Spring Bird Photos and Year List Update

Spring hasn't just been a time for whales, it's been a time for birds, as well! I've neglected to post updates here, but I've still been diligently tracking my year list. When I last left off, we had just come home from Southern California where my last year bird of the trip was a wandering tattler in La Jolla Cove, year bird #138 (listed on the blog as 137, off by one because I realized I had missed counting the purple finch way back in February!)

It took only a day after getting home to add some of our local spring migrants to the list, the orange-crowned warbler (139) and rufous hummingbird (140). Some wildlife viewing trips out on the boat also turned up a small flock of Bonaparte's gulls (141) in Spieden Channel, where the eagle viewing has been great too.

An adult bald eagle changes an immature away from its territory on Spieden Island

And I can never pass up the opportunity to get multiple species in one photo:

Black oystercatcher and Canada goose at Spieden Island

This is about the birdiest time of year, because while spring migrants like tree (142), violet-green (143), and northern rough-winged (144) swallows are arriving, some of the winter residents, like these long-tailed ducks in Mosquito Pass, are still here as well:

Three Meadows Marsh is where I saw all the swallows, and it's also where I added the Hutton's vireo (145), sora (146), and wood duck (147). My dad was up for a quick visit and hadn't seen a California quail yet either, so I thought we'd try looking for one at American Camp - and it worked! 148. As we were driving around the island that day I also added brown-headed cowbird (149).

One morning before work I heard my first black-throated gray warbler of the season (150). Later the same day I also saw my first barn swallow (151) of the year. Next, an unexpected and quick trip across the country to Washington, DC - more about that in my next blog post - led to me adding common grackle (152) to my list, but that would be the only bird back east as I didn't get a chance to leave the city.

Back home, birding in my yard has turned up my next five year birds: American goldfinch (153), Pacific-slope flycatcher (154), Townsend's warbler (155), chipping sparrow (156), and Wilson's warbler (157). But it hasn't just been the year birds in the spotlight on the home front, as a couple of times we've had up close and personal visits from our local barred owls:

A new visitor to our bird feeders on April 12

An even closer barred owl encounter happened this afternoon, May 8th!

The weather has been so fantastic, that one afternoon when the lighting was right I spent some time just sitting by the bird feeders until all the regulars felt comfortable enough to return. Here are some of my resulting pictures:

Hairy woodpecker

Rufous hummingbird

Spotted towhee

Pine siskin

Chestnut-backed chickadee

Finally, yesterday at work I heard my first olive-sided flycatcher (158), so that's where the year list tally sits at the moment. In my friendly year list challenges, that puts me a few species ahead of Dave in England who has 153 and well behind my dad who on a trip to Florida and the Bahamas jetted up to 194. On the more local front, I've got 112 species in San Juan County compared to my friend and fellow birder Phil who's at 97.

A Slow Start To February

Seems the bird activity has really quieted down over the last week, and a few short walks to start out the month of February haven't turned up too many species. The best photo op of the week was of the pine siskins at the feeder:

There was some good waterfowl activity at Jackson Beach, with green-winged teal, mallards, gadwall, hooded and red-breasted mergansers, bufflehead, and common goldeneye. Here in the neighborhood there have been a pair of bald eagles regularly flying over Brown Island just across the way. I've also gotten a few brief glimpses of some other more uncommon species including a sharp-shinned hawk chasing a flicker, a hardy Anna's hummingbird who is spending the winter here, and a single varied thrush.

I've also gone out owling a couple of times where friends of mine have reported seeing and hearing owls, but no such luck there. It seems I'm rarely successful when I go out specifically looking for owls, at least at night - I just have to wait patiently for them to come to me!

Yesterday the sun was out for a bit and there was word whales had been seen on the west side of San Juan Island, so we went out for a late afternoon walk. Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind the clouds as we headed out there, and the chilly breeze picked up a little bit. It was very quiet out there - no whales, and very few birds - but it was still a pleasant walk. It turned into a subtle, but pretty, sunset:

I'm keen to have my first whale sighting of 2013, but in the meantime I've been following with interest the track of K25 Scoter who was satellite tagged in Puget Sound in late December. The tag is still transmitting, and he (along with the rest of K-Pod, presumably) has gone all the way to central California and back, and is now going up and down along the Washington and Oregon Coasts. You can see the series of tracking maps and get some more information about the tagging project here.

Lots of Spring Walks, Lots of Spring Sightings

Last week Wednesday I got to check on the owlets again with my friend Katie (check out her blog for some awesome owl pics!). It's amazing how much they grew in just one week!

We watched them from a distance for about 10 minutes, and the cutest moment was when this little guy stretched, looking more like a slinky toy than a baby owl:

On Friday, a walk at the Friday Harbor Labs turned up my first singing olive-sided flycatcher (174) and also a western tanager (175) and another barred owl. A non-avian highlight was this very cooperative butterfly:

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon at another friend's house. I enjoyed exploring around her yard, where in an hour I saw/heard about 20 bird species. Here's the view from her back porch:

One bird highlight were the pine siskins. They were loooovvvviiinng the thistle seed feeders:

But my favorite birds to watch were by far the two pairs of rufous hummingbirds, that showed no fear of me sitting right below the feeders. That allowed for some great photographic opportunities. Here's a male, just landing and holding onto the perch:

And here's a female hovering near the feeder, my favorite photo of the week:

While watching her feeders, I also saw my first black-headed grosbeak (176) of the year. We then went for a walk, and along her driveway was some striped coralroot (Corallorhiza striata), the first time I've seen this particular species of flowering plant that gets its nutrients not through photosynthesis but off fungi in the soil:

Nearby was the spotted coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata), the species I see more often:

On the walk, I heard several Wilson's warblers (177), as well as more olive-sided and Pacific-slope flycatchers, a mourning dove, and a band-tailed pigeon,  the latter two being more uncommon species here.

Sunday a hike near Roche Harbor gave me a chance to stop by the marina and see the purple martins (178) that are taking advantage of the nest boxes there. Finally, during a walk after work today, I heard my first Swainson's thrush (179) of the year. Meanwhile, Dave's been ticking away over in the UK, and despite my productive California trip in February sits only 7 species back in our year list competition!

Sightings Update

I had a few sightings I wanted to log here before leaving on the main part of my trip.....

Last weekend J-Pod made a trip around San Juan Island, and I got a very distant look at them for my first orca sighting of 2012. While looking for them, I also saw my first Pacific loon (108) of the year.

An interesting sighting off the front porch this week was of a nudibranch species I hadn't seen before. My memory of the field guide told me it might be a sea peach - I was close, but when I looked it up it was actually called a sea lemon! (A sea peach is in a different marine invertebrate family entirely). It's a poor picture, but here it is:

Yesterday was the first leg of our trip - the drive to Portland. I made a side trip through Fir Island in Skagit County to see the flocks of snow geese (109), and was successful in finding a flock of about 1000!

Then this morning, I got to see the impressive flock of 60+ pine siskins (110) that visits my parents' bird feeders. Here's a portion of them:

Next up, we're getting on a train and heading south to California! It should bring plenty more sightings to report, and hopefully some better photos than the ones posted here!

More Great Bird Sightings on San Juan

I had the chance to visit with a fellow bird watcher and see her beautiful garden earlier this week. As we sat and chatted, we saw and heard no fewer than 20 species at her feeders and in her yard. It was so impressive I had to come back with my camera! 

One of the first species I saw was a flock of pine siskins (year bird 176):

I was thrilled when a single red crossbill (177) came down to join the group, too! There were also golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows, a pair of California quail, and lots of American goldfinches. Their bright yellow sure stands out when they're at the feeders, but they camouflage in with the lilac bush:

We also heard a singing black-headed grosbeak (178) and several yellow warblers (179). Four year birds just in her yard - not bad! There are lots of neat aspects of living on a houseboat, but one thing that would be very cool about having a yard is being able to attract more bird species than the three or four regular that will venture down to the marina. One day....

The violet-green swallows were busy at the nesting box. This is the second time this month where I was able to distinctly see both the violet and the green (the other being at Ridgefield NWR on May 1):

She also had both rufous and Anna's hummingbirds coming to her feeders. This was by far the best chance I've ever had to photograph a male Anna's:

Then when he turned the right way, look at that gorget light up!

Then yesterday a friend of mine sent me a photograph of a bird she didn't recognize, and it was a fork-tailed storm-petrel! She had seen it on Friday right in Cattle Pass. Then another friend said she saw several on Saturday a bit further offshore. That's a very rare species to be seen in the county, so I went down there today to look for one. Not unexpectedly, I didn't have any luck finding it, although there was a very large bait ball several miles offshore, and if I was a storm-petrel, that's where I would have been. The trip was still well worth it, however. Right when I walked up a bald eagle flew by with something clutched in its talons, and it was being tailed by FIVE other bald eagles! It's always a cool experience when you get to be at eye level with an eagle:

Their antics in flight were amazing to watch:

I saw the expected surf scoters, harlequin ducks, and black oystercatchers. I also saw about four Eurasian collared-doves, which are now to be expected at Cattle Point, but I was thrilled to also find a pair of mourning doves, a less common species for the island. Then, as I was walking through the prairie, something "different" caught my eye. It turned out to be a western kingbird (180) - a very rare species for the county!!

It's been an exciting spring here on the island, with rare species cropping up all over the place. That's sure enough incentive to get out there as much as possible, because you never know what you're going to find, now more than ever!