Category: Blog

Smith Island Boat Trip with ABC for Horned Puffin

Most of the group.

On July 5th 26 other birders and I met Matt Stolmeier, Marian’s nephew, and captain for Outer Island Excursions at the Skyline Marina in Anacortes, WA for a chartered trip on their 30/person boat hoping to see the Horned Puffin that has visited the Tufted Puffin colony on Smith Island for the last few summers. We had tried last summer, and though it was a great trip, failed to see the Tufted Puffin. Matt takes many whale watching tours annually, and also has three scheduled bird watching trips this year planned. You can book one here.
Matt is an excellent spotter, and has several other boats on the water, which turned out to be really a good thing. We left the dock at 4PM, with the hopes that as the evening approached more puffins would be nearing the colony ready to feed their young at dusk. On the ride out we saw moderate numbers of Rhinoceros Auklets, cormorants, gulls and enjoyed the great weather and calm seas.
On arrival at Smith Islands we began to see good numbers of the breeders there.

As you can see Smith Island has the prerequisite soil for burrowing birds like puffins and auklets.

We sorted through dozens of Tufted Puffins like this but for our first couple of hours failed to find the Horned Puffin.

We focused on finding the hoped for Horned Puffin, but for the first couple of hours saw only Tufted Puffins like this

There were hundreds of Rhinoceros Auklets to admire too.

California Gulls were present in small numbers as it’s early for the huge flocks seen later in the summer.

Heermann’s Gulls were seen in good numbers for this early in the summer. This species breeds in the Gulf of Mexico, coming north to feed and molt post breeding.

After looking for a couple of hours Matt suggested we circle the island and check back at the kelp beds later. We saw this pair of Marbled Murrelets on the other side of Smith Island.

We also saw several Common Murres.

As we headed back to the area by the kelp beds where most of the Tufted Puffins were staying Matt got a radio message from one of the captains of another Outer Island Expeditions boat that he had the Horned Puffin in sight. We headed back and after a few minutes of tension, got killer looks and photo ops.
My and most other participants first Washington State Horned Puffin.



Horned and Tufted Puffins for comparison.

After we got long and great looks at the HOPU, Matt offered a treat. He gave us about an extra hour and we headed out to see the T-99 pod of Orcas not far away.
There were 5 Killer Whales in the T-99 pod, a transient pod of marine mammal eating Orcas.

After enjoying the whales, Matt also gave us a nice time at the Williamson Rocks, which is a rocky island near the harbor.
Williamson Rocks

Most of the time we were at the Williamson Rocks up to 8 Black Oystercatchers noisily circled the island and the boat.

A Brown Pelican, uncommon in Skagit County was on the tip of the island.

We got back to the dock about 8 PM with happy faces and expanded state and many life lists.
Be sure to think of Matt if you want a trip to see the birds.

Good birding!

The Bird Banter Podcast #155 with Dan Scheiman Additional Info.


On this episode Dan and I talk about birding in Arkansas, his birding story, and more. Check out his eBird profile here.
You can learn more about the Audubon Plant for Birds program on the Delta Audubon Plant for Birds website. Dan talks about several Arkansas hotspots. Check them out on eBird.
Bald Knob NWR
Stuttgart Municipal Airport , the place for Smith’s Longspur in winter.
I loved the Wapanocca NWR Here is my blog post about the day we birded there. There seem to be endless roads, and many Field Sparrows and Dickcissels.
Dan also mentions the eBird article on how to add historical sightings into your ebird lists. Here is the article link.
As always suggestions for guests, best with contact information, are appreciated. Use the contact page to send your wish-list of guests.
Thanks for listening. Until next time. Good birding and good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast #154: Ken & Ed Go East Coast Pelagic Birding Additional Info.


Ken and I have been planning and dreaming of going on several of Brian Patteson’s North Carolina Pelagic trips for years. This year it finally happened, and as in all long awaited and anticipated trips it didn’t go quite as we had planned. We planned 3 trips in 5 days, with a day to rest and bird on land between trips. We didn’t plan on a very unusual sustained low pressure cell off shore just south of N.C. that caused strong sustained NE winds and high seas. As it turned out our first and last trips were cancelled, but with luck we got on a trip for the first planned day off, so we managed 2 trips offshore.

Wilson’s Storm Petrels in the wake.

Trindade Petrel was the biggest rarity of the trip.

Here is my eBird trip report.
You can find Patteson Seabirding website here.
I mention The Science of Birding Podcast so here is a link to the associated website.
Seabirds are extremely interesting for many reasons. They spend their lives at sea, and can fly using amazingly little flapping, a technique called “dynamic soaring.” Here is a video that explains some of the science behind this flight type.


Thanks for listening.

The Bird Banter Podcast #153 with Rebecca Heisman additional info.


Spring is a great time of year, and for birders it has the added attraction of the fast-paced, almost frantic at times migration of our bird species that winter south of us, and breed near us or north of us. Many of the neotropic migrants are decked out in their fresh breeding (“alternate” for us Humphrey-Parkes users) and seemingly every day brings new species and surprises.

Yellow Warblers, singing their “öh-me-pretty-pretty-me” song are on territory around here.

In the introduction I talk about the great migration watch site in Tacoma, Dune Peninsula.
It can be humbling to watch top birders like Charlie Wright and Will Brooks ID birds in flight at great distance or by their flight calls, but even for birders like me of lesser talent, it is really fun and exciting. (links are to the blog posts related to podcast episodes with them as guests). Here is a link to the eBird list of Charlie Wright on May 22, 2022 when he counted 4705 Western Tanagers, and Will had over 500 prior to when Charlie showed up at 9:13 AM. A massive flight day for this beautiful species.

A lousy photo to give an idea of what a Western Tanager overhead looks like in flight at Dune. Taken this spring by me.

This is what a Western Tanager male looks like in a better photo.

I really loved reading Flight Paths. I strongly recommend reading it for any birder or natural phenomenon lover who also likes good stories and to learn about how science leads to better understanding of nature.

Buy the book whereever you get your books, or on a link on Rebecca’s website.
One relatively new and exciting system for tracking the movement of birds (and other organisms) is the Motus system. It is a growing network of small, affordable receivers that can help track a bird as it moves in migration.
A graphc of the Motus receiver sites in North America.

Light level geolocators are pretty cool too. Read about them here or in Rebecca’s book.
To read more about thee Bird Genoscape Project use this hotlink. Here is a video that makes it easier to get a feel for the projects uses and goals.

Thanks for following and listening.
Good birding and good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast #152 with Bryony Angell additional info.


On this episode I talk with Bryony Angell, Seattle area birder, writer and adovocate for women birding. Bryony writes professionally about many birding topics, but recently much of her focus has been on women in birding, as guides, as travelers, and in other leadership roles. She grew up in the Seattle area, the twin daughter of two birders, and we talk about her childhood trips to the Skagit River area, how the area has changed over the years, and her birding near home in Skagit County now.
You can check out Bryony’s website here. Use the contact page if you want to reach out to her.
We talk briefly about the Feminist Birding Clubs around the country. They have expanded to have clubs in many of the larger U.S. cities, and are proponents of inclusivity in the birding community.
Let me know if you have suggestions for guests or topics you’d like to hear on the podcast. Use the conact page above to get in touch.
Until next time, good birding and good day!

The Bird Banter Podcast #142 with Francis Canto Jr. Additional Info.

On this episode I talk with Francis Canto Jr., a birder and birding guide from Belize. He was recommended as a podcast guest by a listener, Juli DeGrummond, who recommended Francis after she took a Road Scholar birding trip with him in Belize. Francis is an avid birder and photographer. He was recognized by his country by being chosen as the photographer for the art on the countries current postage stamps, featuring a series of common Belize birds.
We talk about great places to go birding in Belize, and the Crooked Tree Wildlife Refuge, so check out this link to learn about this area.
You can find Francis on Facebook, and Instagram. He has a blogspot website also, The 501 Birder. Here is his eBird Profile.

The Bird Banter Podcast #151 with Dr. Jim Kettelkamp Additional Info.


On this episode I talk with Iowa birder and retired physician Dr. Jim Kettelkamp. Jim has rekindled his passion for birding, developed in his childhood, and become a top Johnson County, Iowa big year birder, as well as advocate for backyard habitat and visitor to several great ABA birding sites. We talk about all of this on the episode. One of the topics we talk about is the serious decline in grassland and insectivore bird species from Jim’s youthful birding to now. He mentions how the change in agriculture, from smaller farms with many hedgerows to giant farms with no habitat in sight, seems to be a major factor. This got me to remembering a visit to England a few years ago when I visited a large commercial farm. Although the scope of the farm was large, there were well established hedgerows between fields, and good numbers of birds using the habitat. I recall the owner talking about how this was financially viable due to subsidies and regulations that made if financially advantageous to leave these areas natural. In the agricultural areas of the U.S. that I have seen, the opposite seems to be true. Leaving fields fallow to recover is pretty common, but still there is little habitat other than bare fallow fields, with no shrubs or trees between the fields. Here is an article discussing some of the programs.
If anyone knows about similar programs in the U.S. I’d love to have you let me know about them. This Cropwatch article is the closest I can find.
You can reach out to Jim on Facebook here @jim.kettelkamp
Thanks for following The Bird Banter Podcast. Until next time, good birding and good day.

The Bird Banter Podcast #150: Ed Talks about a Winter Trip to the Florida Keys and Costa Rica


On this episode I go it without a guest, and talk about my 6-week winter getaway trip to Big Pine Key and Costa Rica. It was primarily a chance to visit family, get out of the Western Washington winter rain, and relax, but as a birder I of course managed a good amount of birding time too.
I had not been to the Florida Keys in the winter, so had no idea what to expect. I’d hoped to see some early migrants returning north to breed as March arrived, but saw mostly resident species and winter visitors.

The waders were great, with all 4 big white waters, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, white morph of Reddish Egret and the white morph of Great Blue Heron, along with juvenile Little-blue Herons.
Few warblers were seen, but Palm, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle’s race), and Prairie were common. Any chance to be in a part of the world not your usual home makes for fun birding, as common birds there are not the ones I see daily at home in WA.
In Costa Rica I had excellent birding on a 5-day trip with Carlos Ureña in the Quetzal Valley area, and near La Fortuna, especially at the Arenal Obseratory Lodge grounds.
It was great to have time with my children and their partners, as Jean lives in Costa Rica, and Brett is a nomad, travelling where he pleases and working online.
Check out the Ed’s Birding Notes tab above to see posts on some of the aspects of the trip.
I anticipate more typical episodes to follow, with great guests talking birding, so stay tuned. Thanks for listening.
To see some photos from the Costa Rica trip, check out this Flickr Album.
Flickr photos from Costa Rica

The Bird Banter Podcast #149 with Mikuláš Řimánek Additional Information


I first met Mikuláš Řimánek in 2018 when he was a Rotary Exchange Student with the Tacoma 8 Rotary Club, and Fred Matthei introduced Mik to me and other local birders. Mik joined us on a multi-cay winter trip to North Central WA and it was obvious that he was talented. I was disappointed to miss the chance to reconnect on his recent brief trip to Tacoma, but when Fred called to tell me about his extraordinary work with young birders in the Czech Republic I knew that I wanted to learn more and see if Mik would share his story on the podcast. He agreed and it was very informative and left me hopeful that WOS can find a way to encourage the development of such a program in WA. If any readers have suggestions or feedback use the Contact Page above to reach out to me.
You can find Mik on Facebook or Instagram and see his profile on eBird with these links.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!