123rd Post 1.25.17

Crows, BC Code 5s, Birds, Babblings, & Humans being Birders . . .

Wanna start a debate, an argument, a frenzied discussion, an exchange of unseeable characteristics - then broach an exchange on your local patch with other locals and/or outsiders about IDs of crows in the Salish Sea environs! Or take a quick scan of eBird checklists from the PNW - you'll find American crow, Northwest crow, and crow ssp all over the maps. Postings for NW crow from deep in the south-end of the Hood; American crows as far N as Tofino, BC [unless Wayne Weber gets the checklist vetting]; but which ssp is everyone really seeing and why are they claiming what they claim?

My question . . .  How do YOU ID crows? When it comes to ticking the species into your eBird checklist or jotting down to your field notes or pointing out to another on the beach or up in the mountains and saying, "that's a ______ crow!" How do you know?

Help me in this. A future post consolidating ID characteristics that YOU use; or don't use - for that matter. I'll write a treatise and post here in the future re THE CROW. Photos too. So, share yours that depict ssp ID characteristics. And recordings of crow talk. And where to go for the professional side of separating these two species for IDing. Contact me here <clallamcountybirds@gmail.com>. Send anything you want: your words, literature references, photos, recordings, and/or whatever else you might think will assist. And I thank you in advance Ryan[s], Brad, Charlie, Bruce, Mike, Dan, George, BB, Blair, Bruce, Alex, Scott, Mandy, Doug, Cara, Terri, John, Doug, Michael, Adrianne, Vince, Judy, Mark, Jerry, Freda, Cate, Cassidy and everyone else! Share please!

Around and about on and above the OlyPen . . .

Pink footed goose - x2 of 'em. Not here, but up N of Victoria, BC. This from BCRBA:  ". . . At 1:30pm on January 22-2017, Liron Gerstman, who is 16 years old, found 2 adult Pink-footed Geese in a flock of 200 Dusky Canada Geese. The birds were in a grassy field on the east side of the path. Access to the field is on Lochside Dr. north of Dooley Rd." and this on the 23rd, ". . . At 8:10am on January 23rd, the birds were seen in a mixed flock of 500 Canada Geese on the south side of Martindale Rd. The birds were still present as of 5pm." If these two grab the gold-vetted-ring, then they are one more incredible spp found just north of CC! The photo is Macaulay library ML46298281 fm eBird CL S33869908 by Jody Wells. They're still in area today [1.25]. Map where geese are hanging here . . . https://www.google.ca/maps/place/6331+Lochside+Dr,+Central+Saanich,+BC/@48.5528683,-123.4209921,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x548f6e4355a8b409:0xec594ab840bf5677!8m2!3d48.5528648!4d-123.3859732. 

What's not-been-seen and seen . . . 

Ok, back to the OlyPen. What's not been seen in the past week: Slaty backed gull [Neah Bay], Palm warbler [NB, 3 Crabs], Emperor goose [Dungeness Bay], Western scrub jay [Old Olympic Hwy @ Cay's Rd], and Tufted duck [NB].

• Black crowned night heron - This Never Ending Story is a 'Tick' really, really hard to manifest in CC. They live in Dungeness; but near impossible to see. I won't go into their history; but they're in their 9th winter here. x2 were seen two morning's ago when they came into their roost ~6:30am. One was talking. I was sitting on porch with early morning coffee when I watched them fly to their day-roost. Many ask, "how do I find them?" Well, live here and spend every AM sipping coffee and every PM with a Black Butte porter on back porch and you eventually will! For others: use the contact eMail address above to connect and I'll share - most locals in this area are used to strangers with binocs wandering around Dungeness!

• Ruddy turnstone - Ediz Hook. Been there since Jan 1st.

• Orange crowned warbler - Dungeness's birds continue

• Yellow billed loon - PA Harbor

• Bohemian waxwings - Fewer, but still here: Jamestown, Dungeness, and DRA area.

Cassiar's junco / Dungeness

• Swallows - Both Barn and a Tree have been seen in the past few days; x2 Barneys and a Tree w/ two unID'd over Graysmarsh. A report fm Farm Lake area last Saturday had x2 Barns there.

• Tundra swan - Amongst Trumpeters in Sequim area / FOY.

• Cassiar's junco / J.h. cismontanus / [DEJ] in Dungeness.

CC Owls

• Great horned owl - talking in Dungeness, upper Dungeness on River rd; NB at Hobuck; and Miller Peninsula near DRA lands.

• Barred owl - DOR*, x1 Dungeness, Clallam Bay, NB, Palo Alto and a half-dozen other places. Go out any night wherever you live on the OlyPen and scream, catterwall, hoot like a banshee, and generally make a mess of eerie sounds and you just might get one to answer you. Go here to listen to their babblings. <https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/sounds> 

• Northern Saw whet owl - Up Palo Alto at junction near Jimmy Come Lately, Cape Flattery loop rd and Hobuck, NB.

• Pygmy owl - Palo Alto rd; Cape Loop rd, NB; E Sequim Bay near Heron Hill rd; Woods road near MP3; and Cape Flattery loop rd.

Screech owl - Been out several times; calling; calling; calling; nothing. Not even in the Kitchen-Dick area.

• Short eared owl - Dungeness Rec Area [DRA], marshes along 3 Crabs, grasslands along Towne road near Creamery, and up in the Happy Valley. A report from Wa'atch Valley of a dark one!

• Snowy - Nope; not for a few more years

• Long eared - Nope - but they're out there!

• Barn - they too, are out there; screeching and screaming - and in many places. Wanna hear one? Go to Dungeness Rec Area before dusk, park near the flats of tall grass, get out, and listen for a long time. You'll hear one screaming! <https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/sounds>

and

Willet - Thank you Adrianne Akmajian, Jon and Liliana Scordino. Harmony has made it into the history-book of the World of CC eBird Checklists: Harmony has been officially accepted into the realms of Birds with Names. Harmony was seen again yesterday [1.24] from 3 Crabs out to the west working the tide flats with other shorebirds.

Non-Bird Babblings . . .

• A good re-read post at ABA today: ICYMI: We Love The Jerk?. Worth the re-read re what we sometimes incur here on the OlyPen; especially out at Neah Bay where we've had minor incidences but not birder:bird kind, but rather NB'er:birder < http://blog.aba.org>.

• OPAS Field Trip / Carrie Blake Park, Sequim [last Saturday]. Cindy Fullwiler lead a group of x8 BIrders around this fascinating bit of habitat last Saturday in fairly decent weather [Wx]. They tallied 22 species; one of which was the unique plumed Storm widgeon - an American widgeon with a distinctive white facial pattern - they found three! Like the Eurasian, the ratio here is about 1:1000. They found a Eurasian widgeon, also. Thank you Cindy for the Out-and-About Birding guide!

• Got several complaints directed my way recently. The new Million Dollar bridge over Meadowbrook creek down at 3 Crabs has/is creating a brouhaha that is only going to escalate with potential problems. The restoration-habitat enhancement project which went on all summer has created an incredible expanse of water that every water bird in the area is looking at and saying, "OHHHHH WOW! LOOK AT THAT!!" and are beginning to use the area. And logically, Birders are beginning to recognize it's flavor and starting to Go-look-see, also. However, the Planning Bureau for Road Creation & Use at 3 Crabs didn't seem to listen at Town Hall meetings, public input, and many other forums of information sharing re putting in bike paths along roadway and plenty of parking spaces. Consequently, they didn't grasp a reality check on post-project actualization that a road over a bridge in an area where historical facets of birding have been five-stars - they forgot to allow for an edge to the road which would allow people to walk, stand, bike, or 'bird' from safely. Dang!! And BIrders being who they are when they want to go look-see often park where they shouldn't and then walk along and set up scopes and - as a consequence - force vehicles going to and from to veer around them. Thus the complaints have begun; and will continue to happen and mount in frequency. Locals don't like going around Birders blocking their ingress/egress to 3 Crabs road. And some have begun to spout fire and flames re the situation. Bottom-line? It's a three-fer: Don't park on the road [stoopid thing to do anyway] / park near Abernathy road or Helen's Pond; stay off road as far as you can when scoping; and don't go Postal on those flipping you off for whatever reason while you're birding. In other words: Bird conscientiously. There'll be more on this - I'm sure! 

That's all

Good feathering!

* dead on road

122nd Post 1.18.17

Sweet Birds Cometh . . .

Falcated teal / Padilla Bay

Falcated teal / Padilla Bay

Falcated teal - Rick Klawitter found a male Falcated teal on Padilla Bay, Skagit County, early on the morning of Jan 16th. The teal is an ABA code 4 and this sighting is [potentially] the 5th record for WA - and uniquely - the 3rd for Padilla Bay. Rarely is this teal found outside of Alaska. Chasers? Many; and many have seen and ticked it. As of dusk yesterday [1.17] the bird was still in the area. Where? It was first found at Bay View State Park, moved south and was relocated late afternoon and yesterday at the N end of the Padilla Bay Shore Trail off Bayview Edison road and was still present at dusk [use the parking lot at trail and look for other Birder's with scopes pointed toward the bay]. CC does have a bit of recognition with this teal claiming one of the five WA records: Dungeness Bay, 7.13.1993.

Slaty backed gull / Village Creek, Neah Bay

Slaty backed gull / Village Creek, Neah Bay

Slaty backed gull - Tut Tada Daaaa! On Thursday last [1.12] Bill Tweit and Bruce LaBar found this gull at Village Creek, Neah Bay. These are their eBird words, "Third year bird on beach behind Senior Center at 1230, with some oiling on underparts. Prolonged scope studies and got video. Large, pink-legged gull with very dark gray mantle and bright yellow iris. Much darker mantle, almost blackish, than nearby WEGU. Yellow beak, stouter than nearby WEGU, shows some black at tip. Some brownish head and upper breast streaking, slightly more dense behind eye. Broad white edging to tertials. Black primaries. Brief views showed mostly gray underwing, with white subterminal spots evident in outer primaries [CL S33631032]." Last confirmed record for a Slaty in CC was in February, 1999. There are a number of 'sightings' since that claim and push the envelop of a Slaty's ID, but for myriad reasons these claims have not been accepted; altho field notes [where considered viable] were filed into CC's record book. It's just way too easy to blow the ID on this gull with the plethora of hybrids, age and plumage mixes, and diversity of gulls that occur on the OlyPen; especially with very dark mantled Westerns!

Tufted duck / Neah Bay

Tufted duck - Same male that's been on the bay since early December? Probably. Still giving good looks and amassing more eBird checklist ticks! Bill Tweit must have been sitting on top of the duck when he took this photo. Neah Bay.

Harris's sparrow / Neah Bay

Harris's sparrow - Ditto! Been seen since the 1st. Still seeder-feeding at Nancy's feeders behind Butler's; moving around the area from the MiniMart woods to the grass lot to the E. Neah Bay.

Snow goose - A juvy has attached itself to the x2 adults that have been hanging at Village creek, NB, for weeks now. As good a place as any to spend the winter.

Palm warbler - There's still at least x1, maybe x2 at 3 Crabs. Many have seen it. Many photos. And another out at Neah Bay [1.12].

Willet - Still out there on the flats as seen from Dungeness Landing and 3 Crabs. As long as the bird's been here and as familiar as we are with it, it needs a name. So, foregoing any gender bias, several of us here have started calling it Harmony! Time for someone to see it again, file an eBird checklist and note it's name into the ssp's comments section. Would be only the right thing to do, eh? Start a new trend in eBird checklisting!

Bohemian waxwing - And yes, they're still around, too. Numbers have dropped significantly. High count these past days was in the Jamestown area, x24.

Some other babbling . . .

• The OPAS Elwha Gull outing [1.14] netted six species of gull: Thayer's [68], Glaucous winged [x60], California [x1], Mew [x190], Herring [8], and 'Olympic'  [x135]. The roost horded fewer gulls then were expected; and fewer species.

• There are at least x6 Orange crowned warblers in Dungeness at present.

• What's not been seen in the area lately: California scrub jay [1.04], Emperor goose [1.08], and Snow bunting [1.08].

• Most Birders do eBird in one form or another: checklisting, hot spots, local patches, look-seeing with the occasional, "No way!" Here's a quick one-click entry to the Clallam County 2017 eBird tally of species [here].<http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?src=changeDate&getLocations=counties&counties=US-WA-009&parentState=US-WA&reportType=location&monthRadio=on&bMonth=01&eMonth=12&bYear=2017&eYear=2017&continue.x=52&continue.y=9&continue=Continue >. 

Lastly . . .

House sparo - We all have 'em. John tucked this photo into his eBird checklist from the 16th at NB. The ssp is a scourge, a disaster to swalo nest boxes, a plague at feeders, so on and so forth. BUT it really is a cool bird when you take the time to watch it's socio-behavioural intra-actions within a flock and interactions with other species. Here's a tidbit: When these gray-feathered rats gather at a feeder or in shrubs and there's a bunch of them and then they all at once get into a confab of calls, twitters, and birdy-noise going all over the place - that confab is termed a Flibbish! A good scientific word!

That's all

Good feathering!

121st Post 1.13.17

2016 - A Long revisit via a few photos . . . .

Before 2017 gets to far along, let's to take another look-back at some of 2016's birds and share a few shots of the newbies and others.

Let's start with this one, cuz it's without-a-doubt the best-of-the-best posted photos to a CC eBird checklist of all time. Unbelievable! And the ID characteristics are pure Sibley and totally diagnostic. Comparative sizes of the two birds is obvious, and the flare of wing-tips of the bird following is an auto-give-away! Photo is from Bahokus, Neah Bay [NB] as the birds flew E down the Strait of Juan de Fuca. So . . . 

Two white splotches of pixelation against a grainy blue background!

Tufted Duck / Neah Bay / STP

There seemed to be a plethora of TUDU sightings at NB. And that's odd since the first county record came only last year at the same location. 2016's first one was found in January. Altho it seemed to hang out at the STP, it was also recorded several times up on Hobuck Lake. Then in the fall there appeared to be x2 males and a female - possibly more - that showed up. The STP kept a female/male combination off-and-on; while a male was seen regularly on the Bay.

Lesser black backed gull / Neah Bay / on the docks

Hope Anderson found this Lesser black backed gull on the docks at Neah Bay in late April. It hung for four or five days giving a few a chance to chase it in the crappy Wx that came raining and winding nastily throughout the area. 

Tropical kingbird, in the village of Neah Bay

For two years running now not a single Tropical kingbird has been found on the OlyPen anywhere except at Neah Bay. Dungeness, 3 Crabs, Clallam Bay used to tick them - but not lately. It seems that these noisy, aerial bug-chasers really like Neah Bay. This past year there may have been as many as x11 individual birds seen from the Fish Hatchery to Cape Flattery and E to the Greenhouse Seawatch. 

Scripp's murrelet / off shore Clallam county

The Scripp's is one damn hard bird to tick in Clallam county. They don't come easy. Why? Well first, you gotta be way off shore, then have good water, be there at the right time of year, and should know what you're looking at as these water-flitters plunge or fly-off as you come up on them. Ryan Merrill found the right conditions. A total of x45 were tallied over three surveys in mid-September. That simply knocks your socks off! 

Blue gray gnatcatcher / Neah Bay

Gnatcatchers showed up in Neah Bay in early October. And they were numerous. As near as I tally there were at least x4 and - possibly - as many as x6 birds.

Blue grosbeak / Neah Bay / 1st WA & CC record

The way I was told the story re this Blue grosbeak was as so: The same day Bruce Paige found the Dusky capped flycatcher [12.16], Bob Flores and Randy Hill were birding-by-car around NB when they saw this bird bouncing around through a grass-hobble, photo'd it, and 'didn't realize what they had until later when they got back home and went through their digits.' Don't know if that's for real or not, but it makes a good tale. I'd be curious to know the Rest of the Story! 

Clark's grebe / Neah Bay

This Clark's grebe came visible in late October when Dan Waggoner checklisted it. And, if it was the same one, it stayed on Neah Bay well into late December.

Dusky capped flycatcher / Neah Bay / 1st WA & CC record

This is Bruce Paige's little gem! When he first found it the bird gave a good impression of a Willow flycatcher; then the ID facets fell into place. There were dozens who chased this flitty little thing and most did find it; but as always, there were those who "shuda been here 7 minutes ago!" It stayed for almost a week; mostly hanging at the far N end of Boom road while foraging from shrubs. 

Field Sparrow / Neah Bay / 1st WA & CC record

Field sparrow? There are expected rarities and then there are rarities that are just not expected. But Neah Bay being NB . . . . well! It was found on 10.28 by Scott Downs and Eric Heisey and seen by others. It didn't stay long. Curiously tho, across the water up into BC on 11.20 near Colwood at Esquimalt Lagoon, Ellen and Andy Stepneiwski [of Yakima fame] found one [possibly x2] of these sweeties. The BC birds stayed longer than the one at NB did. Brings up the question: Same bird? 

Harris's sparrow / Neah Bay

Harris's sparrow is getting to be a regular visitor to the county and especially to the Neah Bay area. There were possibly x3 individual birds in NB last fall and early winter. With x1 in the Hogback area S of Sequim earlier in the year. Also another has been seen and photographed near the MiniMart woods [NB] already this year.

Northern mockingbird / Neah Bay / Butler's motel

Michael Barry was hanging out behind Butler's watching Nancy's seeder-feeders one evening in mid-November when he had this Mocker come visiting. Nicely done; and the bird hung in the area long enough to make many Birders happy with a tick mark! 

Prothonotary warbler / Neah Bay / 1st CC record

Thank you, Mike Resch [a visiting Birder fm Massachusetts]. He noted in his eBird checklist paraphrased here: '...spotted at 8:10am in blackberry brambles on west side of excavation near NW area of Ba'adah Loop.' It was later relocated by Dan and Brad Waggoner. It was a one-day wonder, tho. Nice photo, Brad. Again in Neah Bay! 

White winged dove / Neah Bay / Butler's motel / "thank you Nancy!" 

When the facets of being in the right place at the right time come together and a camera is at the ready and you look up and the OMG magic goes "BOINK!" This is what you get: one White winged dove [4.16]. Where? At Nancy's seeder-feeders of course / Butler's motel in Neah Bay. There were well over a hundred Eurasian collared doves there and he picks this bird out of the herd and takes a very nice photo. The dove was re-seen later in the afternoon and again the next morning.

Red napped sapsucker / Crescent Lake 

Alex Patia found several good Clallam county birds at Lake Crescent this past summer. This Red napped sapsucker was just one. 

Dickcissel / Wa'atch River Drive, Neah Bay

When Jon Scordino looked out the sliding glass door that faces his back yard along the Wa'atch River, Neah Bay, he saw a bird that just didn't fit the normal birds at the feeder scene. Then when he 'pinged' me telling me he'd seen a Dickcissel, but hadn't photographed it yet, I just thought . . . . oh shit! As the Boekelheide mantra goes: "You get a photo?"  If not, don't bother. But he did, and it was. and it stayed. This was in late spring. Then in mid-October Hope Anderson got a Two-Fer. Hanging out at Butler's watching feeders when a Dickcissel graced her binocs along with a Rose breasted grosbeak! One code 5 and one code 4. Nice score, Hope! 

Rustic bunting / Boom road, Neah Bay

Cara Borre's Rustic bunting was the frosting on the cake for Neah Bay; as well as scoring the 299th tick for the county [12.06]. Tiny as it is, and foraging with juncos and other sparrows moving up and down Boom road, it gave many chasers both a thrill as well as creating some dips. It did hang along the road tho for over a week.  

Ruff / 3 Crabs marshes

Jeanelle RIchardson was heading to Neah Bay in early May to go pelagicing on the M/V Windsong when she stopped at 3 Crabs to see what might be out-and-about. And a  Ruff was what she found out-and-about  The next day when all of the locals came out to their local patch to relocate the Ruff - they did just that - and then Dow Lambert looked around and found this Sharp tailed sandpiper at the other end of the marsh. That was definitely a TwoFer! Then a day later out at Neah Bay a 2nd Ruff was seen wandering the beach near the Warmhouse Restaurant. Both Ruffs hung for a while; but the Sharpy stayed for only a few days. 

Sharp tailed sandpiper / 3 Crabs marshes

This is what Ryan Merrill had to say about the photo posted at the top and [again] here [checklist S29408743]: "County and/or patch bird for most. Brad [Waggoner] spotted flying east down the strait while following a gull, in view for ten minutes or so until it was beyond Wa'adah Isand. Huge white bird that you could just see black flight feathers on and a couple times glimpses of the huge yellow bill through the haze. As measured on Google Earth, Brad spotted it initially when it was 1.6 miles away and it was still in view at 3.6 miles distance. I don't think this takes into account that we were 1000 feet above it so viewing distance would have been a little farther than that."  To me, if you stand on Bahokus, and look down and out onto the Strait, and see this lone White pelican at almost two miles and take a gnarly, grainy pixelated digit and then post your photo of two white splotches against a blue background to your checklist as ID, then that's damn good feather grabbing, eh?

American white pelican [left] & gull ssp.

Ohhhh K, one last bird. Once again, the infamous Wurdemann's heron returned to the 3 Crabs area in mid-October / almost to the same day as past years / hunkering in the marshes of Dungeness Farm. We've submitted photos and descriptions several times to WRBC with only a tentative agreement that the species official occurence will be taken up at the 'next meeting.' But they've been telling us that for years. Surprisingly, a posting only appeared once on Tweeters this year re a sighting of the heron's occurrence. In past years the heron's made it several times into Tweeter posts; creating some chasing but no eBird vetter has vetted the species on any checklist - yet! Is it still in the area? Yes, it was relocated just the other day! 

The 3 Crabs Wudemann's Heron as seen on Dungeness Farm, October 2016

That's all . . . 
Good feathering!!