Month: September 2019

But a big find. Yesterday, after getting the vireo, I just needed to chase Clay-colored Sparrow. I spent the morning at the grasslands of Las Cienegas National Conservation Area in Sonoita where many sparrows winter and pass through in migration. I found sparrows but they typically disperse once you find a flock and chasing them is futile, they only continue to flee farther away. Eventually I found a Dickcissel, a rare migrant here:

While I was in the area, I might as well see if any Burrowing Owls were present at the prairie dog colonies. There they were, in fact I found 5, including this one, running around and flying about too:

With my morning complete and not much else to chase I made my way back, stopping to look at each sparrow before it flew. Finally one caught my eye. Could it be? Better get lots of pictures.

Notice the very contrasting facial marks, the buffy/brown ear coverts outlined by a dark line, the white malar, and the pale central crown stripe. Too contrasty to be Brewer’s Sparrow. The next picture shows well the pale lores, distinguishing it from Chipping Sparrow:

It all adds up to Clay-colored Sparrow (531). I’m working myself out of a job. Barn Owl is about the only one I can chase until November so I’m hoping for some fall vagrants to show up. The rare bird alert could light up any day.

Probably every birder has a hex bird, it’s not quite as bad as a nemesis, but it’s one that you have trouble finding and that everyone else sees all the time. Today I had to decide whether to go up the canyons for Cassin’s Vireo, the hex bird, or to San Pedro House for Clay-colored Sparrow. Since the sparrow was reported most recently at San Pedro House, I went there. On the trail along Garden Wash I heard a vireo singing but I’ve heard a lot of vireos singing this year and they’re all Plumbeouses. But I have to check. I found it in the mesquite, got a good look, and saw not just a tinge of yellow on the flanks but a lot of yellow so that there was no ambiguity: Cassin’s Vireo (530)! Two of them! The hex is gone and now I’ll probably see them every day.

That leaves Clay-colored Sparrow as the most chaseable bird around here. I still need goshawk and Barn Owl but those will take more luck than effort. October turns out to be a slow month in the Big Year calendar. If you look at Sandy Komito’s books there is only a page or two for October. It mostly involves chasing out-of-state rarities. I may do some of that but I just booked a new trip that involves sort of a rarity and that requires going out to sea but it’s for a passerine. Give up? Island Scrub-Jay. I keep saying I’ll chase it when I’m in that area but I never am and this is a good time to go get it. It has a certain allure – the only island endemic in the US, the smallest range of any US bird, it’s big and colorful. And you take a boat out to sea to see it. That’s coming up in October.

Here’s the answer to the last Puzzler with the headless bird in the photo quiz, same bird, different pose:

Time to update the list:

I was ok with a day off today. I was still rocking and rolling hours after getting off the boat yesterday. The storm let up by noon today so I went out. In the parking lot, before I got to my car, I heard an unfamiliar sound. Frogs? It just rained. No, it’s up high, but nothing’s there. Gulls? Way up, thousands of feet, were Vees heading south, making that sound. Geese, not Canada Geese, but Brant (529). Hundreds of birds in several flocks, going into the clouds, then coming out, then back in. These are among the first birds to pass through Washington on eBird. Good, a new one without trying.

I went down to the harbor to try to photograph gulls but all I could come up with is this Brandt’s Cormorant:

Then I ate lunch at the Fish Shack. I’ve never seen so many flies. It was like walking into a fly terrarium or fly aviary, what do they call a place where they keep live flies? Mysteriously, the flies don’t annoy the customers, they don’t land on your food. They just fly. Management has obviously trained these insects to leave the patrons alone. I don’t know how it’s done.

Finally I added this one to the Big Year mammal list, getting into the feral cats’ food:

Having exhausted the resources here, tomorrow is a travel day back to Arizona. Washington was very good to me, with 27 new year species (I expected to get 15) and 8 lifers – that’s a good haul. I’m glad I came up here and I hope to come back some day.

Fantastic! I can’t believe it! I can’t believe my good luck! Whenever you board a boat and head out to sea, you dream of seeing something beyond your wish list. The impossible can become possible. Today that came true for me. Three albatrosses, 10 new birds for the Big Year, and 5 lifers. Wow!

We were all aboard by 6:15 and got underway by 6:30, in the dark. We hit scattered patches of drizzle on the way out but it was not windy or cold. Eventually it cleared up. Not too far out we found Cassin’s Auklet (519). A little farther was a distant South Polar Skua (520) (ABA 640) (World 2834). On the way back we saw one closer and then a third one closer still so you could see the silver patches in the wings, a big, heavy, hulking bird, not to be confused with anything else and a long-awaited find for me.

Next up was Forked-tailed Storm-Petrel (521), present in Monterey but not this year. Eventually we saw many, some close to the boat. Buller’s Shearwater (522) came right by the boat, showing all the field marks, especially the big “M” on its back. We saw many today. How many Northern Fulmars (523) did we see? Over 100, all but two were dark morph, like this one:

Notice the tube nose for excreting salt. When the boat stops to look at something, you know it’s something good. Get your camera ready. Scripps’s Murrelet (524) (ABA 641) (World 2835) is worth stopping for. Even I got a photograph:

We saw another pair on the way back. They don’t record this species on every trip. I missed Parasitic Jaeger in Monterey but saw 2-3 here (525). Among the many Sooty Shearwaters, we pulled out a few Short-tailed Shearwaters (526) (ABA 642) (World 2836).

Black-footed Albatross is plentiful here, more so than in Monterey. So that’s one. By and by along came a bird I hoped we might see but could not expect: Laysan Albatross (527) (ABA 643) (World 2837). What a beauty! If we saw no more I would have been 100% satisfied. Those of you who belong to the American Bird Conservancy read in the most recent newsletter an article about a young Fish and Wildlife biologist who, back in the 1950’s, banded a certain Laysan Albatross on Midway Island. There is even a picture of him. Who is it? Chan Robbins! The bird in question is now at least 68 years old and still laying eggs on Midway. And those of you who do not belong to ABC should. That’s two albatrosses. Plenty for one day for any birder.

At 40 miles off-shore, the captain put the boat in park and shut off the motor. Then it happened. I’ll let Bill Tweit, lead spotter, narrate. “Hey, what’s this coming in! Look at the bill, get on the bill!!! (He is not using his binoculars, he’s too busy chumming.) LOOK AT THE BILL!!! Holy (expletive deleted)!!!! S-H-O-R-T – T-A-I-L-E-D A-L-B-A -T-R-OOOOOS!!!!!” (528) (ABA 644) (World 2838). It came in close, flew by us, turned, and passed again. This was not a fleeting or distant look, it was right on top of us! I don’t care if my pictures are blurry, I have pictures of Short-tailed Albatross:

Notice the dark color like a Black-footed Albatross but it has a honking pink bill! You can’t miss the bill! The seven foot + wingspan in not obvious in the picture. This species is rare both in terms of frequency of sightings (Bill Tweit has seen 6 in the last 30 years; they go years without seeing it out here) but also in terms of total population. Bill described its brush with extinction. First, its numbers were decimated by the millinery trade. Then, the volcanic island it nests on in Japan erupted, killing all adults and leaving 20 juveniles. It now numbers some 2000 birds. So yes, this bird came all the way from Japan and back from the brink of extinction.

Cetaceans were way fewer than in Monterey, attesting to that bay’s rich waters. For pinnipeds, we saw Stellar’s Sea Lions on buoys near the harbor and Northern Fur Seals way off shore.

So that’s today. Surely the albatross will go down as the Bird of the Year for my Big Year. I stepped off the boat with the refund in hand from tomorrow’s cancelled trip, one I don’t think I needed to take after all.

Yesterday I forgot to mention one of the most important things on the whole trip. While hiking the trails of the Hoh Rain Forest. couldn’t resist. I reached down, picked up a stick, and knocked it on a large tree. Researchers claim that this is the best way to elicit a response from a Bigfoot. It didn’t work, but I can now say I have searched for Bigfoot – can you? I am now a Bigfoot researcher!

Today I birded around Ocean Shores, which is just across the mouth of Grays Harbor from here but you have to drive all the way around the harbor to get there. I first went to Point Brown Jetty to search for Surfbird. I saw two birds that looked right but they were too distant to be sure. The tide was dropping and if it got lower I could walk farther out along the jetty. So I went elsewhere for a while and found White-winged Scoters (515) in flocks over the water, a Red-throated Loon (516), and a Western Grebe (517). By now the tide was lower and I could walk a little farther out to look at these shorebirds on the jetty. Careful scrutiny convinced me that there were two Surfbirds (518) on the jetty. Except for yesterday, mostly a travel day, I get four new birds for the list every day in Washington. Tomorrow, the pelagic, I predict Five new ones.

I was sorry to leave Port Angeles this morning. Yesterday the skies cleared, affording great views of Canada across the strait. How often do you get to see Canada, let alone visit? A ferry crosses the strait from Port Angeles 3 times a day; maybe my next visit.

Northwestern Crow has been heavily genetically swamped by American Crow throughout the Puget Sound. I think it is safe to count them in Port Angeles but I knew I better make sure or I would never hear the end of it. Today I went to La Push, a small fishing village on the Quileute Indian Reservation on the coast. Evidence of the grinding poverty of reservation life was visible throughout the town. I easily found some crows at a dumpster that sounded totally different from American Crow so I am confident I have legitimately counted this species where you are safe to count them.

Next stop was the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. I spent 3 hours walking the trails among towering trees dripping with moss but I don’t think I found the one target here – Varied Thrush. I’m 90% certain I heard one “sing” three times but it was faint and distant. Later I heard one making its “chup” calls but there are robins in here and I am not well versed with this species. I’ll listen to Xenocanto but I’m afraid I will have to throw this one back. Even Victor Emanuel’s annual Washington tour usually does not record this species and they know what they’re doing. I did see a group of 4-6 Canada Jays and I heard numerous Pacific Wrens, one even teed up and sang. I saw a second one and this is the best I could do for a picture of this secretive species:

I made a quick pass through the Lake Quinault area but it was late by then so I didn’t stay. I am now perched on the top floor of the luxurious Chateau Westport. It’s a little bit dated but I doubt anything new has been built in this town in 50 years.

Remember when I advised to always book two pelagic trips? Here is why – I just got an email from Westport Seabirds informing me that Sunday’s trip is cancelled for bad weather. That’s ok, since I am booked for the Saturday trip and that is a go. I probably wouldn’t have picked up much new on the second trip, it was just an insurance policy so it’s not damaging to the Big Year. So now I will have two free birding days here, tomorrow and Sunday. High on the list is Surfbird, one I missed in Monterey but should be doable here.

Today’s weather: overcast, drizzle, scattered showers, 50’s. I’d love to be an amphibian in Washington. They all must be happy as pie. I’d hate to be in the sunglasses business, you’d go broke in a week. But raincoats and umbrellas wouldn’t sell any better. Washingtonians don’t use them. They walk around like nothing is happening. Some say they have evolved an oil on their hair and skin that allows the water to bead right off them.

Today I HAD to get Sooty Grouse. As you will recall, back in Colorado, my good nephew Ryan and his sister and his girlfriend saw -and photographed well – a Dusky Grouse. I was beside myself. Recently, his mother – my little sister, Christine – and her beau visited Olympic National Park and saw a Sooty Grouse. Today I went up the mountain in the park to search for the rare and elusive one. After I passed through the three tunnels, I was thinking to myself how lucky you must be to see a Sooty Grouse. Just then there was a large lump on the side of the road. I stopped, put up my binoculars, and there it was – Sooty Grouse! (511) (ABA 639) (World 2833).

As you can see, he is a real beauty. Take that, Buster! With nothing else to chase up there, I turned around and headed for the coast.

I worked my way down to the John Wayne Marina in Sequim to search for what I thought would be an easy Mew Gull. I put the scope on a gull roost and there were an even dozen Mew Gulls (512). Notice the small, unmarked bill and dark eye.

Seconds after taking this picture, two kayakers landed, dispersing the gulls across the bay.

I needed one more bird here. For some reason, they find Red-breasted Sapsucker here. I soon found out why. As I walked around the perimeter of the parking lot, I found that all the planted maples between the parking lot and the marina had sapsucker wells, lots of them. Most were at eye level, so if there was a sapsucker here, it would be easy to see. I walked to the end of the north parking lot, carefully searching all the trees, came back the other way, and then stopped, I don’t know why, I didn’t hear anything. I turned, and there it was – Red-breasted Sapsucker (513), very quietly tapping on the tree:

Like many of the birds I am seeing this year, who knows when the last time was I saw one of these.

Stops at Three Crabs and Oyster House yielded no new finds. I drove right by the entrance to Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Then I thought better about this, turned around, and was glad I did. The highlight of the refuge is a 9 mile spit, one of the longest in the world, and growing 13 more feet a year.

But first you walk through a half mile of tall conifers. This is where I saw the above newt. I also added Townsend’s Chipmunk to the mammal list. I heard, then caught a glimpse of one of the creatures of the deep woods here, Pacific Wren (514). In all, I heard 5 and saw 1 along this busy half mile trail. With nothing new to add from Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, I called it a day, the third straight here of 4 new additions to the Big Year list. I’m satisfied I covered this area thoroughly so it is time to move on. Tomorrow I work my way around the coastal side of the Olympic Peninsula to Westport, home base for the duration of the trip.

Still having internet problems here! It won’t let me add photographs!!! I’ll catch up with that in Westport. First, I forgot to add Harlequin Duck (505) yesterday seen just feet off the beach at Fort Flagler. I got a good picture of one today at Ediz Hook here in Port Angeles. This morning I added Northwestern Crow (507) from the hotel parking lot and there were more on the waterfront. Supposedly out here, these are countable. I can always go to La Push and get some indisputable pure ones.

Then it was up the mountain to Olympic National Park. I am told the scenery up there is spectacular but I will have to take their word for it. Hurricane Ridge live up to its namesake with howling wind, rain, and fog combining for poor birding conditions. I only needed two species up there: Sooty Grouse and Canada Jay. I parked in picnic area B past the Hurricane Ridge Visitor’s Center and walked around then waited an hour in the car. On my second walk I heard a jay. It flew out across the road and landed at the top of a spruce tree. Canada Jay! (508). It took searching in four states to find one but at last it is now on the list. I walked some other trails up there and drove the road slowly, but no grouse. I think I’ll give it another try tomorrow. In the Heart O’ the Hills Campground I looked for Pacific Wren and Varied Thrush but no luck.

In the afternoon I covered Ediz Hook, a long sand spit in Port Angeles. I somewhat unexpectedly found a Lapland Longspur (509), there isn’t much grassy habitat. In the bay, I plucked out a Horned Grebe (510) to bring the list to a nice round number. Tomorrow I have more waterbirds to round up, but most can be found elsewhere so not much pressure.

Today I picked up my car at the Seattle Airport late enough that I missed all rush hour traffic. I first went to a park along the road to Fort … ummmm…. I forget the name. I have to do this in the hotel lobby, the internet is not working in my room. (The above photo is my view.) I give up!! Any way, there were two alcids, and eventually they sat on the water side by side so I could see the differences clearly – one was Pigeon Guillemot and the other was Marbled Murrelet (504) (ABA 637) (World 2831).

The first thing you need to do here is straighten out the gulls.

Notice the pale wing tips and the pale mantel. This is a Glaucus-winged Gull (503). Compare it to this one:

Notice two things: the wing tips are black and there is streaking on the head and neck. This is a Western Gull/Glaucus-winged Gull hybrid. Gulls are bad enough without getting into hybrids. Tomorrow I think I’m going up to Olympic National Park. Will it take 4 states to get a Canada Jay?

I am now in the Great Pacific Northwest, where I have not set foot since my cross-country hitch-hiking trip in 1976, much of which is now just a blur. The weather is cool and overcast with rain imminent, as you would expect. Rather than pick up a car now and rush around and try to drive up to Port Angeles tonight, I booked a room here at the airport where I can watch some Sunday Night Football with cold beer and chips and relax.

One of the important things about being up here is not just all the new birds I’ll see but I am now in the heart of Sasquatch Country. I have a camera, I have good eyes, so I will be on the lookout. No Bigfoot you say? Take another look at The Patterson Film. Notice two important things. First, it walks with its knees bent. Can you do that? Second, you can see the bottom of its feet as it lifts them up, its feet are perpendicular to the ground. You and I don’t walk like that. It’s doing all this fancy walking over uneven terrain while looking backwards! I’ll have more on this as I explore the deep dark forest of the Olympic Peninsula.

The ride up from San Jose this afternoon was smooth and on time, with some great scenery:

Here’s more:

Originally I did not plan to chase Yellow-billed Magpie, thinking it would be too far out of my way. Then I found a place on eBird, Coyote Valley, that was just off Highway 101 on the way to San Jose. My flight didn’t leave until afternoon so there was plenty of time for a search. I first slowly drove down Laguna Avenue but didn’t see any. Instead, I found a large mixed flock of blackbirds, so I worked on close studies of Tricolored and “Bicolored” Blackbirds.

Down the next road, Palm Avenue, I saw some magpies in a field near the parking lot of the Coyote Canyon Open Space Park, but the lot was full, there was a special event today! And I needed the rest room! I drove down an adjacent back road and there they were, Yellow-billed Magpies (502).

I saw about 18 of them here. I’m glad I made the effort to get this bird, it is such an iconic species of Central California. This is the only place in the world you can see one.

Tomorrow morning I pick up a car and work my way around the back side of the Puget Sound up to the Port Townsend area to search for loons, grebes, gulls, waterfowl, and shorebirds, with an eye out for as-yet undescribed hominins.