A Little Bit of Everything on Mother's Day

Today was another fantastic day on the water, as over the course of four hours we saw six different marine mammal species. First off, we saw the California sea lion (1) that has been hanging out just outside of Friday Harbor. Next, up by Patos Island, we found ourselves surrounded by dozens and dozens of harbor porpoise (2). We shut off the engines and it was so peaceful that we could actually hear them breathing as they came to the surface - so cool!

On our way over towards East Point we saw a few harbor seals (3) and Steller sea lions (4) in the water, and then at the haul out there were about a dozen Stellers and a couple hundred harbor seals. Perched right on the rocks with them again was an adult bald eagle.

As we cruised down Boundary Pass we were really pleased to find a nice group of Dall's porpoise (5), a species we haven't seen too much of this spring. They were zipping through the water at top speed, sometimes surfacing two or three abreast and kicking up spray into the air. We had several of them right off the bow when all of a sudden we veered away. Why were we abuptly leaving such a cool encounter? There could only be one reason - orcas! Indeed, the captain had gotten the call we had been hoping for, that another boat had picked up some killer whales (6). It was late in our trip but we had just enough time to run at top speed over to Haro Strait and meet up with a pair of transients.

It turned out to be the same two females that were traveling together a few days ago - T124C and CA58. CA58 is actually a California transient, so it is very interesting to have her up here hanging out with these transients! (Some of you may remember the mystery whale we saw last month with male T103 that I posted about here - turns out that was CA58 as well.) I wonder what kind of relationships these two females have?

Above is T124C, who is an 18 year-old female that is known for traveling apart from her family by herself. Below is T124C on the right and CA58 on the left, with Vancouver Island the Olympic Mountains in the background.

While the marine mammal sightings were superb today, I'm never one to pass the birds by. This rhinoceros auklet in breeding plumage popped up right near the boat while we were watching the whales - probably the best auklet photo I've ever gotten:

Happy Mother's Day Mom, and to all moms!

The Western Explorer: Back on the Water

Since the beginning of May in addition to the Western Prince we are also running our other boat, the zodiac-style Western Explorer. I hadn't been out on it yet this season and the weather was so nice today that I decided to go along for the ride. It was perfect weather for a cruise through both the San Juan and Canadian Gulf Islands.

Our first stop was for a group of harbor porpoise. In small groups, they can be elusive, but when there's a decent number of them in the area if we shut the boat down we can often get nice looks, like we did today. At one point they were surfacing on all sides of us!

Since I was just riding along today, I really got to sit back and enjoy the scenery. The route we took was a beautiful one, going through several narrow channels and around many different islands. In addition to the blue skies and calm waters, the cloud formations were incredible. Here is the bow of the boat with Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island in the background:

On our way up towards the Canadian Gulf Islands we slowed down near Patos Lighthouse. This is my favorite little lighthouse in the San Juans - so picturesque!

One great thing about the Western Explorer is that in addition to being an open-air, adventurous ride, it is also fast. We get to cover a lot of ground, and occasionally visit places we don't often get to see. Today was one of those days as we went north to the Belle Chain Islets, a fantastic sea lion haul out. Just as we slowed down to look at the sea lions, I caught sight of an immature bald eagle that took flight and soared right over us:

The Belle Chains are one of the most impressive sea lion haul outs in the area. Today we estimated that there were about 200 sea lions there. Interestingly, it was about an even mix of Steller and California sea lions. In the San Juan Islands, the Stellers are far more common, but on some of the British Columbia haul outs it seems there are a lot of Californias as well.

All the sea lions were very active, which means it was noisy with lots of barking and growling. I wonder if they are gearing up for the breeding season which begins in about three or four weeks? During that time males will defend territories from one another in order to breed with females, so you can imagine that there is a lot of aggression going on.

Looking at my pictures, I'm also fairly certain there were some females present as well, just judging by the fact that were some comparatively very small sea lions mixed in. This is unexpected, since we usually just see male sea lions in the area. I wonder if they will establish another breeding rookery nearby?

Finches, Sparrows, and Hummingbird Acrobatics

Today I spent an hour birding at South Beach. The water was pretty quiet - just thirteen red-breasted mergansers and a single common loon in summer plumage - so I focused my efforts on the driftwood and the scrub hoping to turn up the vesper sparrow that had been reported there recently. It turns out that there are a lot of finchy and sparrowy birds that hang out there! I saw three finch species (American goldfinch, house finch, purple finch) and three sparrow species (savannah sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, golden-crowned sparrow) by the time I made it back to the car.

Not wanting to give up just yet, I decided to walk down the road a little ways. Right in front of me, three striped sparrows landed on the split rail fence. My analysis went like this: "The first two have yellow on the face - definitely savannah sparrows. But the third....hmm....looks a little different. Lots of stripes, no central breast dot, no yellow....Uh oh, a car is coming and will certainly flush the birds away! I better grab my camera and snap a quick picture."

I did just that and got one blurry shot before the car passed and the birds flew away, but luckily the photo is clear enough to show, in addition the field marks described above, a white eye ring and the traces of a white outer tail feather. Vesper sparrow (158)!!

Since the blurry vesper shot isn't blog worthy I thought I would post some pictures of the rufous hummingbirds that come to my porch feeder. I have to admit, I never truly appreciated the nuances of hummingbird flight until I saw the recent PBS special called Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air, where they slow down hummingbird flight using high speed cameras. It's amazing!

I attempted to capture some of the coolness by photographing my local hummingbirds. Not quite the same as the video, but still pretty cool. They're most active at dusk, so all the photos are silhouettes, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Great Birding at Mt. Young

Today we decided to hike up Mt. Young. Since it's an uphill hike, I was lazy and decided to take my binoculars but not my camera, so no pictures today. It was a bit overcast and being in the woods there wasn't much photo-worthy today anyway, but it turned out to be some great birding.

We only detected about 15 or so species, and both heard and saw most all of them, which was great for improving my knowledge of bird calls. The only species we saw and didn't hear were the turkey vultures, of which there were four soaring around at the top of the hill. One of the birds we heard and didn't see, however, remains a mystery. The song was very distinct and coming from the tree tops, keeping the bird out of view. I've learned that using mnemonics are helpful when learning bird calls or for remembering those that you hear in the field, and Keith came up with the very accurate "get get get out of my way beep beep!" for this call. I listened to a lot of possible candidates online after getting home, but still wasn't able to pinpoint the caller.

On the climb up we heard lots of pacific-slope flycatchers, orange-crowned warblers, dark-eyed juncos, and red-breasted nuthatches. After getting to the top and sitting down to take in the panoramic view looking west over Haro Strait, I heard my first year bird of the day: the "whip, three beers!" of the olive-sided flycatcher (154). The next two birds came right to me, as well. Perched at the very top of a pine tree was a female red crossbill (155), a fantastic find! I have seen crossbills once before on San Juan Island but often get frustrated looking for them throughout the Pacific Northwest as they are usually reported as heard calling as they fly by in a flock overhead, which is not conducive to relocating them. This bird was very cooperative, though, and in addition to providing a great view also called a few times. Maybe next time I'll be able to ID them flying overhead too!

Right after the crossbill flew away, I heard another unfamiliar call from behind me and saw a chipping sparrow (156) at the top of a madrone snag! This is one bird I've expected to find on the island and I've been looking for it in some of its common hang outs, but I this time I guess I just had to wait for it to find me!

On the way back down the hill, one more unfamiliar call echoed loudly through the trees. Patience paid off and I spotted the singer: a Hutton's vireo (157). Actually seeing the bird singing really helps me cement its call in my memory, and just before the parking lot I was able to pick out another singing Hutton's vireo from the cacophony of other calls.

I didn't think there would be too many more days this year when I would get as many as four year birds in a single day, at least not on San Juan Island. Great stuff, and it helps me to close the gap on Dave in the year bird race, as he had pulled ahead by a full ten species after a recent oceanic trip.

A Sweet Day With Stellers

Today on the Western Prince we headed north up towards East Point, where we have had so many amazing wildlife encounters lately. Today was no exception, as soon as we pulled into Boundary Pass we saw small groups of harbor porpoise all over the place. While watching them, a harbor seal also surfaced nearby with what looked like a rockfish in its mouth.

The water was flat so the visibility was great, and we could spot some Steller sea lions surfacing from quite a distance away. We headed over to investigate, and before long were surrounded by multiple groups lounging on the surface. The most exciting moment was when one surfaced directly in front of the boat, giving us a close up look at this ocean predator - and his big teeth! Here is my favorite photo from the day:

After spending some time with the Stellers in the water, we went over to East Point itself where fifteen or more sea lions were hauled out on the rocks. Much to my surprise, an adult bald eagle was also perched on the rocks, right among the sea lions:

A little further down on the rocks were harbor seals. Today there were more seals there than I usually see hauled out in one place - I estimated there were at least 150:

This time, only a few individual Bonaparte's gulls were seen - quite a contrast to the tens of thousands that were there just last week! It was actually pretty surprising how little bird life was there (glaucous-winged gulls and a few surf scoters) given all the active foraging going on by the seals, sea lions, and porpoises.

Finally: shorebirds!

The sun was shining today, and after being in the office all afternoon, I just stopped at home for a quick snack before heading down to the south end of the island to do some bird-watching. For the last few weeks I have been searching the beaches for migrating shorebirds, and with the exception of the day I found three black-bellied plovers and three sanderlings at South Beach, I haven't seen much. Today, I finally found what I was looking for: a flock of about 25 western sandpipers (153)! It's always amazing to me when a bird, especially such a small one, doesn't mind my presence and just goes about its business while I sit just a few yards away.

With them were another three black-bellied plovers, which I was very excited about. This time I got a chance to snap a few photos. The black "wing pits" visible in flight are one field mark that distinguish the black-bellied from other similar plover species:

While the shorebirds were what I went looking for, there was a lot of other bird life around as well. A pair of black oystercatchers chased each other around the bay over the heads of a few small flocks of remaining bufflehead and surf scoters. A bald eagle flew through, flushing all the glaucous-winged gulls off the beach. In the lagoon were a pair of mallards and the summer resident northern rough-winged swallows.

The woodlands between the beach and parking area were active as well. I heard red-breasted nuthatches, a warbling vireo, several orange-crowned warblers, and a Bewick's wren. A flock of bushtits was intermixed with a few foraging chestnut-backed chickadees. A pair of downy woodpeckers flew from tree to tree, while some golden-crowned and white-crowned sparrows foraged in the grass. In total, I saw and heard 32 species, not bad for the hour or so I spent there!

Before heading home I decided to stop by the den where I saw and photographed the baby foxes last spring. There seemed to be just one kit there, and he/she was much shyer than the foxes I saw last year, as I got the chance to snap just one quick photo before it disappeared down into the den. I was patiently waiting for it to re-emerge when I was surprised to see it peering at me from another entrance to the tunnel, further away. But as soon as I lifted my camera, it was back underground in a flash.

While the sun was back out, the winds were still blowing, and my last photo of the day was of this savannah sparrow, fluffed up against the breeze:

Birdy Update

I have all kinds of birds sightings and photos I've been saving up and wanting to share, so I figured I would do them all here in one post. First of all, back when I went to Lopez Island I eluded to a bizarre finding at Shark Reef Sanctuary. It started right under this snag, where I saw all kinds of feathers spread all over the place:

I figured a bald eagle had likely caught a bird and eaten it on this perch, and that would be the end of the story. But looking around a little further, we surprisingly found the head of the bird it had eaten - a rhinoceros auklet! Very bizarre...

Also on Lopez Island I took this photo of a gull carrying a shell down the beach. I have seen some pretty ingenious gull foraging tactics lately. Gulls in this area were dropping shells on the road, hoping they would either break open or perhaps get driven over and opened up. The other day with the huge flock of Bonaparte's gulls, we saw birds deftly plucking shrimp right off the surface of the water. Back at home, we have observed a young glaucous-winged gull learn to catch crabs by patrolling the rocks.

Also at home, I've been focusing on getting some hummingbird pictures at the feeder - look for an upcoming post on hummingbird acrobatics - but while waiting for the hummer to return this chestnut-backed chickadee sat nearby waiting for me to go back inside so it could return to the sunflower seed feeder.

A group of Washington ornithologists was recently up on San Juan Island and reported some amazing finds on their trip, including many sightings that would be year birds to me and some species that I've never recorded on the island. An e-mail inquiry revealed that many of their IDs were by call, or at least that's how they located the birds, which has encouraged me to try and improve my ability to bird by ear. Specifically, getting better at vireos, flycatchers, and warblers would be helpful.

When I went out a few days ago, I saw my first cliff swallows (151) of the year flying over a lake with barn, tree, violet-green, and northern rough-winged swallows, so it was my first five swallow day of the year. I also succeeded in hearing a warbling vireo (152) down at American Camp, though I would very much like to see the bird as well! I had some time to go out birding yesterday as well, but was somewhat thwarted by the wind and rain showers. The best find of the day was a pair of Caspian terns patrolling Jackson Beach:

On today's trip out (also in the wind and rain), birds were pretty few and far between, but we did find a nice flock of a few hundred Bonaparte's gulls up at East Point. Everytime I've seen them this spring (and I've seen way more of them this spring than in previous years) they've been flying, but today some of them were at rest on the rocks or floating in the water. I wonder how long they'll stick around before continuing north?

Finally, I've been checking in occasionally on this very cool barn owl webcam. Back at the beginning of April, you could see the female, Molly, with her newly hatched chicks in the nest (one of them is that fluff ball on the left):

This morning, I was very surprised to see how much the chicks have grown since my last visit. They are very large and comical-looking right now as they are between the fuzzy down of a baby and the first feathers of a fledgling. It's definitely worth checking out!