Veteran's Day Quail Run

Sanderson Field

 

I kept putting off this walk.  On my second day of birding in the county, I walked a tiny bit of the trail on the south side of the Shelton Airport, and vowed to return.  Since then I got word from Tom Mansfield that this is where he had found California Quail - a very tough bird in the county!   I had seen another report from years back, so I figured today, having no other birds to chase or hunt down, I would jump in and make the walk!

Mushrooms all day!

Arriving around 8:30, I put on the new pair of boots I had finally gotten to replace my five year old pair, and started down one of the Scot's Broom lined trails. I decided to take the paths that would keep me close to the field on the way out, and then make it a loop by heading away from the field and aiming for Goose Lake. 

Early on, I ran into a nice bird!  Hermit Thrush is a bird that I've had up in the mountains singing, and I realized upon seeing the little guy hop up on the branch that this had been a heard-only bird before today.  I stopped and thought harder on it, and realized the total number of heard-only birds at this point was only five:  Northern Saw-whet Owl, Northern Pygmy Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, and Ring-necked Pheasant*.

I enjoyed the view of the bird before it flitted off, and continued up the trail.  It looked so much like the habitat where I would find California Quail around my home, but also when I thought about it, a lot like the places where I would find Mountain Quail in Mason County.  What was the difference?  What kind of habitat suited one over the other?  Or did it have to do with predators?  I puzzled over this as I walked the trail, finding a good number of different mushrooms, and birds, including Pacific and Bewick's Wren (I had my first one of the year here), Red-breasted Sapsucker, both kinglets, and a lot of Fox Sparrows.

The trail took me past the gated off fairgrounds.  I was confused, as the Mason County Forest Festival had not happened here.  I got to wondering what events actually did happen there anymore.  The ankle high dry grass looked just as good for Horned Larks as it did closer to the freeway, although it sounds like they didn't favor this end of the airport/fairgrounds.  I also saw exactly why Chipping Sparrows seemed to hang out here regularly - lots of pine, and open space below.  I had never had to come this far back during breeding season, having seen my Chipping Sparrow closer to the freeway as well.

Stand of pine just after the trail moves away from the fence

I eventually made it to the end of the fields, and realized that the Scot's Broom here went nearly forever!  In places, it seemed like there had been a modicum of maintenance done on the trails, and I again got to wondering, "Why?  Who are these trails for?"   An hour and a half in, I figured it would be about time to start turning around.  I played for California Quail, bringing the Chi ca go!  call to Shelton.  Nothing came back in return.  I frowned, turned, and made my way down the trail southward. 

A sea of Scot's Broom

Someone overused the panorama feature on their camera this time around... Goose Lake from the South Shore.

A few oak trees were found here and there

It was pretty easy to find another major east-west "arterial" that paralleled the one I had taken.  I kept finding more and more habitat that seemed perfect, but as the day got later, I figured any quail in the area might be quiet.  Eventually, I found myself on the south shore of Goose Lake.  Not having really needed the boots before, I was happy to walk the squishy shoreline, finding Hooded Mergansers, Double-crested Cormorants, Buffleheads and other ducks in the little lake, but no Ruddy Ducks as I'd hoped for. 

I tried to simply circle back along the shoreline of the lake and pick up a trail, but there wasn't really a trail to be picked up, and the shoreline closed off with tree branches, so I bushwhacked it back up to the main trail.  No more than five minutes after making it back to the trail, two quail flushed from the side of the trail.  Mountain!  They lacked the black on the face, and made a cluck cluck instead of a pit pit as they went up the trail a ways.  I tiptoed forward, and eventually the two birds flushed from an unseen spot, disappearing for good to the south of the trail. 


Skokomish Valley Road

Having shaken the disappointment of finding Mountain Quail (that sounds weird, especially because the crappy view I got still counted as a life look), I hopped into the car and made my way to Skokomish Valley Road.  It had been closed the last time I was on it, due to flooding.  Oddly the same Road Closed signs were there, but traffic continued as usual.  Early on, I stopped at a sparrow patch that had been really good earlier in the year.  Today I found mobs of Golden-crowned Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, with a few Fox Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees in the mix.  No Harris's Sparrow! 


Behind the grange, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks circled, and farther up the road I found a small family of Common Mergansers sitting on a gravel bar in the middle of the Skoke.  This was such a familiar sight this year - it's been pretty easy to find Commons in the rivers of the county.  The rest of the road was pretty quiet, and I turned back towards 101 again.  My last stop on the road was right before the freeway - the George Adams Hatchery.  I hoped for a Swamp Sparrow, Great Egret, or something weird like a Sora in the marsh.  I missed them all, but did have Virginia Rail and Marsh Wrens.


Hunter Farms/Skokomish Mouth

I don't know how many cones of Olympic Mountain Ice Cream I've had this year, but it went up by one.  Pumpkin Praline... mmmm.  I checked the sparrow patch and found more of the same, with the addition of White-crowned Sparrow, and I also found a Merlin perched over the patch.  The Merlins had been hard for me to find earlier in the year, and this was the first one for me at that location.  Above the hills to the south, five Bald Eagles circled.


My next stop was at the mouth of the Skokomish.  There were hordes of Surf Scoters, Bonaparte's Gulls (and a mix of other gulls... I scanned them for dark mantles or dark heads, but otherwise wasn't picking through them with much care at all), and American Wigeons.  The big surprise was a pair of Marbled Godwits feeding in the delta.  There has been one seen at Belfair State Park for several winters in a row now, but this was new, at least for me, at this location.


Hood Canal to Belfair


I stopped when I could all the way up Hood Canal, scanning for Yellow-billed Loon, Long-tailed Duck, Ruddy Duck, or Common Murre.  None of them obliged me, and I decided in the end to do a rare skip of Theler and just go right to Belfair State Park.  The state parks are free on Veteran's Day. Who knew?

Hood Canal

Awfully blurry pic...gotta look over the camera, but there's Bonies and Dunlin in here!

Belfair S.P. was interesting!  Dunlin were back for the first time in a while, and there were good numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls - clearly something for double-digit months, as I never found more than one or two of them at once before June.  Further out, I scanned and found a lot of wigeon, some Buffleheads and scoters.  My hopes for a Ruddy Duck are beginning to fade, as it sounds like they are best found early in the year (which is actually when some were around), but I'll keep my eyes open.


I got a call from my daughter, wondering if I could pick her up early from school, and decided to cut Theler out for sure, packing everything up and heading back to the fair land of Renton

Birds for thought - November to the end

Well then...

...At this point, if it's not a breeder or extirpated, it's on my list of targets the rest of the way out. I only have a few days left in the county!



November 11, I will be making a most-of-the-day trip over and doing the search for California Quail in earnest, then hitting a few must-hit spots.  Probably the Skokomish River Valley, Hunter Farms, mouth of the Skokomish, Twanoh, Theler, and Belfair. 


December:  Two days.  Just like every month!  I wonder if they will be planned trips or chases.  How do I even approach it from here???



So here is the list taxonomically of the possibilities for the rest of the year.  I'm at 180* birds (the asterisk coming from an almost certainly uncountable pheasant!), and I'm left hoping for a couple more legitimate birds to make the record a little more solid. I'm pretty sure that there is not a single bird left on the list that I would "expect"



Geese:  Ross's Goose (code 5), Emperor Goose (code 6? never been seen) 

It's the right season for these birds, so it's just a matter of hitting Hunter Farms and Theler and keeping an eye out for interesting geese.



Tundra Swan:  They were here earlier in the year.   I have a hunch that these are more common than their code 5 implies.  Skokomish River Valley all the way up to the delta.  One even showed up early in November at Theler!  I made a run for it and missed the sucker.  Arrgh!  :D



Ducks: Cinnamon Teal (2), King Eider (5), Long-tailed Duck (3), Ruddy Duck (3).



The teal is probably not a real possibility, but some stick around.  Funny that an eider showed up just one county over in the last few weeks in Pierce County!  Cara Borre and I probably have a boat trip ahead of us, and will cross our fingers for some of these at the mouth of the Skokomish if we can get there.



Game birds:  California Quail (4), Wild Turkey (5),



I've got a little walk ahead of me at Sanderson.  It's about time!  From the edge of the airport, a trail heads back, and I've been putting off this walk for months, figuring I'd eventually run out of other things to look for.  California Quail have been seen in this area and I will hope they weren't a temporary phenomenon.  The turkey isn't happening.  I couldn't imagine seeing any that I could county, even if they were out there in the past.  No solid credible leads.



Loons and grebes:  Arctic Loon (5), Yellow-billed Loon (5), Clark's Grebe (5)



All unlikely, and two of them possible products of optimism.  On a scale from one to ten, my general comfort with identifying a Yellow-billed Loon is pretty good, maybe an 8 to ten depending on distance.  Clark's Grebe would range from 3-7 depending on the grebe itself and the distance.  Arctic Loon... like zero.  Fingers crossed for the loon.  An area I haven't properly studied is Case Inlet and Oakland Bay, the big bay that runs right up to Shelton.  I'll have it on my rotation if I can squeeze it in.



Pelicans, herons and whatnot:  Brown (5) and American White (5) Pelicans are both possible, and I feel like the trip I'm leading Sunday would be as good a time and area as any.  American Bittern is a frustrating one in this count for a lot of birders.  I guess it can be there year round, and I think the area around Kamilche should be decent.  Maybe a November trip to Skookum Inlet Natural Preserve (with boots... large boots) would give me a good chance to find this code 4 bird.  The white egrets, Great, Snowy and Cattle are all code 5.  Great Egrets... they'll be properly moved in given a couple years! I wouldn't be surprised by one nearly anywhere.  Cattle Egrets would be a fun new state bird.  They will be one of the reasons for checking farmland.  Black-crowned Night Heron (5) could basically show up wherever Bitterns could... right?



Raptors:  Northern Goshawk (4), Red-shouldered Hawk (5), Swainson's Hawk (5), Rough-legged Hawk (4) and Golden Eagle (5).



The goshawks are one of those that could show up any time.  Golden Eagles are more possible on the northern end of the county, I think, but have also been seen near Church Creek.  Rough-legged Hawks fall into the same category as Cattle Egrets above.  They are a reason to check farmland, and the reason I spent time around Matlock last week.  I'll hope the Skokomish River Valley is not flooded this time around.



Coot-ish things:  Sandhill Crane (4) Sora (4)



Bummer not to have found them already.  Sora is the only bird that I had seen in Mason previously but not this year.  Sandhill Cranes were seen in October.  I don't think either will show up, but I'll try for Sora if I pass good habitat, and I don't think I'd walk by a Sandhill Crane!



Shorebirds:  Willet (5), Ruddy Turnstone (5), Black Turnstone (4),Sanderling (4), Rock Sandpiper (5), Red Phalarope (5)



This list shrunk quite a bit.  I'm just down to the birds that I might expect to see at places like Alki in Seattle... except that there aren't places like that in Mason that I know of!  The exception in there is Red Phalarope, which could be found out in Hood Canal, I figger. 



Parasitic Jaeger (3), Pomarine and Long-tailed Jaeger (6). 


Yeah.... probably not, but if I'm looking at gulls, I'll keep my eyes open.  These are in here just so I remind myself to be ready to figure out what kind of jaeger I've got.  It will be a disaster if I get one of these, as I've only seen Parasitic in my life.



Alcids:  Common Murre (2), Ancient Murrelet (5), Cassin's Auklet (5). 


Fingers crossed, but some people who have been watching them think that there have been fewer Common Murres in the sound this year.  Hood Canal has never been great for them, but it'll be where I keep an eye open.  The only record this year was in August from Potlatch.



Gulls and Terns:  Black-legged Kittiwake (5), Sabine's Gull (5), Franklin's Gull (5), Glaucous Gull (4)



Or a Slaty-backed, for that matter.  Looking for dark heads and dark mantles and working from there.  I have this awful feeling that I would miss a Glaucous Gull.



Owls:  Snowy (5), Short-eared (5)



I've given up on Spotted Owl for the year, as they would be making their way back to home territories. The others are possible at Theler especially.  I'm sure that Snowy will be showing up in advance if it's going to show up at all!  Some signs say this will be a good year, so I actually am expecting Snowy Owl to be as likely as anything this year.



Woodpeckers: I'm going out on a limb and saying I'm not going to get any woodpeckers.  Acorn and Three-toed are on the county list (and the idea of three-toed in the high Olympics in Mason is mmmm... but my ankle didn't go there).  Lewis' Woodpecker isn't on the county list yet, but I would expect it (or an Acorn for that matter) to show up at that Oak Patch near Camp Spillman.



Flycatchers:  Western and Eastern Kingbirds are code 5.  I like Tropical better, but it's not on the list.  Say's Phoebe is on the list at a 5, but a Black or Eastern would be just as likely, I suppose.  I actually like George Adams hatchery for a Black Phoebe... I'll have to think of other spots.  That's tough.  Basically, the like ponds with structures.



Corvids:  Black-billed Magpie (5), Clark's Nutcracker (5), Blue Jay (not listed)   My money is on the Nutcracker to be seen before the other two.  They're in the Olympics and drop down from the mountains in the winter months.  Maybe not a super cold winter, though, so...



Little teeny birds:  Mountain Chickadee (5), White-breasted Nuthatch (5), Rock Wren (5) Canyon Wren (not listed).   All pretty unlikely, but my imagination would have these showing up at a feeder in Shelton, at the Oak Patch, at Lake Cushman, and... okay I don't have any ideas for Canyon Wren.  Even Sunnyside Road would be a stretch.  I'll say Sunnyside Road.



Thrushes:  Mountain Bluebird (5), Townsend's Solitaire (3)



Probably not.



Lapland Longspur (5) and Snow Bunting (not listed) 


A little late for the longspur, but not a lot late.  The Snow Bunting is going to show up at the mouth of the Skokomish, so I'll go get that by kayak here soon.  ha.



Warblers:  Only thing I would expect at this point that I haven't seen already isn't on the list yet:  Palm Warbler.  Wouldn't that be swell?



Sparrows:  American Tree (5), Swamp (5), Harris' (5)


Hunter farms, the Skokomish Valley and Theler seem like the best bets here, but I wonder if any other little corners like Hurley Waldrip might have good sparrow patches.  Swamp!  That's got to be Theler, I suppose, although that's another where I like the back side of the George Adams Hatchery.  My other thought is to have one of the local papers run a story, and have them include wanted posters for these guys.



Blackbirds:  Rusty (not on the list), Common Grackle (5), Yellow-headed Blackbird (5)


I'll pay at least a little attention to those blackbirds.   Theler, Hunter Farms, Skokomish Valley.  Basically those sparrow spots.



Finches:   Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (5), Pine Grosbeak (5), White-winged Crossbill (5)

I'll keep ears open for the first two especially when I head up high on Sunday.  I so wish I had made it up higher on Mount Stone, but that mountain was ouch.



So there's my whole hand on the table.  Nearly all the birds I'm missing.  At least now when I find them, it'll look like I was expecting them!

Lightning, Rainbows, Planets and a Couple Birds - November 1st

Pumpkin seeds

The year so far on a map.  The green lines across the bottom are the start of this trip

I blame the pumpkin seeds for my sleep patterns.  I had been tired enough one day last week, and we got to carving pumpkins.  As I waited on the couch, I drifted from consciousness... and woke up at like... 1:30 AM with a bowl of pumpkin innards waiting to get thrown in the oven.  I obliged them, couldn't get back to sleep, and the pattern followed for a few days.

So it wasn't a stretch to get up in time to explore some new corners of the county.  In fact I still got up too early!

5:30 AM - McCleary

I think that's about the time I arrived.  It may have been six.  Either way, it was dark.  I got up this early because I was intrigued by the area north of the airport for this Grays Harbor County town.  Some roads actually wind around into Mason County with names like County Line Road, and Oak Meadow Road.  This close to places like Brady Loop and Wenzel Slough Roads,  I figured that it wouldn't be a stretch for a Rough-legged Hawk to show up.


I called for owls casually as the sun came up.  The open/edge habitat seemed like it might be good for Great Horned, and Barred seems like it's possible anywhere.  I got none of the above, and nothing more interesting than American Robins, American Crows and Song Sparrows.  The sky gave the best show, with planets lined up in the east, running ahead of the sun, and lightning in the west.  The whole day was a constantly shifting potpourri of clearing, clouds and numerous rainbows over the course of the day.

Many people had pitied me for being out on such a lousy day, but it was pretty awesome, in all honesty.  Not... awesome like when the gal at Starbucks said it the other day.  "Do you want your receipt?"  "Yes please"  "Awesome!"   Somehow this word has become completely disconnected from actual awe.  The sky was literally awesome most of the day.   I mean... except for the brief times when it was the simple drizzle of Novembruary.

It never looked like this for long!

Heading down to Highway 8, or almost to it (I actually took the road paralleling it to the north).  I was headed to Matlock-Brady Road.  This was a road I had at least been on as I searched for Bullock's Oriole back in the summer, but I'd never done the whole run from Schafer to Matlock..

From Schafer to Matlock

They were all Red-tailed Hawks this morning

I had a few good stops here, heading down Mary M Knight Road from the school eastward, and then along Deckerville Road to the Grays Harbor border.  I kept eying the Red-tailed Hawks closely, hopeful of turning one into a Rough-legged, but never quite succeeding.  I had periods where I was able to walk along rustic roads in between squalls of rain, finding creepers, towhees and some of the other common sparrows, but nothing really of note.

Ford's Loop Road

Ford's Loop Road was a good side trip.  I didn't find anything interesting there, but I seemed to recall that bluebirds had been found in this area before, and the jumble of detritus around the clear cuts seemed to fit with that idea.  The dirt/gravel road had some big potholes in places, but was still pretty drivable all in all.

Buddha!  But karma brought me no birds

I made a turn up the road towards Frisken Wye.  Why?  Because cool name.  I knew this was one of those years where I needed to follow little sidetrips like that.  This one turned up a cool house with a Buddha statue, a bird feeder, a pair of aggressive dogs, and a sign promising that awful things would befall tresspassers.  I had to get out to get a picture of the Buddha for Khanh Tran - my Buddhist birding friend, and I could hear him telling me that karma would bring me a good bird.

It never looked like this for long!

Ya know... I either had a really interesting bird, or I had a common bird whose chip call completely eluded me.  I got audio of the bird, but couldn't properly see it, as it sat in a tree obscured by branches.  It proceeded to hang out in the back yard from there, unresponsive to any pishing, calling constantly as the dogs eyed me, wondering if I was going to try to get a better view again after barking me back towards the car the first time.  It started to rain and I knew I was done.

Lunch and a chase

Yeah, that's just water

I meandered my way back along Matlock-Shelton Road, with a few stops at spots that seemed vaguely good.  I also made a turn down Little Egypt Road.  The flooding here was a bit crazy during one stretch, and I got thinking about Egypt... Nile... flooding.... There were Virginia Rails vocalizing quite freely, but nothing else out of the ordinary.


I pulled in to Shelton and made my way to Blondie's.  This was the... third?... time that I had stopped in at this greasy spoon next to the Shelton Inn, and I decided to have Blondie's Mess.  It was the perfect thing to have on a day where I'd been rained on intermittently.  I pulled up my phone and checked email, seeing that there was a video posted to Facebook with a pheasant near Mason Lake.

What devilry is this!?

I paid up and ran to the car, snapping a picture of the directions, just in case I got turned around and couldn't pull them up again from a lack of digital service.  In the end, this was a good trip, not for finding birds, but for visiting new places.  I got up to Mason Lake in search of Trails End Road.  My GPS took me past Trails Road to Trails End Drive... which I took to the corner of Trails End Drive and Trails End Drive!

A bit lost, I finally pulled over to talk to a local who was on his way out of his driveway.  We looked at the directions together, and nodded, sending me back with perfect directions to Trails Road, calling it Trails End Road.  I looked around, and realized that I was at the spot where the video had been taken, and did a little walking.

Pheasants are funny.  I've mentioned before that their continuous existence in the county is in serious question.  Many of them are released for hunting, and I have several sources now which tell me that the pheasants of Mason County are not likely countable anywhere they might be found.  I still felt like I needed to see them.  They are a game bird that makes its presence a phenomenon in the county over a very large area.  It would seem weird not to have them on the year list, especially since nearly every Mason County lister includes them.

"The Ridge"  The green lines show my trip in the Mason Lake area

Following my Tweeters report, Mountain Quail Mary herself noted that the pheasants up there are released birds, and I decided two things:  I'm going to get them onto the list for the year, and I'm going to drop an asterisk on the list.  This stop proved fruitless, however, so I hung it up and made my way across "The Ridge".

Coming down to Hood Canal on McReavy Road

I don't know what else to call this, but between Puget Sound and Hood Canal, the land rises.  The Biser's property at Still Waters Farm splits the difference, with water going both ways.  It's a large, underbirded area, at any rate, and I was glad to get to drive by some places like Limerick Lake and Cranberry Lake that had only been blue shapes on a map before.  Eventually I hit McEwan's Prairie Road and then McReavy Road, which leads down to Union and Hood Canal.  

Union

Double-crested Cormorants bracing in the wind

There's a Eurasian Wigeon somewhere in this picture

I stopped at the mouth of the Skokomish - a silly place to miss when looking for new birds - and was rewarded with a Eurasian Wigeon (179).  I smiled, seeing the red head of the wigeon standing out next to the green heads of his cousins.  It was a stretch, but the lighting was good at this hour in the afternoon, and the clouds had mercifully parted for a little bit.  The wind was still pretty brisk, and the Bonaparte's Gulls (present in unusually high numbers this day) played on it, diving and darting around the mouth of the county's major river.

A soggy Hunter Farms - many fields around here were flooded and full of gulls

I couldn't find any other ducks gulls or shorebirds of interest, so I packed it up and went to Hunter Farms.  I have no idea what it would have been like for corn mazes and pumpkin picking if this place had been this flooded a few weeks back!  The rows I had walked for the White-throated Sparrow was still walkable, but my shoes would occasionally siiiiiiiink in, and no odd call notes or odd field marks made it seem worth staying as the rain started to pick up.  It was absolute sheets of rain as I departed Hunter Farms and drove towards Skokomish Valley Road.

Rain

The heavens opened up as I made my way to Skokomish Valley Road, where I hoped to continue the search for a Rough-legged Hawk.  I got a short bit up the road and saw the road closed sign.  I also saw people driving around it.  "Why not!"  I joined the locals in circumnavigating the sign and continuing up the fairly drivable road.  This continued for a short bit, when the road actually did become a bit sketchy due to the flooding.  The locals were doing just fine in it, but ya know... the locals were driving trucks.  So I turned tail and made my way back up Hood Canal.

The rain continued, so I popped in to Alderbrook Resort to keep dry, and to make a stop at the fanciest spot in the County.  Alderbrook has a hotel, spa, golf course, restaurant and bar, as well as boat rentals from their marina.  For today, the bar was enough.  I grabbed a cup of clam chowder and a cold pint of ESB, watching the Seahawks take on the Cowboys as the rain came down hard.  I had just about finished when the sky did what it had done all day - shifting to clear and throwing around some rainbows.  I settled up and made my way out to the marina

The clearing shrunk again by the time I was back out, but it was at least not raining, and there was actually one gorgeous patch of blue in the sky.  The water held scores of Common and Barrow's Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, and Surf Scoters.  I lazily looked through the scoters for any White-winged or Black, unsuccessful in the end.  It seemed like I might end the year with a total of one Black Scoter sighting!

From the docks at Alderbrook - rafts of goldeneyes at left and right

Success!*

Getting Late

The Seahawks game got close... stayed close... and we ended up holding on and winning in a game where only one touchdown was scored.  It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win.  The Seahawks would head back and look at their victory and figure out what they could do better the next time around.  Receiver Ricardo Lockette was taken from the field with a neck injury that brought the game to a stop for ten minutes before he gave a wave and a thumbs up as the wheeled him off of the field.

The game was an interesting snapshot of a few things:  It showed that competition pushes people to do their best, to push the limits of what they can do, and of what has been done. It showed that there is a difference between success and satisfaction, although they often do come hand in hand.  It also showed how trivial competition is in the face of Bigger Things.  

Fox Sparrow - Theler

And so I got out of the car for the many-eth time at Theler, walked the boardwalk in the drizzle, and got an unsatisfactory victory bird:  a heard-only Ring-necked Pheasant (180*).  It's probably a released bird, and pheasants are one of those birds that really *has* to be seen, not for identification purposes, but for enjoyment.  I tried.  I was on the big bridge and heard it from across the large central tidal marsh.  I had to circle the marsh on the path and came to the area where I'd heard the pheasant, and waited... Nothing.

I wanted the bird in front to be a Swamp Sparrow - probably Song.

I wish it could have been a Black Phoebe or a Swamp Sparrow, but then again, this was an important part of the year in Mason.  A year without a Ring-necked Pheasant would be a weird year indeed. My sense of humor brought me through the anticlimactic 180th* bird just fine.  Regardless of how the rest of the year goes (will I add another bird?  will Cara pass me in the end?), I think the year will end as a demonstration of the positive things that can come from striving for a record.  It's trivial in the end, and if I step back and think about how lucky I am to have the support of friends and family to do this whole thing, it's pretty amazing.

But I'm still plotting and planning. :)

10/18 - WOS County blanket trip

The plan

This is actually how the field trips went.  Three cars led by Matt Bartels (black), Cara Borre (red) and myself (blue)

I was asked about leading a field trip for the Washington Ornithological Society by the field trip chair Matt Bartels.  I thought this one over.  Usually field trips involve three cars driving along in single file, hitting "the good spots".  There's nothing wrong with the good spots.  Nothing at all!  I just felt like the big year was asking for me to peek into more of the corners where I hoped to find some of my long shot birds as well.

So I eventually emailed this:

Crazy stupid idea.  Ready?

Trip idea one:  Drive up to some good mountainous areas above west Hood Canal, hoping for ruffed and sooty grouse, owls and raptor migration.  Come down to Hood Canal to search for rocky shorebirds, ducks and gulls, hit Hunter farms, the Skokomish Delta and Purdy Cutoff, then head to the Biser's for Wood Ducks and a bowl of soup.

Trip idea two:  Search for Ruffed Grouse, owls, and maybe MOQU on Tahuya in the morning.  Quick look at a lake or two for coots.  Take it down to the water for alcids and shorebirds (there are infrequently viewed spots out there).  Belfair, Theler, then to the Biser's for Wood Ducks and a bowl of soup.

Trip idea three:  Ruffed Grouse search in southwestern Mason, followed by a look at the farmland out there for raptors and sparrows.  A stop at Nahwatzel to look for coots, then Kennedy Creek for shorebirds.  From there, head to the Biser's for Wood Ducks and a bowl of soup.  

None of them are too ambitious right?  Could we run all three?  I'll take a car to do trip one.  Cara Borre can take trip two, and you could take a car to the southern end.  We could all meet up for a bowl of soup at lunchtime.  If there's a bird to chase in the (expletive deleted) county, it would be found, and the afternoon could be a chase!

I stared at it for a little bit, thinking that this would be the last time that anyone asked me to lead a WOS trip, then hit send.

They bought it.  I did a little dance and we spent the next couple of weeks hammering out plans.  Here's how it all went - with my end of the trip in detail, of course, and the synopses I was able to get from the other trips added at the end.  I'm calling it a blanket trip for now.  I came up with the silly idea, so I figger I get to name it. :D

Getting there

Shaggy Mane - Still Waters Farm

Kevin and I got breakfast at the Maki's without waking anyone and got heading out the door.  We took both cars and collected Ruth Godding and Margaret Snell from their deluxe accommodations at the Shelton Inn.  "You know, Tim, punctuality is a virtue!"  That was Ruth's greeting for me.  It was going to be a great day.  If good company is measured by how hard people work to give you crap because they are comfortable doing it, then it was going to be a very good day indeed.

We drove up to the Biser's along 101 to Brockdale, rather than coming straight in on Brockdale from Shelton.  It was probably the shorter route, although I'd had the inclination to do the latter because I'd had Great Horned Owl on that stretch of Brockdale back in May. Alas, Siri was the boss of me, and I ended up on 101.  We opened the gate, deposited the cars by the sawmill, and embarked in Ruth's car.


Mount Ellinor

Morning on Mount Ellinor

Kevin listening for forest birds

We stopped for coffee and bathrooms in Hoodsport.  I grabbed a pumpkin spice latte and a bag of chocolate donettes, getting an earful from our car about healthy living.  Even in the parking lot, Kevin was on any bird he could find - his Mason list sitting at 5-10 at the start of the trip.  We packed into the car and made the drive up along Lake Cushman, then turned off for Mount Ellinor.

This was honestly some of the deadest birding I have done this year!  It was socked in with fog - like a twelve pack of socks.  Okay, we could actually see the road ahead of us, so perhaps only eleven.  Nonetheless, we got to the parking lot at the lower trail head having stopped once or twice for robins, varied thrushes and juncos.  The view from the trail head should have been stunning, with raptors riding thermals up the rock face of Mount Washington, but instead it was just fog.  It was also approximately quiet enough to hear the fog.

Margaret tries to lure in some Gray Jays

The idea of grouse had us interested, and we set out to climb the trail from the lower portion.  "Just like... ten minutes up"  I said, making up plans to sound like I was official.  We made it five minutes and the deafening silence melted our resolve.

We tromped back down to the cars knowing that others in the county had found Gray Jay and Sooty Grouse at the upper trail head.

NOPE

It was pretty empty and quiet, although we made a good try for Gray Jay, including Margaret's rustling of a food bag.  Classic.   It would have been possible to stop at any number of places on the way down to try for Northern Pygmy Owl or Barred.  in the end, that number was two or three.

Hood Canal up

Hood Canal - Tahuya Peninsula on the far side

We arrived at Hood Canal  at Jorsted Creek. This was a good stop for gulls (Mew and California) and Cormorants (Double-crested and Pelagic), we also picked up some Common Loons and a Pigeon Guillemot.  We had hopes for some alcids at some of these stops on the way up - tough birds in Mason! - but none showed up besides the guillemots.   We continued up, eyeing places we might stop later, and then we went...

Out of Mason County

Russula Mushrooms

I know.  Invite people up to find you some birds in Mason County, then drag them off to Jefferson.  To be fair, it was only a mile or two up 101 to a private residence where Mountain Quail visit a couple three times a day.  In planning for the trip, we had figured out that Kevin needed Mountain Quail on his life list, and Margaret had no more than fleeting views of them.  The Biser's had put me in contact with this couple, and we had arranged to make a stop in the morning

Spotted Towhee

What a lovely stop.  It's always amazing to find a home where people care for the habitat, and even keep track of the birds that come through.  In this case, the couple had been watching over this covey of Mountain Quail that seemed to have joined with others in the area at some point during the year.  They're still remaining a bit private about the location of their home, but they were very welcoming for us and let us pull up the chairs on the back deck, which seems like the norm for Mountain Quail experiences!

We walked the property and neighborhood a little, picking up a handful of Jefferson County birds, and especially enjoying the Anna's Hummingbird that flitted around at arms length at one of the feeders. We didn't get the Mountain Quail, but gave some warm goodbyes and hopeful see-you-again's, before running back towards Mason County.

Back!

The time had ticked around to 10..11... and we were now making our way down some of the good stops on Hood Canal - Hamma Hamma estuary, another stop a little farther south on 101 with a wide shoulder.  We noted when we passed Jorsted Creek that the water was Mason all the way across.  We finally got down to Eagle Creek (right across from the Eagle Creek Saloon) and started to scan through gulls.

"Heermann's Gull", Kevin said casually as he looked through the flock.

"Shut up."  I told him, letting him know that I was on to his little game.

Pause.....

Heermann's Gull (176)

I looked in the scope, grinned at Kevin, and pounded it. "You can't beat Heermann's Gull!"  I informed him with certainty.   Kevin and I have an incredibly long list of unbeatable birds.  I think the first one may have been a Clark's Grebe, and it just kept going from there.  "You can't beat White-throated Sparrow!" "You can't beat Spruce Grouse!" 

The crazy part was... the other groups had found Heermann's as well!  Tom Mansfield had found 3 of them at the mouth of the Skokomish, and Matt's group had them at Lake Nahwatzel and Lake Isabella.  Having them on freshwater was especially surprising.  Apparently the coots were also sighted at Lake Isabella  -"Scads of coots" I was told.  Cara's group had found the White-throated Sparrow at Hunter Farms and some Rhinoceros Auklets.  As we texted back and forth, the temptation to chase the gulls and delay lunch at the Biser's was tempting, but it all got reined in, and we made our way south with only a stop at Potlatch (nothing new).

Still Waters Farm

Cara, Tim, Matt, Margaret, Brian, Kevin, Ruth, Asta and MaryFrancis - post lunch at Still Waters Farm

I keep getting mixed up on the name of the farm, and got the help from Mark on this one.  "Twenty-third Psalm.  He leadeth me beside still waters."   So I won't be going with Still water farms or any other variation from now on. We pulled in around 1:15 - the first group to arrive.  I realized it was a little tough to find the addresses, so I dropped a banana peel on the edge of the street to make it a little more visible.

Mark and Beth were ready with pizza, beer and soup, as well as a few televisions turned to the Seahawks.  I got Kevin, Margaret and Ruth introduced and settled before manning the driveway to help people figure out the parking.  The next car rolled in with MaryFrances Mathis, Brian Bell and Matt Bartels, apparently with Western Bluebird on their list now as well (from the end of Skokomish Valley Road before it rises up into the clearcuts), and Cara Borre arrived with 2/7 of her crew, just herself and Asta Tobiassen, who declared that the Biser's property was "Eden".

It's been interesting, with every visit I feel like I learn a little bit more about what the Biser's do.  This time they pulled out a property map and stepped through the major changes that had happened in their years on the property.  I hadn't realized that they are on the Masonental Divide, so to speak, with water from their property joining Hood Canal in one direction, and Oakland Bay (and then to Puget Sound) in the other.  They explained the history including the removal of spirea from the ponds, the return of the beavers to the ponds, and the arrival of the Wood Ducks.  As we were talking, a pair of river otters arrived and flopped around on the bank of a small island in the pond, and others saw a small hawk take out a Hairy Woodpecker.

Truffles from the nest box (not edible)

We ate pizza, drank beer, and listened to the story of the place.  It was awesome to get a bunch of birdwatchers together to hear about this kind of project.   What many people don't realize is that Mark and Beth are not the only people in Mason County engaged in this kind of enterprise.   Not only are there people working on restoring the habitat in the county, but they are also working to educate the kids that they'll be handing it all over to someday.  There's still logging going on of course, but the methods have changed over time.

We ended the visit by heading out to a nest box by the lake, where Mark showed us the truffles that had been collected by the flying squirrels on the property and stored up for winter.  They also appear to be stashing them in an old boot out by their barn!  We got a group shot and had our goodbyes.

Second wind

Northern Harrier - Skokomish Valley Road

I'm usually heading into the second half of a field trip day with a lot of good birds already seen, and vague hopes of new birds to come.  I'm also usually being fueled by a peanut butter sandwich and an apple instead of a full lunch.  Today it was exciting - heading out well fed, and just figuring out with people - what do you need?  Many people went to Hunter Farms.  My trip was originally going to bird Hunter Farms, but that became unnecessary as Cara's group made it the start of their run.  It's just ten minutes or so from the Biser's so that made it an easy chase for many on the trip.

Northern Harrier

I wanted some meadowlarks that Tom Mansfield had found on Skokomish Valley Road being harried by a harrier, and I wanted to meet with Kevin Black to get coot.  I ended up dropping him off at Eagle Point, where Matt's group had picked up Mountain Quail, and ran off to the Skoke Valley.

Tom's report of the Northern Harrier was confirmed - a grey ghost (male) was flying over what I figured was the field in question, although the 8 meadowlarks didn't show themselves, so I tried all of the side fields I could, walking them and listening and watching.  I finally gave up on these fields altogether (the ones before the one lane on Skokomish Valley Road), and went beyond the one lane to try other fields.  I didn't get to hear it or shoot it, but got a singleton Meadowlark (177).  I was sad to see it take flight back towards the other end of the one-lane, but fist pumped anyway.

%$#@@#&!! Coots finally!
 

American Coots - Isabella Lake

Kevin had no luck with Mountain Quail, so we met up and went off to Isabella Lake.  This time around it didn't take long.

American Coot (178).

I know they're just birds, and they go where they need to to get what they need, but I did give the birds the bird.  Kevin and I decided that code 1 birds that had hidden from me so well may have been in on the whole prank, and would have laughed back and waved, so the picture with a little editing should be appropriate.  As Matt Bartels pointed out to me by email, these guys are hard to find all the way through this corridor - Kitsap, Jefferson and Mason counties.  So this was a great find.

And that's where the day essentially ended.  I made my way back to the Bisers to get the growlers of beer I had brought.  We made one of them a little lighter and talked about the trip.  They had somehow digested all of the names and histories of the people that had come through.  It's a gift I lack - but we chatted for a bit to fill in the holes of information.  They emphasized    emphasized that they would really like to see more birders pass through their property. Feel free to contact Mark at his email address here.

What now?

So close to the end, it's scary

There's just a little over two months left, and Cara and I are both on the verge of eclipsing the 179 bird record for the county.  We both need Common Murre's.  She actually purchased AND used a boat in the time since the trip - pushing her total up to 176 with a trip that brought her Brandt's Cormorant and boat trouble.  If it gets resolved, we may have a trip ahead of us!


My "easy" birds now are Common Murre, Ring-necked Pheasant and Eurasian Wigeon.  California Quail is going to be worth a chase, and I otherwise am dreaming of raptors in the lowlands (Rough-legged is the one I'm most hopeful for - Matlock-Brady Road isn't that much of a trip for one of the Roughies that hangs out on Brady Loop in the winter over in Gray's Harbor County, but who ever looks for them there?), odd gulls, maybe an Ancient Murrelet in the right window... and of course a good search for California Quail!

Time for a little break, and then a push to the finish!


running tally and needs list