterson Field Guide I bought at the Everglades Visitor Center on my first day of birding.

Just a few of the fabulous waders that I listed on that first day.

Thanks for listening.

Two Days in Sept in Pierce County

Misty and cool day at Sunrise

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.
Cascade race of Red Fox. A subalpine subspecies that is endangered and limited to the north cascades.


I don’t remember seeing this many baby mountain goats, at least 12 in a herd of 38 goats.

Orange-crowned Warbler

The Bird Banter Podcast #160 with John Oshlick Additional Information

On this episode John Oshlick and I talk about his birding story, birding in Connecticut, the American Flamingos blown north by Hurricaine Idalia. John is an avid birder, and his career as a physician hospitalist allows him to occasionally make short-notice chases to find rare birds like the American Flamingos that Hurricaine Idalia blew up from the Yucatan Peninsula.

I still have not seen an American Flamingo in the U.S. despite at least twice hiking the Snake Bight Trail in the Everglades to try for a distant look.
John also talks about birding on the Long Island Sound, and on the ferry from Connecticut to Long Island to try for seabirds in the state. Long Island and the Islands at the mouth of the sound prevent most real pelagic species from entering the sound often.
In my introduction I mention hoping to attend the New River Birding Festival sometime to visit West Virginia. This would also allow me to visit Maryland.
John also mentions Great Gull Island as a tern breeding colony, so here is a link to info about that spot.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day.

The Bird Banter Podcast #159 with Ken Ostermiller and Adam Jackson Additional Information


On this episode I talk with Ken Ostermiller and Adam Jackson, the creators of a cool website that lets birders know more about an eBird hotspot they want to visit. Have you ever used the Google Maps directions on eBird to visit a hotspot, only to find that the destination has no access to the hotspot, or when you get there you just don’t really know the best way to get around the site? If not, trust me, it will happen if you visit a few hotspots. Now you can just go to BirdingHotspots.org and get information about how to bird the spot. Where to park, which trails are best, what a local birder thinks is important information for a visiting birder.
Ken started this site years ago for his home state of Ohio, and with the web design and data base help of Adam they have made the site useful for birders in the U.S., Canada and hopefully in the future other places too.
This site is an open source, not-for-profit site and is crowdsourced. You can help with the crowdsourcing feature like this:

This is a screenshot of the Union Bay Natural Area near the Universitiy of Washington. It needs local knowledge. You can go there, click on the “Suggest Edit” icon, and fill in information in the various text boxes.

I have volunteered as an editor for the site for Washington. We certainly could use additional WA editors. Contact Ken if you’re interested. It’s easy and fun.
Ken and Adam also talk about their birding stories, as is usual for the podcast, and I hope you both enjoy the episode, make use of the website, and lend your local knowledge to visiting birders to your favorite sites by adding representative photos and details about how to bird the areas.
Thanks for listening. Good birding.