Late in the day yesterday Michael found a Rough-legged hawk at Gog-li-hi-ti and this AM Heather and Bruce relocated it. Bruce texted and I broke away from my pledge to help Kay pack up the kitchen stuff prior to our renovations that now start this Saturday. I dashed quickly and as I walked in Bruce and Heather appeared to be watching the hawk fly across the opening. As I got closer Bruce yelled, “In the top of the tree!” I looked at the top of the tallest cottonwood and there it perched. This was a Pierce County first for me, and one I’ve chased up Mt. Rainier, down to Mount’s Road, and never seen before in Pierce.
It seems to have hung around for most of the Pierce listers to see today, so joy abounds.
Later today I stopped at Dash Point after a dump run with Brett hoping to get the Ancient murrelet but no luck. Tomorrow AM I hope the Snow bunting that was seen at the Brown’s Point Lighthouse Park hangs around for another county first.
Author: Ed
Harris’s Sparrow
This week has been busy with very little birding after flying back from ME Monday. So when Bruce found the Harris’s sparrow yesterday at the 11th Street bridge, I climbed down from the ladder at Brett’s where I was painting and dashed over to try for it. No luck as the flock of sparrows seemed to have dispersed.
After church today Peter Wimberger texted that he had relocated the sparrow, and I convinced Kay to come help me try to find it.
We got to the spot just after 11 AM and found Peter there along with Christopher Clark. We looked for a while with Peter, but on the first trip around the area no luck. Then we decided on one more try at the point/end of the trail and all 3 of us (Peter had just left) got great looks at the HASP when it popped up near the top of a bush, and again on a piece of driftwood. This was a Pierce FOY for me, and a lifer for Chris. Here is the eBird list with photos.
Finally a Storm
We Pierce County listers have been impatiently waiting for the first big fall windstorm to blow in pelagic and maybe other rarities to pad our year lists. Today it blew and rained heavily in the AM, and the sun came out but the wind continued to gust in the afternoon. I worked the AM around the condo, finally devoting a bit of time to clearing out the storage area, made trips to goodwill and Habitat for Humanity as well as Best Buy to turn in an extra printer, but the sunshine drew me to Point Defiance for a little peak in the afternoon.
Kay was still out running errands, so I didn’t feel too guilty. At the point one of the first birds I saw was a lone Snow Goose, fighting to fly against the wind up the waterway at the Dalco Passage overlook. This seemed promising, but the fight to hold either the scope or binos still in the strong gusts limited visibility and I found nothing else unusual.
Sunrise is Closed
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.
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.