Big May Day! Saturday, May 2nd

Tree Swallows in nest boxes at Mary Theler Wetlands

I had thoughts of other titles.  We were in Mason (May-sun) County... it was May... it was sunny... but the better part of me decided not to work too hard on making that into a title.  The theme I had in my mind as we entered the day was "Birding it like we stole it", although the title wouldn't have exactly fit the day that we had. 

I had dreams of 100 species for the day, a mark that we missed, although the quite pleasant trade off was that most of the birds we missed were birds that I already had for the year, and a quite ridiculous number of birds that we had on Saturday (over 1/3 of them) were birds that were not on my list a week before.

Out of the gate

We really had been talking about getting out at 3 or 4 AM, but in the middle of the night, JC and I were woken by the sounds of a Barred Owl calling from the woods behind the tent.  JC thought he had seen an owl fly into that exact copse of trees the previous evening, so we weren't surprised.  What surprised us was the Barn Owl shrieking ten minutes later from the direction of the beach!

"JC... I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep.."  
"Me either"

So we got up with thoughts of raking in a whole bunch of owls.  We got to the gate (which we had to open), leaving our tent set up, and went up the hill towards Elfendahl Pass Road. 

Nothing.  Then at the next stop nothing, then nothing after that.  Then we went to Tahuya-Blacksmith Road where we got 0.0 Northern Pygmy-Owls, and finished looking around 4 AM with about ten times that number owls for the trouble of getting up at 1.  The owls were a perfect example of birds that I'd had luck with earlier in the year that just didn't cooperate today.  It was part of what kept the day total from reaching 100, but there were still good things to come.

Wildberry Lake

Morning on Bald Point Vista Road

After an hour long nap (for me - I don't think JC slept), we made a quick run back to Belfair for coffee, arriving at Bald Point Vista Road around 5:30 and the real birding began. Bald Point Vista Road is a bumpy bit of dirt that takes a traveler past a few lakes and clear cuts, ostensibly ending at Wildberry Lake.  Several sources pointed to this as a place to look for Gray Jay and Sooty Grouse, and I thought having a low-elevation option for these species was a pretty good deal.

Driving with windows down and stopping now and then to drink in the morning chorus, JC and I had Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Orange crowned Warblers, and MacGillivray's Warblers (128.5 for the year list.. the .5 coming from a not-fully-counted Mountain Quail).  Other warblers joined in, including Wilson's (129.5), Black-throated Gray (130.5) and Common Yellowthroat.  Band-tailed Pigeons (131.5) called from the woods, although we had better views of them later.

To continue my excuse-making on not reaching 100 species during this day, I will say that the little lakes here (and all of the other lakes during the day... and Hood Canal... and Puget Sound...) were nearly empty of waterfowl.  In addition, a cut where I had found a dozen Wilson's Snipe on an earlier trip was now gated off.  Whoops... I may not have been allowed in the area before (see my post "New lines"), but Snipe was a miss for the day, and I wonder what else that interesting spot may have held.

JC and I took a little time to review warbler and flycatcher songs and calls on my phone, and quickly put it to use.  We had a Hammond's Flycatcher (132.5), the first of many for the day, followed by a pitch-perfect Hermit Warbler song!  We played the HEWA song to bring the bird in, and had the best possible thing happen.  The bird we had heard finally came into view, showing us its strong facial markings, yellow belly, and streaked flanks.  We had a Townsend's Warbler (133.5), and a pure one from all that we could see, singing the Hermit Warbler song from my phone. 

These two species occupy nearly the same niche in the same kind of habitat where both are found.  In this part of the state, and in many others, the Townsend's range has been increasing, and the Hermit's range has been shrinking, and where those ranges meet, there are scads of hybrid birds.  They can have different mixes of field marks and according to rumor (now confirmed personally), could sing their cousin's songs quite well on occasion!

Here there be quail!

The doubt this created proved useful down the road, and we simply enjoyed the fact that we had a new warbler for the day (and year!), and continued our search.  We reached a clear-cut with dreams of House Wren, but were met with a loud "Quick three beers!" from the far edge of the cut.  Somewhere out there, an Olive-sided Flycatcher (134.5) gave us a pleasant surprise by coming back to the county a little early.  We were walking an listening when JC stopped us.

"Listen"...  

I listened, and heard a loud call "Pileated Woodpecker!"  and got shushed immediately.  It was a little surprising to get shushed off of a Pileated, but I waited and finally heard it.  "Queeark!"  I smiled, as a Mountain Quail, with its distinctive (and quite loud) call, rounded the year list out to 135.   It was a life bird for both JC and I, and we wanted to see the bird, but there was quite a bit of distance between us and the call through some pretty dense brush. 

Mountain Quail Mary's

One of the official greeters

Tahuya Waterfront - Great Blue Herons taking flight

We made a quick stop at the Tahuya waterfront, peeking at the Common Mergansers and numerous Great Blue Herons in the protected bay.  We also got a great look at a Red-breasted Sapsucker - a species we actually had good looks at several times during the day (but not a single Hairy or Downy Woodpecker!).  I gave Mary Hrudkaj a call letting her know we were running a little behind.  "You should have been here twenty minutes ago!", she told me with a chuckle, referring to the flock of Mountain Quail that visit her feeders daily.  We were about a half hour behind schedule, so the hour I had planned to spend at her feeder would be condensed to a half hour, then 20 minutes as I had underestimated the driving time.

The view from Mary's

We arrived at her home and immediately saw a quail run into the brush alongside her drive.  None reemerged during our visit, but we had a lovely stop.  Mary pulled out video from earlier in the day showing the quail feeding, then we moved on to the deck to watch the feeder and the very tame Douglas Squirrels, which Mary can identify individually by field marks!  We had Purple Finch, American Goldfinch and Pine Siskins at the feeder, and heard a Hutton's Vireo calling stridently at a distance.  The Band-tailed Pigeons were plentiful, and Mary told us how their numbers had exploded over the course of the last several years. 


With more time to devote, we may have come away with pictures, but I knew that for this day I wanted to see as much habitat as possible, and to see it at good times, so we packed up and made our way back down the hill to North Shore Road.  I'm glad I had a chance to meet "Mountain Quail Mary", as she has opened her doors to so many people over the years - A Mason County big year would not have been complete without this stop!



Belfair State Park

JC at Belfair

The tide wasn't super, but we did have a chance to see some Caspian Terns (136), Dunlin, and our first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the day.  JC and I also heard an American Pipit flyover (137).  I wish I could have been there a week earlier when the numbers were higher, but it was still nice to catch these birds before their short passage through in the spring was done.  We packed up the tent, and made our way over to Theler, adding Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant and Surf Scoter to the day list before we left.

Theler Wetlands




Fuzzy goslings!  Meanwhile some birds had freshly arrived, and others were
on nests.  Signs of spring included Bushtit nests, and swallows in nest boxes.

We met up with John Riegsecker at Theler.  I was excited to bird the park with John.  Just out of curiosity, I looked at the number of checklists entered at Theler, and John has a little over 300 of the 670 checklists submitted for the site!  He joined in for a much different day of birding - hitting a lot of spots for shorter amounts of time, although he explained, "Sitting and waiting thirty minutes or more for a bird to appear... now that's my idea of a perfect birding experience!"  It was awesome to have him along for the day, and I think in the end that he got some pretty good shots of a few of the birds we encountered (his other measure of a good day!)


The May edition of the picture that I include
every time I go to Theler.

I knew this would be a good time for passerines, and there were many first of year birds added as we made our way around the wetlands.  Warbling Vireo (138), Black-headed Grosbeak (139), Yellow Warbler (140) and Osprey (141) were among the first.  We tried for shorebirds, and for rail, and largely struck out - the one highlight being a single Semipalmated Plover.  It was at that point when JC called out Purple Martin (142), and I listened, hearing the deep rounded chirping calls of the big swallows.  As with the pipits, they were not coming in for a landing.  They are one bird that I thought might be hard to find, as they are so local, and I wasn't aware of any regular breeding location for them.

Cliff Swallows at nest

John encouraged me not to worry too much about scanning through the swarms of swallows for Cliff Swallows (143), and we eventually arrived at the barn where dozens of them flew in and out of the eaves.  I loved getting the creaky hinge sound of the birds calling as they flew, and it reminded me of times when my son would watch them with fascination visiting nests at Nisqually Wildlife Refuge in Thurston County. 

We walked past the places that had been good for pheasant (dead?), kestrel (gone?) and snipe (gone, or maybe just hunkered down??) and got nothing, although on the walk back, we were entertained with good views of Wilson's Warbler and Pacific-slope Flycatcher.  I rarely get to see those flycatchers down from the canopy in plain sight, so it was a treat to study the field marks.  A MacGillivray's warbler was calling when we arrived and when we left.



Pacific-slope Flycatcher - One of John's pictures from Theler

Hartstine Island

Pigeon Guillemots

I think I've covered all of the spellings of this island by now.  I could go back through the blog and make sure at some point.  At any rate, we made our way down past Allyn (windows down to hear House Sparrows - our only ones for the day, I think), towards Harste...Hartstei... that Island.  Lattimer's Landing was the first stop, where JC got us on a Peregrine Falcon immediately.  We made our way towards the water, hearing a Northern Rough-winged Swallow (144) call out with its monotonous grinding sound - a heard only bird that we would see more of later.

At the water, we found that the Brandt's Cormorants had left the building.  Nearly all of the birds had, except for the Pigeon Guillemots that were found sporadically up and down the channel between the island and the peninsula.   We scanned for a while before heading back up to cross the bridge.



MacGillivray's Warblers were here.  House Wrens were not,
but I don't think it will be the last time I check!

I added no birds to the year list while on the island, but it was still a great stop.  The highlight for me may have been the time we spent waiting at a clear cut.  We were hoping to call in a House Wren, but instead got a whole chorus of MacGillivray's Warblers.  None came up close for pictures, which was a shame, although by the end of the time there, John had the song put to heart.  It really is one of my favorite warbler songs.  The grinding/winding up quality of the first part is a fun sound, I think, and they really are gorgeous birds. 

The far far end of the island was something I really wanted to get to before noon to take advantage of the sunlight.  I wasn't disappointed here - we had a nice view of some well lit birds.  The only problems we encountered were the lack of birds and the heat waves produced by ones at greater distances.  I think earlier in the day will be even better when I'm looking for alcids down the road.  Surf Scoters, Pelagic Cormorants and Pigeon Guillemots were the highlights of the stop, as well as an Anna's Hummingbird that we were able to watch at a short distance.

We returned to the park and ride off of highway 3 to pick up John's car, and headed for Sanderson Field, dropping my car off at the gas station across the street on Highway 101.

Sanderson Field


People falling from the sky at Sanderson

Oh boy.  I really want this field to give me some good birds this year, but it hasn't yet.  It may be that I am not hitting the right spot, although I think that some of the more interesting possibilities (Vesper Sparrow and Horned Lark) have lost enough grassy habitat that they might not be expected to breed there this year or any until things improve.  We poked around the trails for a little while, scanning for other possibilities like Northern Harrier and Ring-necked Pheasant, enjoying the sounds of Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroat from the dense Scots Broom near the field. 

Purdy Cutoff and Hunter Farms

Hunter Farms festivities

We stopped and walked a few stretches of Purdy Cutoff Road, where I fully expected to find a Cinnamon Teal floating in the slow moving water.  We found none, nor did we find Pied-billed Grebe, Lesser Scaup, or Ring-necked Duck as I often have here.  More examples of missing birds that brought the day numbers down.  It's interesting to see how the numbers dropped off so sharply with the start of May!

At Hunter Farms, our first priority was ice cream.  We each got a cone, and I inquired about walking the fields behind the farm, explaining the year that I was trying to complete.  Once more, the folks were accommodating, and the three of us tromped out to look for some birds.  Least Sandpipers flew up from some unseen mud as we left the parking lot for the fields, and we found a couple of Brewer's Blackbirds with the ubiquitous Red-winged. 

Lincoln's Sparrow

Sparrows were good!  We were spending some time trying to turn some of the Savannah Sparrows into Sagebrush Sparrows when we got on a Lincoln's (145)!  We were able to get some nice looks at the bird, and a few pictures before we continued to the large copse of trees along the river.  Creeper was hoped for and missed (missed for the whole day!), and nothing interesting showed up in this nice little riparian corridor (although we agreed that it's just a few weeks away from being filled up with the calls of Western Wood-Pewee's and Swainson's Thrushes). 

Turkey Vultures and Remote Controlled Aircraft (gashawks, according to John), flew around the fields, and we began to feel surprise that we still had seen no Bald Eagles for the day!  We finished up our stop and decided on Potlatch State Park as our next stop.

"Gashawk!"... I may have reached for my binos.
Very funny, John.. very funny.  :D

Potlatch State Park

We missed Harlequin's here (they'd been seen the day before at the park up the road, which we also checked), but we did find dozens of Surf Scoters, a Common Loon, and both Goldeneye's, although not in the numbers we had just a month ago. 

Sunnyside Road/Skokomish Valley Road

Well... imagine the Northern Rough-winged Swallows were still there.

I hadn't been on this road before, but Terry Sisson had reported Western Wood Pewee and Northern Rough-winged Swallows here, so we made it a stop.  We were pleased to find a hillside with the swallows coming and going.  It can be hard to find them mixed in with other swallows, but a nest makes it a good bit easier to enjoy them!  We went a short ways up the road, and had thoughts of House Wren, but in the end just made our way to Skokomish Valley Road.

The brief stop at the George Adams Trout Hatchery gave us no dipper, and the Skokomish Valley gave us no shorebirds or Harriers, although we at long last found Red-tailed Hawk and Bald Eagle for the day.  I was shocked to see that a "backyard" that had essentially been a giant pond for the first four months of the year was down to a tiny birdless puddle.  So much has changed!

Eells Spring Trout Hatchery

One of John's Dipper photos

For the first time, I missed Dave the Hatchery Dude on this trip, but as I led us around the back side of the little hatching ponds, I finally got a good look at the Green Heron that has spent the whole year hiding from me pretty well.  He was in one of the trees, and stared back at me with his bright yellow eye before taking flight across the river.  I was sad that JC and John missed the bird, but we were all rewarded with an enjoyable visit with an American Dipper family.  Right on the stream running through the hatchery, dippers had made a nest, and John was able to get some of his best shots of this fun little bird, including adult feeding the young.

Eells Spring Hill Road/Little Egypt Road

Habitat galore - Little Egypt Road

Again, the list of hoped for birds was large, time was short, and success was nil.  We had bluebirds here in late March, but there was no sign of them as we crested Eells Spring Hill and made our way back down towards Dayton.  We had vague hopes for Townsend's Solitaire, House Wren and Hermit Warbler, but the day was getting long, and many birds had simply hunkered down.

Little Egypt Road similarly added no new day or year birds (we were hoping for Western Kingbird, Sora, Virginia Rail or Cinnamon Teal), despite looking like gorgeous habitat.  We chalked this up to simply being there at the wrong time of day, although I was still surprised that the rails didn't respond to calls.

Kennedy Creek

Yeah... there's no mud here. Kennedy Creek at high tide

See... the thing that really has set me apart in my search for birds in Mason County is how dialed in I am with the tides.  I know when the tide is good.. I go there when it's good... I get birds.  Except for maybe this time.  I have never seen Kennedy Creek so full of water!  I realized that we had arrived an hour later than I had hoped, but... seriously???   Some peeps swung around in a circular flight briefly, and a few Canada Geese and Buffleheads hung out in the water, and I decided to call it a day! 

We returned to Sanderson Field to swap out cars, and said our goodbyes to John before JC and I went to meet up with the Bisers.  We did add Wood Duck and Pied-billed Grebe to the day list for a semi-grand total of 91! 

Other detail of the evening shall be wrapped up into the next day:  In Which Good New Birds are Found.

May Day Shorebirding at Theler

I made it out of school on Friday excited to pick up JC Vicente and meet up with Terry Sisson to start May off properly.  Excitement doesn't get you anywhere in heavy traffic, however!  I got to JC a half an hour late, and that half hour turned into 40 minutes or more before I finally rolled into the Theler lot with JC.  Terry joined us soon thereafter, and we began our walk. 

Theler Wetlands

Calm skies and good tides at Theler

It was an interesting crew.  Terry, like me, has been to all corners of the state to find 100 species in every county, and has recorded more species in Mason County (224) than anyone!  His record of 179 species in a year in Mason was made back in 2003, at a time when I thought that starlings were baby crows.  JC is a 19 year-old Pierce County birder who is only a few years into birding, but has ears and enthusiasm to match nearly anyone.

(Note - my year list prior to this day was at 119.5, the annoying half-counted bird being Mountain Quail, which I had quite likely heard with an undiagnostic "cluck".  The half point will remain until the bird is fully counted.   Hang in there.)

It didn't take long for us to come across my first new species since the trip in late March - a Pacific-slope Flycatcher (120.5) calling from the boardwalk.  Pacific wrens joined them, but in late afternoon, we weren't expecting too much from the passerines.  As we walked, Terry caught me up on birds he had scouted out before meeting up with me.  I'll admit now that three of them are ones that I still don't have on the year list - Western Wood Pewee, Northern Shoveler and Ruddy Duck, the latter two coming from Belfair State Park. 

We discussed the state of the former rail marsh, which was now salt marsh, when swallows started rolling in.  Barn Swallows (121.5) were among them, and some Cliff Swallows which JC was able to get on, but I was not.  Coming around to one of the first bridges, the tide was nearly perfect, and shorebirds were in scattered flocks below us.  It took a little work, but we eventually figured out that we had nearly pure flocks of Least Sandpipers (122.5), then Western Sandpipers (123.5) with a few stragglers mixed into the flocks that we had.  Lighting was good enough to pick out the yellow and black legs respectively. 

Peeps!

Behind a bunch of westerns, we were excited when we got a Semipalmated Plover (124.5), then got a second and a third next to them!  We were watching the Killdeer's cute little cousins when JC heard a call note and followed it to a group of shorebirds flying overhead.  "Whimbrel!" (125.5)   He called it out, and Terry and I got our binoculars up to find the big shorebirds with the long droopy bills.  It seemed to me that the wings were long and pointed, and it was nice to hear them call.  I know that the start of May is a near perfect time to get these birds, but I've never gotten them in King County where I live.  In Mason, they're a code 4 bird, so it was a nice surprise.

Continuing on the walk, we were able to add a few birds that had arrived since my last visit - American Goldfinch (126.5) and Brown-headed Cowbird (127.5).  Marsh Wrens, Savannah Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats were among the other abundant birds, and we had a surprise sighting of Eurasian Collared-Dove, a bird I've had in a few places in the county, but not at Theler.  We returned to the parking lot as I hit Terry with a few last minute queries, then JC and I headed back into Belfair for a nice slow evening.

A nice slow evening

I hadn't stopped in at the Union River Grill, so we made that dinner - a burger and a BLT.  It was nice to sit with the plans laid out for the big day we had planned on Saturday.  JC looked at the long list of birds that I had on as possibilities, and started to think about the Mason County list in general.  There are some birds that haven't been seen in the county, and it's always interesting to think of which ones might be most likely.

Creative addenda

While I was away at the bathroom, he penciled in his guesses:  Say's Phoebe, Sage Thrasher, Swainson's Hawk and Loggerhead Shrike.  The fun part was, I have a slightly dated list, and two of the ones he had penciled in (the Hawk and the Phoebe) had actually appeared on the list since.  I've only had a chance to add a bird to a county list once - a Yellow-breasted Chat in Island County, but it would be fun to do the same here at some point in the year!

We finished a quite decent dinner and went to Belfair to set up the tent.  The beach was pretty empty, and the woods at that hour didn't give us much of interest except some very loud Orange-crowned Warblers, not the first time that I had them singing loudly in the evening.  We hit the sack around 9-10 with no alarm set, figuring that we would be up early wanting to find some owls. 

Full Moon over Belfair State Park

Balance

April has been awfully busy, friends and neighbors, and it may just happen that I don't make it over to Mason County this month!   For the first time in eons, my spring break landed at the same time as the kids, so we took a week to drive down to Disneyland (oh yes we did!).  California and Oregon were wonderful, and it was fun to hear birds that were on their way north (Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Cliff Swallow, Wilson's Warbler), birds that are always a little less common up here (Red-shouldered Hawk and Acorn Woodpecker) and a few new birds (California Towhee and Nuttall's Woodpecker).   We even had some shorebirds - Whimbrel and Black Oystercatcher in Northern California, and Willet at Santa Monica Beach.    It was a fun non-birding trip, and my family has encouraged me to cool my jets a little.   So, probably no posts until May,

The missed birds haven't been too many... that I know of... haha, but it will be nice to get back in May when new birds have really flooded in.  I walked my own neighborhood park here in Renton today, and added some year birds to my lagging King County year list - a half-dozen Black-throated Gray Warblers, a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, a ridiculously loud Pileated Woodpecker that pulled people out of their house to investigate the jackhammering, and a Hermit Thrush that pulled out a new vocalization that I hadn't heard before!

So I missed April in Mason, but I figger there are much worse things to miss.  My daughter was the main supporter of the dad-ain't-going-birding plan.  Tonight she asked "Why is it still light if it's almost 8?" and I remembered that there will be some big big days to come!

Hang in there y'all, and go find me some birds to chase!

-Tim

April

Plan of attack for April

My mind gets confuzzled as I start thinking about plans at this point.  Some things, thankfully, have been simplified, but there are still a lot of bird in the hand or Code 3 bird in the bush decisions to make.   A few examples:

On the one hand...
          ...Big days will take me around to a lot of different habitat.  Especially as new species roll in, the odds of me finding new ones will increase.  The more species I find, the faster my plans can focus.

On the other hand...
          ...On a big day I would be looking for loons, grebes and cormorants, but there are no common loons grebes or cormorants that I haven't seen this year!  I could run into something crazy while looking at the salt water (Long-tailed Duck comes to mind, but even a Northern Shoveler or Eurasian Wigeon comes to mind), but the time might be better spent focused on some of the bird families that I haven't seen much of (game birds come to mind, where I only have 0.5 species - a lightly clucking Mountain Quail)

On the one hand...
          ...some species are just now arriving, and I want to go after them early, for all of the reasons mentioned above regarding big days.  Getting species added faster frees me up and narrows the focus faster.

On the other hand...
          ...some species have a small window, and might not even be a sure bet.  Many of the shorebird species are more common in fall than spring, but I'd hate to miss a rare one that simply stopped by at a good muddy spot that I didn't check!

On the one hand...
         ...some places are simply going to have a lot of birds.  I will probably not find a month where it doesn't make sense to go to Theler.  The variety of habitat there is amazing, and it's situated in a way that makes it a good stopover for weird birds coming through.

On the other hand...
          ...there are other people birding the popular spots, and it might be possible to follow up on amazing sightings, which would let me spend more time exploring the county properly.  I keep looking at the maps, especially little areas that I worry I won't get to.  I just want to see all of it!  Is that a problem?  :D

On the one hand...
          ...there are opportunities to join field trips, and these invariably have people that I learn things from, are led by people that have done their research, and provide more eyes and ears to catch birds that I might miss.  I may not have had Eared Grebe, Merlin and Green Heron, for example, if I hadn't been on a field trip!

On the other hand...
          ...Sometimes the freedom to make the agenda for the day is going to make it easier to find more birds in a day. 

So... I'm without a concrete plan at the moment.  That doesn't mean I'm not excited for April!  I'm sure that in the end, I will spend long hours developing a sound plan, and then I'll promptly chuck it on a whim.   Here are the things that are on the menu for April, at any rate.  I know I can't have everything on the menu, but I'll do what I can!

Farmland

Hunter Farms, Egypt Valley, and the Skokomish River Valley have quite a few bird possibilities that would lure me out to check fields and sparrow patches:  Cackling Goose, Ross's Goose, Northern Harrier, Sandhill Crane, Sora, Western Kingbird, American Pipit, Lincoln's Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Western Meadowlark and American Goldfinch, not to mention swallow and shorebird possibilities!

Shorebird hotspots

Theler, Belfair State Park, the Skokomish River Mouth and Kennedy Creek are highest on my list (although there are a few sightings of shorebirds from other spots along Hood Canal).  I am feeling like I have the tide thing dialed in pretty well.  A rising tide of about 10 has been good at Belfair and Kennedy Creek, and any time of day should be fine for looking through fields.  I was surprised at first to see that high tide hits Kennedy Creek an hour or more after it hits Theler, but it makes sense if you think about how much farther the water has to go through Puget Sound before the tide reaches Kennedy Creek!   It's tempting to make two single trips to the county instead of a whole weekend, if only to catch different cusps of the shorebird migration.

Hartstene Island

Whether it's scoping from the south end, kayaking or boating around the south end, or working through some of the clear cuts and edges (for Chipping Sparrow and later House Wren, perhaps), I know I need to get back here.   Alcids are tough in the county, but a morning run to the south end should give me a lot of birds to look through!  I think I've mentioned before that the afternoon kind of kills the chance to look over distant birds as they are backlit.

Sanderson Field

Vesper Sparrow and Horned Lark have nested here.  California Quail have been heard from the fairgrounds adjacent to it.  Northern Harrier and Ring-necked Pheasant have been seen here on recent trips, and Chipping Sparrow in years past.  I'm tempted to walk some of the ugly trails lined with Scot's broom to try to turn up some of those species, and to get into some wild areas without being too far from Shelton.

Kennedy Creek and the Southern edge of the county

The creek itself looks good, and I also want to get into the trails and powerline cuts along the south end of the county.  Gray Jays have been found in there, and House Wrens are possible later in the year.  There are a few interesting game bird reports:  California Quail and Wild Turkey.  Those may turn up nothing, but I think a proper big year should include searches for species like that.

Mountain Quail Mary's place

Mary Hrudkaj has graciously opened her property dozens of times to people asking her about Mountain Quail.  I almost feel like it would be a weird year if I didn't ask.  It's a good thing my MOQU is only a 0.5!

Lake Cushman

I'm getting itchy to get up to high elevation.  Gray Jay, Ruffed Grouse, Sooty Grouse, Hermit Thrush and an interesting summer sighting of a Spotted Owl all have me wanting to head up.  The early flycatchers may be possible here and/or on the way down. 

Coot hunt

Maybe the timing is wrong now... who knows!  But Little Skookum Inlet was mentioned by a fisherman as a place he's seen them.  Nahwatzel is still there, and maybe I just need to bribe someone to take me out on their boat onto the lake.  Who knows.  Stupid coots!  :D

Still Waters Farm

Ruffed Grouse and Mountain Quail are still there as possibilities, and the habitat is great for some of the early flycatchers and warblers.  Knowing that they have Band-tailed Pigeons at their feeders frequently is also a plus!   Even if they had nothing but starlings there, this would be a good stop.

Well, I've left places out.  I think maybe Hamma Hamma is the next worth mentioning, as I think it may have better chances for Marbled Murrelet, but that's already a lot on the menu!  It will be interesting to see where I actually end up!

Want to help??

Find some good stuff for me!!  I'd be happy to hear reports from any of these areas on any of these birds.  To be honest, Ruddy Duck, Northern Shoveler and American Coot are the ones I want the most, just because I just can't seem to figure them out.  They should be around, but... ugh.  Shoveler has been seen near Alderbrook, and Ruddy Duck has been reported at Theler and on Mason Lake.  Any follow up on those sightings would be swell!

March "Big Day" in The Mason

Technically...

...an official Big Day can only have one car, and the four members need to be in contact with each other at all times.  I found this out early in the day when I asked our trip leader, Matt Bartels, why no Big Days had been recorded for Mason county in March during the annual field trip.  So it wasn't a big day in that sense, but I was still keeping track of birds I had during the day!

http://www.potomacaudubon.org/Resources/Documents/Birdathon/bigdayrules.pdf  
The rules, for those curious!

Before the trip

The trip began at 7 AM in the Safeway parking lot, which gave me some time for owling before we met up.  An Orange-crowned Warbler (102) sang from behind the hotel on Saturday night to give me a start, and Sunday started with a Barred Owl (103 for the year, 1 for the day).  From here on out, I'll keep track of the year and day birds thusly (Year bird, day bird).  I tried my best to keep track of the day birds as we went, although I feel like I got a little lazy as others on the trip were tracking them.

This is not what it looked like.. at all.  I know that there
are ways to make your camera do things, but for now
I just don't have a picture of the morning.  It was breathtaking.

I stopped at Starbucks just at 5 AM, grabbing some breakfast and coffee.  They were happy to see some business at that early hour just as they opened, and we talked a little about birds as I ate.  Northern Pygmy-Owl was one owl that was supposed to be relatively easy in the county, and I had a lead from a field trip that had gone out the previous day.  Heading up the North Shore Road, I missed a turn and actually drove all the way to Tahuya before heading north to Tahuya-Blacksmith Road.  The view, however, was amazing, with thin clouds in parts of the sky, Sagittarius and Scorpius in the other.  Lights on the far side of Hood Canal were reflected in the water, and my camera skills failed me.  I'll work on drawing it or something... it was gorgeous.

Drew it from my notes a month later - this is what it looked like!  (But way less streaky)  4/28/15

Tahuya-Blacksmith Road is one of the roads that is often visited as people search for Mountain Quail, and the group had come across a Northern Pygmy-Owl which came into plain view.  I found the little gated side road pretty easily, walked in a hundred yards to an opening, and started calling for the owl as the stars started to fade.  It came in pretty quickly (104, 2), and kept calling away as I made my way back to the car.  Owls had been my biggest worry for the year, and I now had all of the annual ones except Spotted.

Back in Belfair

I made a little stop at Elfendahl Pass to try for other owls (unsuccessful) before heading back to Starbucks to meet up with the group for the field trip.  We had a nice full group of four cars, with birders from the Seattle area, Yakima, Naselle, and Gig Harbor.  I rode with Asta and Cara from Gig Harbor, and was happy not to have to drive. 

Getting ready to bird in The Mason

Matt provided us all with county checklists, and a map with the stops we would be making during the day, time permitting.  Some people's eyes went wide as they saw the stops were lettered through V, although of course, some stops would be unnecessary depending on the birds we found along the way.  In the parking lot, we listened to Dark-eyed Junco (3), American Robin (4), Varied Thrush (5), European Starling (6), and watched the Rock Pigeons (7) hunting the parking lot for crumbs.

Elfendahl Pass Road

Mountain Quail habitat

Once we were all gathered and had made introductions, we piled into cars and headed up to Elfendahl Pass Road, in hopes of finding Mountain Quail.  We were greeted by more robins and thrush, and other birds joined the morning chorus as we got onto the trail:  Pacific Wren (8), Bewick's Wren (9), Spotted Towhee (10), White-crowned Sparrow (11), and some Purple Finches (12).  The finch songs were so lovely - and they added their little vireo like calls to their songs the whole time.  I have to say Purple Finches are one of the birds I've learned the most about vocally this year.

Scot's Broom - a required planting for attracting Mountain Quail?

We made several stops, eventually coming to a full halt on the noisy gravel we were walking.  The only sounds we had were the birds around us and the numerous mosquitos!  Finally we got a response... a soft clucking that I heard twice from the Scot's Broom that had filled in the decimated areas of the landscape. 

Now... I struggled with this one.  I do count heard-only birds, but... we never got the distinctive piercing calls that these little dudes make.  "That was Mountain Quail."  Matt told us, just as information, but not as an encouragement to count them.  Matt respects the rights of others to keep their own lists, and to make decisions about what birds to count/not count.  That said, he has for himself kept a list that is free of heard-only birds.  Through patience and persistence and skill, he has nonetheless built county lists over 175 in every county in the state! 

Evidence... Mountain Quail footprints

I knew that there were Mountain Quail there.   It was the right habitat.  We even at one point found footprints in the mud.  The pictures I got of the tracks matched MOQU, and not Ruffed Grouse (the only other clucker that I could imagine up there).   But... was this distinctive enough??  Here's how my decision went:   1) I stand by my choice to county heard-only birds.   2)  I know that I heard a bird, and I'd bet quite a few dollars that the bird we heard was a Mountain Quail.  3)  Still...  4) I have a sense of humor which must trump all in "difficult" situations. 

So here we go.  I'm counting it.  Mountain Quail (104.5, 12.5). 

I realize that I may lose some of my massive readership every time I need to leave this as a 0.5, but it's the obvious choice, given facts 1-4 above.  Nobody will be more annoyed and distracted by it than me, so I'll get back out there to look for those elusive little dudes.  Until then, I will enjoy the fact that I was able to count this bird while still finding a way to keep less forgiving list-keepers off of my back.  I'm sure the ABA will have me round down in the end, and I'm happy to do so if I must, come December.

American Robin on an overcast morning

Red-breasted Nuthatch (13.5), Tree Swallows (14.5), Mourning Doves (15.5) and Yellow-rumped Warbler (105.5, 16.5) rounded out our morning in the perhaps-unsavory habitat that Mountain Quail call home, and we headed off to Belfair State Park.

Belfair State Park

This was a productive stop for the group, and I picked up a couple of year birds.  We of course passed through the wooded area between parking and the water.  Today it held Pine Siskins (17.5), Song Sparrow (18.5), Golden-crowned Kinglet (19.5), Steller's Jay (20.5) and later on, a Bald Eagle (21.5).

The water was very productive, and I apologize for not getting a lot of bird pictures.   I think most importantly, the Marbled Godwit (22.5) was sitting so close, a good picture would have been easy to do, but I got too caught up in the birding and with the rest of the group!  A few easy birds were found and heard quickly - Mallard (23.5), Bufflehead (24.5) and Killdeer (25.5).  Getting closer, we quickly found some more birds, including a half dozen Greater Yellowlegs (106.5, 26.5). 

A couple of Bonaparte's Gulls - Belfair State Park.

I did miss birds that others had here, including Dunlin and Herring Gull, but the excitement came when one of the scopes landed on an Eared Grebe (107.5, 27.5).  The awesome thing about heading out at this time of year is that the little grebes give some more clues to help in their identification.  The Eared with the black throat was observed for a bit before we got scopes trained on a Horned Grebe (28.5), which was starting to show some red in the throat.  Did I apologize for not having pictures?  I'll apologize again, but to be fair, this bird was not all that big even in the scope, sitting more that half way across the water to the other side.

Other water birds seen during this stop included:  Canada Goose (29.5), Common Goldeneye (30.5), Northern Pintail (30.5), Green-winged Teal (31.5), Greater Scaup (32.5), Common Merganser (33.5), Red-breasted Merganser (34.5), Surf Scoter (35.5), White-winged Scoter (36.5), Double-crested Cormorant (37.5) and Belted Kingfisher (38.5).  Gulls also included Mew (39.5), Glaucous-winged (40.5), and a new one for the year - Bonaparte's (108.5, 41.5).

American Crows  (42.5) were seen at several stops, starting at the Safeway parking lot in the morning.  I'm not going back through to change all of the numbers, hopefully you're with me on this one.

Mary Theler Wetlands

You can't make a trip to Mason County without stopping at Theler!  Well... I do hope to challenge that assertion at least once this year, but it is a pretty productive place, and quite a few of the year birds that had been waiting for warm weather were waiting for me there. 

Flowering Currant - this one pulled in a Rufous Hummingbird

We got our House Sparrows (43.5) as we walked in, and tried for Barred Owl, finding Red-breasted Sapsucker (44.5) instead.  As we came out to the opening with the education center and plant exhibits, we marveled at all of the flowering currant.  "There ought to be a Rufous Hummingbird here!" someone thought out loud.  Ask and ye shall receive!  The hummer (109.5, 45.5), made it's rattling hum for us, and proceeded to do several J dives, lifting high above us slowly before plummeting down near our heads and swooping back up at the very end. 

Rufous Hummingbird - Mary Theler Wetlands

Onto the boardwalk through the woods, and we came across what some including myself briefly thought was a Hairy Woodpecker, but it showed itself to have a tiny bill and a soft call, so we went with Downy Woodpecker (46.5).   A puzzle for me was solved as we came around the corner to what used to be a rail marsh - they've moved!   In the salty remains of their previous habitat, we had numerous Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds (47.5), and Marsh Wrens (48.5) chattering away.  I got a double dose of new birds as a Common Yellowthroat (110.5, 49.5) sang a few times (this one went unseen for us, by and large), and a Turkey Vulture (111.5, 50.5) flew overhead. 



Savannah Sparrow

As we continued around the corner, spring continued to greet us in the form of Tree (51.5) and Violet-green Swallows (112.5, 52.5).  Others heard and saw Northern Rough-winged in the mix, but I never got on one of them.  It was still nice to discuss the different flight patterns of swallows, and some described the roughies as having a more bat-like flight.  I'll have to look for that down the road.  Savannah Sparrows (113.5, 53.5) sang from the fields, and eventually came in to view for photos.

Find the Virginia Rail! 

We came to the new home for the Virginia Rails and got some glimpses of some as they scurried around their little reedy puddle (114.5, 54.5).  It was nice to see them, and to finally have this bird in the bag.  It's interesting how easy they are... if you know where to look!.  I'll have to come back to this spot for Sora later in the year. 


Level two - find the Virginia Rail!

We had no Red-tailed Hawks here, but we doubled up on Falcons with an American Kestrel (55.5) in a tree, and a Peregrine Falcon (56.5) soaring high above us.  Again, I benefitted from the presence of knowledgeable birders, who could discuss the pointed wings in addition to other field marks on the bird.  I learn a lot every time I get out on field trips.

Canada Geese coming back to ground - Mary Theler Wetlands

We circled past the Salmon Center and the llama pasture hoping for Ring-necked Pheasant, but were skunked again!  Nearly everyone in the group had Wilson's Snipe, either in that field or elsewhere during the day - they were a miss for me.  We also passed a field which should e good for shorebirds down the road.  We all saw a Great Blue Heron (57.5), and a few people saw what may have been dowitchers dipping out of sight.   This one was hard to walk away from!  I confirmed that Long-billed are the more difficult dowitcher in the county.  It would have been nice to see some at a time when Short-billed would not even be in the state! 

White-crowned Sparrow (Pugetensis)

Rounding the corner past the vault toilets, we came across some White-crowned Sparrows, and Bushtits (58.5).  We got songs from Ruby crowned Kinglets (59.5), and Orange-crowned Warblers as well (60.5).  Whoops!  Northern Flicker  (61.5) should have been on the list several times over by now!

One of my favorite shots in Theler - I'll try to get it monthly.

More signs of spring - there's a Marsh Wren nest at center.
(We also saw Song Sparrows copulating, but I'll keep
the blog PG-13...)

Twanoh State Park



I was aided by so many good sets of eyes on this trip.

Our next stop was Twanoh - and we found some good day birds from the parking lot:  Common Loon (62.5), Western Grebe (63.5), Red-necked Grebe (64.5), and Barrow's Goldeneye (65.5).  Both chickadees made appearances (66.5, 67.5) as we made our way over across the bridge to get a view from the other end of the park. 

I was still missing Pacific Loon and Black Scoter for the year, so I had my fingers crossed that this time there would finally be at least one of them at Twanoh!   Yes and yes!   Three Black Scoters (115.5, 68.5) were mixed into the Surf Scoter flock, and Matt and Alan got onto a loon that we nailed down as a Pacific (116.5, 69.5) - more delicate bill, and a nice straight light/dark line down the neck, unlike the broken pattern on the Common Loons.   

We also found a Pigeon Guillemot (70.5), and the loon sightings above remind me that I had a brief glimpse of a Red-throated (71.5) back at Belfair. 

Coltsfoot - Twanoh State Park

Leaving Twanoh, I now had the three birds that had most worried me (Black Scoter, Pacific Loon, and Eared Grebe) found for the year.  I'd had my fingers crossed that a lot of knowledgeable birders with scopes at this time of year would do the trick, and it was comforting to think that I could spend some time away from the saltwater to focus on some other birds (not the least of which was the ugly 0.5 bird making my list so untidy!)




Skokomish Mouth, Hunter Farms, Purdy Creek, George Adams Hatchery

None of these were full-blown stops, but we added a few more birds:  Red-tailed Hawk (72.5), Greater White-fronted and Snow Goose (73.5, 74.5) still in the flocks at Hunter Farms, and three new birds at Purdy Creek - Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe and Lesser Scaup (75.5, 76.5, 77.5), and an American Dipper at the Hatchery (78.5).  This was just seen out of the corner of my eye, but it flew in under the bridge, ostensibly to a nest under there! 

Potlatch? Potlunch? Potluck?

Potlatch State Park

We made another stop for Mountain Quail - this one was closer to Highway 101, so it may fit well into my April trip.  I've struck out so hard on game birds, it seems like I'll need to take a morning just to go after like... all of them!  I'll lay out those plans later, but it all has my mind spinning with plans. 



More Mountain Quail habitat

At Potlatch State park, we found American Wigeon (78.5), and had better looks at White-winged Scoter.  This was just a beautiful stop, and some good lazy time after a lot of quick stops.  We also went up the road a little to a park that let us peek at some Harlequin Ducks (79.5) I kept missing the turnoff for this, but had found Harlequin once nonetheless from Potlatch.  More breeding plumaged grebes were hanging around as well - I wonder how much longer they'll stay?

Skokomish Valley Road

We had a lot of birds here that were missed or almost missed!  First almost all of the cars drove past a Merlin (117.5, 80.5) with the trailing car picking it out.  A three falcon day is a good day in Mason!

Merlin - Skokomish River Valley

Almost as good was making it a four dove day.  I missed the Band-tailed Pigeons (which I needed!  grr...), but others found them, and the rest of us found Eurasian Collared-Doves (81.5).  In the blackbird flocks we also had Brewer's Blackbird (82.5) and Common Ravens were overhead (83.5).  I was surprised here and everywhere that Golden-crowned Sparrows had made an exit, or at least were far less prominent.  Lincoln's Sparrow is another one that we missed today, and I'll hope will be there in April when they have a big migratory push.

And it may have been a Lincoln's Sparrow I was looking for behind the Skokomish Grange when someone yelled "Northern Harrier!"  I was a bit back from the road.  I figured I could go binoculars up, or run up to the group.  I went binoculars up and listened to directions.  Nothing.  I got closer and listened to more directions... nothing.  I couldn't get on the bird and it eventually went out of sight.  Cara and Asta were sweet enough to take the car back down the road, but we were unable to recover it.

Up the road a little more, we passed some Wood Ducks (84.5) in the pond (flooded area?  what's the distinction?) north of the road.  With that, we made the turn for my fourth?  fifth?  trip to...

Eells Spring Hatchery

The target here was Green Heron, and Dave was there as usual.  "How much did I miss him by?"  I asked after a wave.  "He was here yesterday."  After this many trips to the hatchery, the regular worker there knew that I was looking for the Green Heron.  We tried the back ponds and searched the trees before consoling ourselves with our first good views of a Steller's Jay, and our first good listen to a Pileated Woodpecker (85.5).

As we piled into the cars again to leave, someone called - "Green Heron!"   We all piled back out and found it.  Obscured way back in the branches, the little dude finally showed itself (ish) for the year.  (118.5, 86.5).  I struggled trying to get my camera to focus.  I will admit now (and those who know how to use cameras well have already suspected this).  I'm kind of a hack with my camera.  I mentioned not being able to get the Green Heron in focus with all of the obscuring branches in the way, and Asta graciously showed me how to manually focus my camera. 

LOL

Anna's Hummer?  This was a seen-only bird, sadly.

So I know how to do that now!  I still got no successful picture, but it was a success of sorts, and I'm sure I'll put it to use in the future when my camera can't figure out what I'm looking at.  The feeders at the hatchery were productive again, giving us Anna's (87.5) and Rufous.    I snapped the picture of the Anna's, and admittedly I often rely on sound for distinguishing hummingbirds if we're talking about females in the summer when both Anna's and Rufous are present.  I showed someone the picture to discuss the ID, and was told "Sorry... we're busy looking at the actual birds."

Photography is a funny thing.  I've seen it nearly ruin people's enjoyment of birding.  At its worst:

* It becomes a drag as people wait for the guy who has to get the perfect shot.
* It becomes awkward as the person unable to get the perfect shot becomes irritable.
* It turns into a little trophy case of sorts.  "Hey... wanna see my shot of the Brambling...?" with all of the requisite pats on the back.
* Photographers at their worst disturb the birds and indirectly the people who are trying to see them by flushing them (and yes... that was me with the Merlin on this field trip.  Ugh)

So, I get it.  I know that as soon as the binoculars are replaced by a camera, there's the potential for bringing the worst of photography into it.  I hope that the poor quality of the pictures to which I continue to subject my readership will assure them that I haven't gone off the deep end as far as all of that goes.  I do hope to capture some beautiful places, some beautiful birds when it works out, and of course in many cases, I hope to get shots of birds that might be difficult to identify or document without a picture. 

Rufous Hummingbird - Near Eells Spring Hatchery

The owners of the feeder gave us a happy hello as we had the cameras and binoculars trained on her window - proud to have others enjoying the hummingbirds as much as she was.  Then we piled in one more time and went up my favorite kind of road.

Primitive Road;  No Warning Signs

Now, that sign in and of itself is a warning sign, although I get what they are trying to say.  I think it would be awesome to find a road like that that didn't even warn us that there wouldn't be any signs.  That would be primitivity at its best!

"Cara, could you stop driving over the rocks?  Please... it's shaking the binoculars.  Thanks." 

As we were heading up Eells Spring Road, heading up the hill and over to Dayton, we were far enough into the day to joke around.  As we ascended, Matt let us know on the radio that this was good Hermit Warbler habitat, and I made a mental note to come back in May!  Our target bird here, Western Bluebird, had been 732 percent guaranteed by Matt, and a pair of them came in to one of the giant rubbish heaps to help him keep the guarantee (119.5, 88.5).

Western Bluebirds - Eells Spring Road

It looks like there is clearing going on to put in more houses in the area.  We finally hit pavement, and headed down past a velodrome (interesting thing to find here!) before we got to the road that heads out towards Matlock.  We had originally planned a trip out to Matlock and Nahwatzel, but we had our bluebirds, and I think Lake Nahwatzel has not been handing out coots lately, so we simply continued down to Little Egypt Road. 

Little Egypt Road was a place where I had hoped to find rails, but had clearly not driven far enough.  We came to a wet wet meadow and got some.  Matt played for Sora as well, which is something that I will be sure to do here this year, given the habitat.  We did get Virginia Rails to respond, but not much else was going on in the drizzle, so we pressed on to Shelton.

Shelton

The Mountainview neighborhood of Shelton is a place I had visited twice this year - it's easy enough to stop in and do a quick search for Western Scrub-Jay.  I realize that I looked a little odd walking the neighborhood with binoculars, but now fifteen of us coming through were enough for people to really gawk!  People were pretty pleasant with it, at any rate, and told us to enjoy our day once they figured out we were birdwatchers.  The neighborhood came through and gave us our scrub-jay (89.5), and House Finch (90.5).

From there, we made our way south to the final stop of the day - Kennedy Creek.

Kennedy Creek Estuary

I have to go back and look at the tide tables, but it was clearly well below a ten when we got there around 5 o'clock.  The birds were much farther out than on my previous trip, but we did find the huge flock which included Dunlin (91.5) and Black-bellied Plover (92.5).  The gulls and ducks added nothing to the day list, although we did end up finally getting a listen and a look at a Brown Creeper (93.5).  I have had Northern Shoveler here before, and this is a place I'm sure I'll check again in an effort to add those to the year list.  For a code one bird, they're pretty tough!  I mean, they're no American Coot, but...

Heading home  

Cara and Asta took me back to Belfair, and it was lovely to have the binoculars down and the brain off of birds for a little bit.  We made a stop or two for coots as we returned to Shelton and back up Highway 3, but mostly just talked about the other things we love about Mason County.  They passed on gas money for the day, negotiating instead for a return trip and payment in oysters and beer. 

My kind of people.

I'll update the needs list and running tally soon, although I don't know that ebird is going to accept a 0.5.  Details... details.   I'll also be laying out a plan for April, which is hugely affected by the birds I found (water birds and owls) and didn't find (game birds).   If I can make a trip in late April, there may even be some good shorebirds to hunt down!

Happy birding!

-Tim

Just to hint at the level of planning that goes into seeing
nearly a hundred species in Mason County in March!
Map by Matt Bartels of the Washington Ornithological
Society

Mason County March WOS Field Trip - The trip over

It felt like Lent

Tree Swallow - finally spring and finally back to Mason County!

After a month and a half of waiting, I finally got the chance to get back to Mason on Sunday.  It was a shortened trip, as March was full of busy weekends, and this particular one involved time at the food bank and a volleyball game before I left on Saturday.  This was a special trip, as I was joining an actual factual field trip! 

Mountain Quail from an
online search.  I didn't quite
get this look!  :D

Matt Bartels runs an annual field trip to Mason County for the Washington Ornithological Society, and this year it fell on the late date of March 29th.  Why March?  March is the month when Mountain Quail begin to vocalize quite a bit more, and they are a specialty species for Mason County;  Other neighboring counties (and a few in the southeast corner of the state) have sightings of these birds, but there are a lot of spots to make attempts at seeing them in Mason, and early spring is not a bad time at all to be birding along Hood Canal in Mason County.







Passing through

My normal route over to Mason takes me through Pierce and Kitsap Counties.  I actually ventured over to Pierce a month or so back and added a few more birds there to bump it up to 150 for my life list.  Kitsap has been sitting at 114, so I decided to pick away at it a little bit on Saturday.  After chatting with Brad Waggoner over in Kitsap about my needs list, it came out that the south end of Kitsap looked like it would be more productive, given my needs list.  

"Four hours or so in the great county of Kitsap to head to the birdless Mason County ;-)"  Brad's slander of the fair county was tongue-in-cheek, but there are a fair number of birds that are a little easier in Kitsap.  They do seem to have some of the same issues with some "simple" birds like American Coot, but there's a good bit more saltwater shoreline, and Point No Point seems to pull in vagrants now and then. 

Sadly, the side trips on the way over didn't add much.  A trip to Long Lake (and parking near a mailbox to look nearly directly over someone's house...) got me a Wood Duck for the County, but no American Coots.   A trip to Lider Road, in the Blackjack Creek watershed, gave me Brewer's Blackbird, but no American Kestrel.  Another stop at Gorst finally gave me a Northern Pintail, but the trip up the road West from there, following Gorst Creek, left me without an American Dipper.  Kitsap County was distinctly un-American for me on Saturday!   Some year, I'll hit Kitsap County properly, but around 5 PM, I decided to hang it up and continue to Mason.



Saturday evening - Belfair-ish

I came in along NE Old Belfair Highway, entering Mason County from a direction I hadn't previously this year, although I recognized the Bear Creek gas station and mini mart as I passed.  It was a pretty drive, and I had a couple chances to step out to look at Union Creek in hopes of a Dipper, or even a coot in some of the wider areas.  Pacific Wrens were the rule, however, and I finally came out in Belfair. 

Another way in - Old Belfair Highway NE

I checked in at the Belfair Hotel this time, since the field trip would be leaving from there the next day.  The gal at the desk started to tell me about their amenities, then laughed, "We.. don't have anything special.  We have an ice machine!"   She added the last bit excitedly as she remembered.  I didn't need anything special, and it was a clean comfortable room, so all was well. 

The brochure in the room had a few local eateries featured, and I decided I might head down the road to Allyn on Case Inlet to Lenny K's Boat House for some fish and chips.  I had considered a few of the places in Belfair, and was only disappointed when I found out that more than one of them has karaoke on Saturday nights.  Oh I will be back.






Allyn

Allyn sits on the north end of Case Inlet, a tiny finger of Puget Sound that nearly stretches out to meet Hood Canal (if it had ever actually done that, we would speak of Kitsap ISLAND rather than the Kitsap Peninsula, but it landed a few miles short).  I had driven through it once or twice during the year - once when it was dark, and once while in conversation with a copilot. 

Case Inlet from Allyn

I pulled in to Lenny K's parking lot, and took a quick walk down to the water - Shaggy-headed Red-breasted Mergansers, a few crows and gulls played on and near the shore, but nothing surprising.  I crossed the street to the wine shop just as the fellow was closing up.  He was kind enough to let me in, although I was too late to do any tasting.  The most interesting discovery was Mosquito Fleet Winery.  There was only one bottle left on the shelf, but their tasting room is on the very road I had taken into Belfair - another reason to come back!

"The Flyer"  - 90 minutes from Seattle to Tacoma. 
Original artist unknown - I pulled this from Geocaching.com

The Mosquito Fleet, incidentally, was the nickname for all of the little steamboats and other small boats that served Puget Sound before ferries became the norm.  Some of the later runs went from Allyn to Olympia with stops on some of the Islands (Squaxin and Harstene) along the way.  I still have hopes of doing part of this run by boat this year - stay tuned!

It was that good.

Lenny K's was a great choice for dinner - the fish and chips were great, the service was friendly, and there was live music playing (Marcus Dean on that particular evening).  There was a whole array of mugs hanging above the bar, and I nearly joined the mug club, but it sounds like most of the benefits come on Tuesday nights.   My plans aren't that ambitious for my year with Mason County!

I made it back to the hotel and off to bed with dreams of owls and another big day of birds.

Watching and waiting

I knew I was doing this year on a budget.  The budget is primarily time related.  I am planning monthly trips over to Mason, and in this case the February trip and March trip are over a month away from each other!  In late March, there is a field trip running to Mason County through the Washington Ornithological Society, and I plan on attending.   That would be a single day trip, and I think I will try to come over Saturday after my son's volleyball game finishes up in Seattle. 

If I was inclined to chase... there have been a few tempting birds coming through, but so far, it hasn't been enough to get me to drop what I'm doing with work, family and friends at home.  Still, I want the blog to be as useful as possible - not just for the year I had, but for understanding birds that come through, so here goes:

What I've been missing (in taxonomical order):

1)  Cackling Goose   A flock of these came through Theler around the time of my last trip in late February.  I missed them and I don't think more have come through.  Bar charts tell me these will be back in the fall in bigger numbers.  Fingers crossed for this Code 3 bird, but I'm glad I have four other species of geese in the bag.

2)  Tundra Swan   Two were seen by the Denny's in mid-January.  I had suspicions about some swans that I had pictures of, but the consensus has not pointed towards Tundra for any of them.  I'm not expecting these to come back through, as they are a Code 5 bird.

3)  Northern Shoveler   These were not recorded in the county until the first of March - 8 near Alderbrook.  This is one of those birds in the county that just seems tougher than it should be!  I have had them before at Kennedy Creek, and continuing to check estuaries should pull some up so I didn't need to chase this sighting.

4)  Black Scoter  There have been actually an embarrassing number of sightings of these, and I hope they are around for the March trip so I don't have to sweat it in the fall.   Again... how many surf scoters do I have to look at??  How many??  This bird is not one to chase - it's one to find with patience and persistence.

5) Ruddy Duck  A code three bird seen at Theler in February, with some other sporadic sightings in December from Mason Lake and Skookum Inlet.   I haven't birded at either of the last two locations, and I think that needs to get resolved soon.  They won't be part of the March field trip, so perhaps a quick visit there will be in order.  I know the Biser's want to see this one, as Ruddy Duck is Beth's favorite bird - hopefully one will hang around somewhere for us soon, but no sightings have been repeated anywhere.  Not a chase bird.

6)  Ring-necked Pheasant  Sitting at Theler every day and I keep missing it.  I have two other leads on places to find these in the county.

7)  Ruffed Grouse  These are a yard bird for the Biser's and I am hopeful that by the end of May I will have seen one or at least heard them drumming.

8)  Sooty Grouse  Someone made a trip up to the Mount Ellinor Trail and found some Sooties!  This was a fun sighting to see - no rush on them, although getting them earlier will be better than later.  I have unfinished business down low before I start looking for high-elevation birds.

9)  Mountain Quail   Matt Bartels had some calling on Elfendahl Pass while scouting for the trip.  They shouldn't be a hard bird on the day of the field trip.  Seeing them can be tough.

10)  Pacific Loon  See Black Scoter

11)  Eared Grebe  See Pacific Loon  (These three birds... I gotta get 'em.   The March field trip should give me chances to see all three, although I'd be surprised if we got all of them.)

12)  Green Heron  No eBird sightings, but Dave at the Trout Hatchery has them every... single.. day... As many as two of them.   Eventually, I'll just be there from sunrise to sundown if I have to!  Or fill out an application for work at the hatchery.  I'll get it.  Up to three attempts now, and another attempt will be added in March on the field trip.

13)  Turkey Vulture  They're back!  Yay!  No need to chase.  They'll be around

14)  Northern Harrier  Code one bird - yeesh.  There have been sightings at Twanoh and at the mouth of the Skokomish.  I had a phantom bird that could have been one at the mouth of the Skoke, but I should find one... right?  I should?   It will be a relief when I do.

15)  Virginia Rail  Yeah, they show up on every trip report from Theler.  I have had them at Theler.  I've tried for them this year in the exact same place but am oh for three now.  March... March... It's not like they're going anywhere.

16)  American Coot  I included this ridiculous bird just out of principle.  Nobody has seen any of them but they are a code 1 bird in the county, so there are some of them somewhere.  Probably... maybe.  I don't know.  Where are they?

17)  Greater Yellowlegs  Easy bird once spring rolls in, but there was a sighting from the Skokomish Valley.

18)  Least Sandpiper  From Theler.  No big deal - there will be more.

19)  Sanderling   Now... hold on!   This showed up on ebird, but has not shown up on the Mason year list on eBird.  I almost chased that sighting, but simply couldn't.  This is a Code 4 bird, and it would be great to know what happened to the original report from Theler.

20)  California Gull  Some are hanging around.  There should be more in summer.

21)  Band-tailed Pigeon  They were in the county during my last visit, but they are IN the county now.

22)  Spotted Owl  Well... I'm checking on this.  I hope I can bring one of these to the blog this year, just to let people know they're still here.  Apologies if I don't give out GPS coordinates to the nest site, but there's rules out there for these guys.

23)  Northern Pygmy-Owl  Elfendahl Pass Road in the wee hours a week ago.  Very cool to see them added in on eBird, and it gives me another place to look for this owl.  No shortage.

24)  Barred Owl  I'm up to like... eleven leads on Barred Owl.  No chasing needed.

25)  Gray Jay  Up top - no problem.  I'll get there.  They were seen on the Mount Ellinor Trail.

26)  Barn Swallow  Ten are already here.  Ten million will follow.

27)  Orange-crowned Warbler  One sighting from Theler.  I am hopeful some will be singing on the March trip.

28)  Lincoln's Sparrow   April may give me better chances, but I may find myself scouring every sparrow patch in the county next fall!

29)  Western Meadowlark  Dang it.  Seen and photographed at Theler a week or two ago and not since.  This was one of those birds where I wasn't sure where it might show up.  Theler may be the answer for a lot of birds like that.  It's pretty good habitat!

So... I guess I have to apologize for not having a total of 130 at this point!  or... somewhere around there.   This is at least a summary of what might be on my list if birding Mason County was the only thing taking up my time!  

Hang in there, faithful readers!

-Tim