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!!