81 vs. 82

After a pleasant start to the New Year here on San Juan Island, we were treated to a couple weeks of windy, stormy weather which greatly decreased the birding opportunities. We're finally seeing some calmer skies and even a little bit of sunshine, but for many days the most beautiful part of the day was first thing in the morning when we had some dramatic skies before another gray day of rain:

January sunrise over Egg Lake

This past week I got out to do a little birding on one of my lunch breaks and turned up my first house sparrow (81) of the year. Interestingly, it seems like this invasive species is becoming harder and harder to find in recent years, after I remember it being abundant during my childhood.

Yesterday afternoon I took a hike at Cattle Point, where I found a flock of about 20 house finches (82). As it turns out, the rise and fall of these two species, who happen to be next to each other on my 2014 year list, may in fact be related. Citizen science data from projects like the Christmas Bird Count and Project Feeder Watch have shown that house finches may be out-competing house sparrows. Here on the west coast, house finches are native, but on the east coast where they have been introduced, they're actually considered an invasive species as well. The interaction between populations of these two species is actually one of the first documented cases of an invasive bird species impacting other bird species on a population level. We suspect this happens in other cases - like that of the European starling - but the data just hasn't been there to prove it. Read more the house sparrow vs. house finch interaction from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology here.

Looking towards Goose Island from Cattle Point

Today I did one of my monthly bird surveys at False Bay Creek, where the flooded fields this time of year lead to the presence of waterfowl species like northern pintail, green-winged teal, northern shovelers, and American wigeon.

Flooded False Bay Creek

Luckily due to the extra water, the cows are kept in the adjacent field this time of year. Honestly I'm always a little scared of them when I do my survey while they're in the same field as me!

You stay on your side of the fence, I'll stay on mine

The coolest find of the day was a northern shrike. I've never seen one on the island in a place other than the south end, until today!

There are a few more opportunities for the year list here on the island this month, but it's unlikely I'll reach 100 this month without going off island, which it looks like may not happen. Next month, however, I have a pretty incredible trip planned that will not only seriously boost the year list but will result in A LOT to blog about, so stay tuned!

Kicking Off the 2013 Year List

Snow fell on New Year's Eve, and as the sky dimmed for the last time in 2012 we gathered our usual friends and family for our last day of the year festivities. Game playing was interrupted shortly before midnight when someone spotted movement on the deck outside. It was a raccoon - the first one my parents have ever seen in their yard. Closer inspection showed it to be a raccoon with a story to tell - he had a gash on his nose and was missing his tail. We could only imagine what might have happened to him.

Just like last year, when I awoke on New Year's Day I added the same first species to my year list without opening my eyes as I heard a Steller's jay (1) in my parents' yard. I went downstairs and ate a bowl of cereal in front of the sliding glass door overlooking the beautiful, snow-dusted landscape, every bough and branch looking like it had been dipped in ice. I added seven more species to the list, most of them the same ones that made up my first ten species from last year: black-capped chickadee (2), mourning dove (3 - was 30 last year), chestnut-backed chickadee (4), red-breasted nuthatch (5), dark-eyed junco (6), spotted towhee (7), and song sparrow (8).

We took off towards Saint Helens, passing ten species with the American crow (10) and adding a few others on our way to the Honeyman Road loop that goes through Scappoose Bottoms. Along the way we had to stop to take a few pictures not only of birds but of the snowy landscape, too:

The reservoir on Honeyman Road had at least 50 tundra swans (16) on it, a species it was nice to add so early and one that wasn't present when we had visited shortly before. Just down the road from the swan overlook was my first red-tailed hawk (17) of the year. My camera settings weren't quite right when it took flight, but I like the result in this photograph anyway:

The rough-legged hawk wasn't in his usual corner, so we thought that might be a big miss. There were other raptors around, however, including a bald eagle (20), several American kestrels (21), and a northern harrier (23). Kestrels are often quite skittish, but this one didn't move when we slowed the car down below it. It wasn't until I looked at the photo that I realized he was clutching a mouse, with blood on his beak and feathers and dripping down the pole. Such is the life of a bird of prey:

We found the rough-legged hawk (24) further down the road form his usual hang out - yay! The rest of Honeyman Road turned up our first bunch of waterfowl and three gull species, with some highlights being half a dozen Wilson's snipe (28) and a small flock of sandhill cranes (29).

The weather was crisp but it was time to get out and walk part of the Crown-Zellerbach trail. The Ross' goose from a few days before was no where to be seen, but in its place were six snow geese (35) with a huge flock of cackling geese. More of the regular wetland species were added here, most notably a Virginia rail (42) that responded to a played vocalization, one or two marsh wrens (43), and a lone cinnamon teal (46). There weren't as many sparrows and small birds in the blackberry bushes, perhaps due to all the people out walking their dogs and enjoying the sunny first day of the year. One dog walker even stopped and asked to take a picture of us crazy birders for the county webpage. Several others stopped to share their own bird sightings with us, even if it was just "a flock of 50 starlings". It's always nice to get others to think about the birds they've seen!

We drove along Dike Road next where the highlight was a male Eurasian wigeon (51), a species that eluded both me and my dad last year. From there it was a short drive to Sauvie Island, where the first stop was to enjoy a pair of peregrine falcons (54) perched in perfect lighting:

Last year, I didn't add peregrine falcon until #218 in October. These two were on adjacent poles, and then one flew to join the other, setting up this great photo op of a pair of falcons, each facing different directions:

It was hard not to stop and take another picture of the same photogenic cows, especially because of the flock of Brewer's blackbirds (55) in their field.

The next pasture over were some very strange looking llamas. They're carrying quite the load of wool, which looks so unkempt as to be growing its own layer of moss of algae:

From there it was on to the Reeder Road observation blind. The duck composition had changed quite a lot from a few days before, perhaps in part because of all the hunting that was going on nearby. We actually saw one guy across the marsh shoot and then wade out to net a duck or goose, the poor thing still struggling as he made his way back to shore. It was interesting to have lots of bird watchers with scopes and binos on one side of the lake and hunters with guns poking through blinds right across the way on the other side. Most of the birds were American coot, and gone from what we could tell were the ruddy ducks, but we did re-find the redhead (58) and canvasback (59), as well as a single female bufflehead (60) and some lesser scaup (61).

With getting a later start than planned and taking our time everywhere we went, we realized we weren't going to cover nearly as much ground as we had originally planned for January 1. Still, without traveling nearly as far as we did last year, we equaled last year's first day of the year total by about 2:30 in the afternoon. Next up was Rentenaar Road, where we had seen the Harris' sparrow on the 29th. It looked like lots of other birders had the same idea, as the road was busy from end to end. As we pondered what it was about this particular dirt road edged with blackberries that so attracted sparrows, we saw dozens of golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows (63). All in all, we only turned up four of the seven sparrow species from a few days before. We managed to turn up two Lincoln's sparrows (64), but no Harris' sparrow for us that day.

By this time the annoying cold that has greeted me this new year was beginning to take its toll on me, so we started to head home. On our way off the island we picked up double-crested cormorants (65) as expected, but didn't see any of the hoped-for mergansers along the Multnomah Channel.

As we reviewed the first day of birding, we agreed the peregrine falcons were the highlight, but were surprised that fox sparrow hadn't made it onto the list - last year it was #10 for me. On our way home we went by a patch of bushes where we had seen a pair of fox sparrows a few days ago. They hadn't been there in the morning, but amazingly to me, there they were in the afternoon (66). Just like the rough-legged hawk and so many other birds, they astound me with their site fidelity. Since we were so close we returned to the rough-legged hawk area, a spot known to some birders as Owl Corner. While the rough-legged hawk had returned to his usual perching tree, there were no short-eared owls or any other kind of owls to be seen patrolling the fields.

That proved to be it for day one, but with an improvement of five species over last year, I was pleased enough. I perhaps paid for being out and about so much with a cold coming on, as I proved to be totally down for the count today and further birding plans had to be postponed. The only species I added on day two were evening grosbeaks (67) and varied thrushes (68) that came to my parents' feeders, seen comfortably from under a blanket on the couch. I hope to still get in a trip to Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge before I leave, and hopefully seek out a couple of the rarer birds reported in Portland recently on the way there.

I Spoke Too Soon

I thought my year list was all wrapped up, but I was wrong! I went out on a couple of birding excursions to enjoy the end of December sunshine, and turned up an unexpected surprise of a Harris' sparrow (222) on Sauvie Island on the 29th. THAT turned out to be where my year list halted for 2012 - the numbers in the last post have been updated accordingly. 

On Saturday we headed to Sauvie Island, where the first major attraction wasn't avian but mammalian, and not wild but domestic:

These cows were quite interested in us, and quite photogenic:

We looked high and low for a merlin, a big miss on the year list for both me and my dad. We did see probably a dozen American kestrels, and at least as many red-tailed hawks:

We stopped at the Reeder Road observation platform where there were great numbers and variety of waterfowl. Some highlights included a canvasback, a redhead, and two female ruddy ducks, as well as most of the other unexpected duck species. Again I crossed my fingers in hopes the same birds would be present on New Year's Day.

Next stop was Rentenaar Road, where the Harris' sparrow had been reported. As I mentioned, we found the Harris', and an amazing six other sparrow species: song, white-crowned, golden-crowned, fox, Lincoln's, and savannah. We later heard some other birders also found a swamp sparrow and a clay-colored sparrow. At the end of the road we also saw a huge flock of snow geese. One other notable sighting on Sauvie Island was the amazing number of sandhill cranes - 300 is probably a conservative estimate of what we saw.

On Sunday morning "the mountains were out" as they say during a clear day in the Portland area. From Scappoose Bottoms we could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Saint Helens. Here's a couple views of Saint Helens - the first one with a great egret and the second one with an American coot:

Along the Crown-Zellerbach trail, we scouted out some great birds that I hoped would be around on January 1, including the Virginia rail, red-breasted sapsucker, and yellow-rumped warbler.

Later that day I got to visit the neighbor's chickens, where this handsome fellow wouldn't qualify for a year list but was still fun to see and photograph:

That recaps the last birding of 2012, so next post will be about kicking off the year list for 2013, which I did today. We didn't have a white Christmas here in Columbia County, Oregon, but snow slowly fell for much of New Year's Eve, so we welcomed in the new year in wintery style. Photos of that in the next post too!

Scouting Out Columbia County

This afternoon, before our New Year's celebrations, we spent a couple of hours birding around Scappoose before tomorrow when the new year list begins. If we see again tomorrow what we saw today, I will be thrilled! The afternoon ended with 45 species in just two hours.

Some of the bird highlights included a rough-legged hawk, an American bittern, a pileated woodpecker, and a couple of Lincoln's sparrows. Here are some of the photo highlights:

Here's lookin' at you

Rough-legged hawk taking flight

Canada geese overhead

Four of the 50 or so great egrets we saw

Happy New Year everyone!!

San Juan County Fair

This week is the biggest annual community event in the San Juan Islands: the San Juan County Fair. Everyone in town is talking about the fair - from the traditional subjects like the food, the music, the rides, the exhibits, and the animals, to the more unique elements like the Zucchini 500 or the Trashion Fashion show.

I usually enter photos in the fair, but this year I was asked to be a photography judge, so I spent Tuesday evening looking at the great photos everyone submitted. I still felt like entering something, so I turned to one of my lesser known talents: baking. I made a blackberry pie using locally picked blackberries (I actually made two pies - one for the fair and one to eat!):

I also made my molasses cookies, which have become a favorite among my friends:

Today I spent part of the afternoon at the fair looking at all the livestock. The pygmy goats were probably my favorite:

There were also pigs, sheep, horses, ducks, chickens, rabbits, and cows.

4H is popular around here, and many of the island kids get to show off their work around the fair. One of the more unusual events, which I got to see today, were the chicken races:

Many local organizations also exhibit at the fair, and when I stopped by The Whale Museum booth I got roped into making a dorsal fin hat. This is not your traditional whale picture, but from the dorsal fins you can tell that from left to right you have K40 Raggedy, J28 Polaris, and J2 Granny:

Gull Walking in the Sky and Other Photos

It was a nice, calm day today. With the sun out and no wind, the temperatures in the high forties actually felt warm. I decided to go out and shoot some photos this afternoon. My first stop was False Bay since the birding has been so great there. The tide was out, so the "bay" was really just a huge mudflat with some great feeding puddles for the gulls. The mew gulls were out en masse, and although I didn't see any foot-paddling, they were all marching about the puddles and seemingly finding a lot to eat.

I really like this first photo because it blurs the distinction between water and sky. Since the water was so calm it was reflecting the sky quite nicely, and to me it looks like the gull is walking in the sky. It's only the rocks in the top of the photo that bring your perception back to reality by reflecting in the water.

Since I was shooting into the sun, the lighting was harsh and the colors didn't really come out in many of my photos. Without vibrant colors and with almost a silhouette effect on the gulls, I thought a black and white photo might turn out cool. Here's one I thought worked well - notice why I used the word marching to describe what the gulls were doing.

I never have much success shooting landscape shots with a mountain in the background, because it's hard to get everything to expose properly. If any of you other photographers have any tips on getting the mountain exposure right, I'd love to hear them! Still, I thought this shot with grazing sheep in the foreground turned out kind of cool. It looks better in a larger version, and as always you can click on the photo to see it bigger.

Finally, before I was heading home, the late afternoon sun was looking beautiful through the clouds and back-lighting the trees. I wanted to add another element to the photo to make it more interesting, and the closest thing at hand were these cows. I had to jump across a ditch, crouch down, and shoot the photo through a fence, but I think it was worth the extra effort. There are actually three cows in the shot - notice the mom and calf nose-to-nose under the trees in the right side of the image.