Birder PapaRrazi
An Amateur Birdwatcher's tally
An eagle Juvenile seagull chestnut back chickadee I A seagull, an eagle, a chestnut back chickadee mixed in with golden crowned kinglets
all spotted in less than a minute. There is no way to explain our joy. Here's the tale of a quiet Sunday morning of birdwatching. Picture it. This was a driving birdwatching experience with my sister, Sarah, and two dogs, named Katie and Maggie. Yes, it was a Sunday, which began foggy around eight a.m. But the sun was trying fiercely to break through and start the day. We drove through a valley area so that bright ball of fire did not penetrate until we turned into the park. Along the way we saw a lot of our regular culprits. Crows and seagulls, starlings, and sparrows delighted our eyes. Somehow, they never get boring. Their energy and beauty stay fresh in my eyes. They also emanate cuteness to the max. Because it had been raining quite a bit in King County, WA, ducks, and Canada geese dotted the fields and the ponds that filled them. Today we only saw mallard ducks. Cheerful creatures, mallards are. We never know what to expect at Flaming Geyser Park, so we all perked up and rolled down our windows. Katie and Maggie each stuck their heads out the window as far as they could. Of course, we seatbelt them into their car beds. Otherwise, Katie would dangle herself completely out of the window. She loves the wind in her ears and fur. She loves the freedom. The tour continued down the road. To the left is a raging Green River. On the right are meadows, hills, and then a marsh area. The water in it is still. Right now, it’s also empty. This is a grand place for red wing blackbirds and kingfishers. Only a Berwick wren showed up on this trip. At the end of the road is a circle so that we can turn. Its good because the sun has broken through and now it is at our backs. The marsh on the left and is still empty of birds as far as we can tell. The rocky beach on our right is also... "Wait" I called out. "Back up" I pleaded. Sarah is used to this request and checks to make sure there was no incoming traffic before backing. I pointed. "Is that a duck?" In the back seat the dogs were back at their windows. Sarah pulled out binoculars, but I prefer to use the zoom on my camera. "No, that is a seagull, probably a juvenile, with a black beak." He was wading at the edge of the river. Well, we had already seen a seagull and we don't usually try to identify the juveniles. There are clues – the black beak and the color of the legs can help. We didn’t bother, though. It's just too confusing. But I had never seen one there before, so I was pleased. But I wish I had gotten a better photo! We turned the bend. "Whoa." We both saw it at once. An eagle, a bald eagle. Something about raptor birds take my breath away. This was no exception. We had passed him and couldn't back around the corner so we went up to turn around. On the way, we passed another car with dogs. Katie and Maggie enjoyed their communications for a few moments, trading greetings and who knows what else. The other dogs were german shepherds, beautiful big dogs with pretty eyes. Katie is a tiny girl because she is part chihuahua, but she loves big dogs. Maggie prefers human attention. Both cars slowly passed so that the dogs could do their thing. "What's up there?" Sarah asked. I peered up. "I can see fluttering, but those are tiny birds, and they are on the move." In other words, I didn't know. We went a few feet, turned around and returned. We puzzled for a few moments over the little birds. "A chestnut backed chickadee." I announced, as I snapped his picture. "With golden crowned kinglets." Sarah responded. I could see the little kinglets, but never managed to get a picture. To my knowledge, the kinglet is a bird I've never snapped. They're just too small and too fast. I leaned forward to focus on the big bird - the eagle. He perched on an upstanding log hanging out over the water. He wasn't in a rush but was interested in his surroundings. For a full five minutes we admired him. Luckily no one came along who needed to get by! We should have a bumper sticker – “I brake for birds”. But on a quiet Sunday we had the time to gawk. I took a ton of pictures with the hope of getting at least one good photo. Then we turned around and left the park. Four different birds in a quick space of time. It doesn’t always happen that way. This November day will make us pause at that spot every time we visit Flaming Geyser Park! In case you’re interested, here are tips for identifying gulls. They work better with adults but at least you can use them to narrow down the field. I get my information on gull identification from a variety of sources, including Identification of Pacific Northwest Gulls · University of Puget Sound. That site even has a checklist! Look for these details. In King County, WA, 3 of the four most common gulls have dark gray mantles. Check the mantle first. If it’s dark gray, check the size. If the mantle is light gray skip to next step. Small – about 16 inches – with yellow legs and beak – Mew Gull Medium – about 21 inches – with green yellow legs – California Gull Large – about 26 inches with pink legs – Glaucus Winged Gull Light gray mantle – yellow legs, black tipped beak – ring billed gull. So, check for: Size Color of mantle Color of beak Color of legs Wingspan, if possible Sometimes, I cheat. If I can get a good picture with my cell phone, Google Lens will identify my gull. This works with other things, as well. I’ve discovered birds, trees, plants, and more with Google Lens. Technology has its good uses. Happy birding in November in Washington State!
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Where were all the birds in Washington state? Perhaps our little drought ran them off after drying up their food and water sources. Perhaps it was the wildfires. Personally, I saw few birds, though I looked eagerly for them. I even went to a different county, on the beach. But I could not spot many birds.
At Flaming Geyser state park, my go to place for birding, I found a blue heron with 2 mallard ladies 2 weeks in a row. At first, because I wasn’t wearing my glasses, I thought the ducks were blue heron “babies”. But my glasses and camera told me the real story. They were just hanging out together. It gave me a couple of neat pics, though. Chickadees, scrub jays, sparrows, juncos, and finches continued to enjoy my yard. I got to the point of only putting out one suet and a few cups of bird food weekly due to the diminished population. But the suet, finch socks, and food was enjoyed by those who did show up. My newest birding spot, a wooded dead end city block that has been set up as a refuge, continued to showcase swallows, wood pees, and cedar wax wings. We believe the swallows are gathering to leave – perhaps the wax wings as well. I didn’t get to see the lazuli bunting at all. Oh, the ocean! Beautiful, calming, fun. But I only saw gulls, one bird I doubtfully labelled a brown pelican, and some petrels which I didn’t get photographs of! I had dreams of tattlers, terns, and many shore birds. But my luck didn’t work out. I put photos of what I could get on my gallery page. Hopefully September will prove better number and species wise. Hot. Dry. But not too different. These words describe this month’s birding for me. This has been one of the hottest years on record for us here in the northwest. It’s dried things up, like big ponds across the field, streams, marshes, and more. Big water birds are scarce. This is a sad event for me. Big birds are easier to photograph. I have not seen a single Canada goose on land this month. There have been a few small flocks in the air. I have only seen 2 ducks on water this month – a mallard and a merganser. I have seen a few flying, presumably toward water sources. I have not seen a blue heron at all. About three seagulls have appeared in the last month. For raptor birds, we saw a pair of eagles hanging out over a river, a couple of hawks in flight, and one in a tree. At least one of the hawks was a red tail. I’m not sure about the others. Smaller birds ruled. I told you last month that we had found a small area set aside as a habitat – wooded, marshy, and perfect for birds. In that area I saw western peewees for the first time ever. They are small, and quick, and I didn’t get photos. There were cedar waxwings, house finches, goldfinches, humming birds and robins. My Birdnet ap also picked up common yellow throats, but I didn’t actually see them. There is nothing like turning into your driveway to witness a pair of hummingbirds going along your rose bushes. I had that happen several times this month. I was afraid the heat would be too much for those little birds. But they seem to hold their own. Beside food I do also provide water. House finches, house sparrows, chickadees, juncos, starlings, and scrub jays also stayed in my yard for the month. After viewing the lazuli bunting last month I didn’t think I’d be so lucky this month. But they appeared twice – in different parts of the county! I was awed. With the heat and dry weather I really don’t expect much in the month of July for birding. Yet, today I went out hopeful anyway. I saw some chickadees and some juncos. A dove. At my next birding spot I saw nothing – exactly what I expected. I almost didn’t go to my third planned viewing place. But it was along my way so I did. This is where the bunting has been hanging out. He wasn’t there. I’ve seen goldfinches and also common yellow throats. They were silent and hidden today. A flock of swallows swooped over a field with cows in it. Then I heard him. I looked up in a tree at the very end of the road, overlooking a very thin river. He cried again, sounding like a baby. Some of the swallows were shoving him out of “their” tree. He was a red tailed hawk, handsome and unhappy. He left soon. The swallows wouldn’t leave him alone, with good cause. But I was glad to see him. Check out my birding gallery for a very few birds of July. The case of the misnamed bird. “Remember when we saw the lapis lazuli here that summer?” My sister sounded wistful on one of our recent drive by birding tours. We had seen one before in the area many years ago. Since we had seen one, we had always been on the lookout for another one. We’re just like that: wishful thinkers. If a bunch of ducks are on a pond once we always hope to find a lot of water birds on that pond. If an eagle perches in a tree we always look up hopefully into that same tree as we pass by. The first clue that he was in the neighborhood came from Birdnet, an application on my cell phone that works through Cornell to identify birds by their sounds. It's still a very new program , a beta, but we were surprised to see that identification. Surprised and very excited. He never showed up on that trip so we assumed the program had made an error. But we were still hopeful. “I can't quite remember what they look like.” my sister said. Since we were pulled over to the side of the road, I handed her the bird book to look it up. The bird was not listed in the index. He was not in the finches, where I guessed he could have been. We were confused. “Why is the lapis Lazuli not in the bird book ?” we knew he existed. We had seen one before. Over June we continued to visit that area, always hunting for this bird, along with common yellowthroats and goldfinches. Meanwhile, I searched several references for a picture. Finally, I googled it on my phone, “Huh?” My voice request brought up multiple pictures of rocks and stones. A flash of understanding turned into a theory. We had been saying the wrong term. A lapis lazuli is a gemstone, not a bird. What we were looking for was a lazuli bunting. I found the picture in my standard bird book. On our next jaunt we saw the real thing. Saw him, heard him. Got photos of him. It was good. Take a gander on my birding gallery for some of the pictures. The moral of the story? Don’t give up. And don’t assume you know what you’re looking for or at. A name can be misleading. Other sightings in King County this month: sparrows, finches, herons, hawks, killdeer, mallards, mergansers, kingfishers, juncos, swallows, red wing blackbirds, cedar waxwings, and scrub jays. Check out my bird gallery for pics! I’m posting this February blog in the second week of March. I can’t really say I have an excuse except I’m just getting it done now. The birds partied and played throughout February and I enjoyed watching them. It snowed, a perfect snow for a working person. The flakes began on Saturday, ended on Sunday, and disappeared after a heavy rain on a holiday Monday. I’m still working at home, but I was awed at how well that worked out for folks who have to commute. Beside the pure white of snow it was a blue month bird wise. We saw blue herons, western scrub jays, stellar jays, and kingfishers – all prominent in blue. But we also saw robins, starlings, Canada geese, mallards, ring neck ducks (rare here for King County, Washington), song and house and white crowned sparrows, wrens, eagles, hawks, kestrels, house and gold finches, crows, seagulls, and juncos and towees. It was a busy month indeed. As I mentioned last month, there have been outbreaks of salmonella amongst birds here in King county. I’ve tried to be responsible – before putting out food I’ve been cleaning all the feeders. I also didn’t fill all the feeders every day. But my birds still return, looking for insects and seeds and anything they can forage. On our trips to parks and bird hotspots we didn’t see much of birds gathering – this isn’t a season for migration it would seem. Of course, birds can flock together anyway. Robins are quite social, as are sparrows and finches. We keep hoping for Canada geese babies – this is a good time of year for them despite the cold. We also traveled up to an annual heronry in the county but it was empty in the second week of February. Perhaps in March it will be populated? I’ll let you know. Check out my birding gallery for some fun snow pictures among others. And read about Katies adventures of walking with a bird watcher. Katies talesMy name is Katie. I am a Chihuahua skipperke mix, happy and excitable, easily scared, and one of my favorite hobbies is to bark! Another is related loosely to Pamela and mama’s birdwatching. I love to hang my head out of the car window and feel the wind in my ears. I’d dangle my whole self out if I could! But I must be buckled in safely, my people say. Pamela is just my mothers kid sister, but she acts like she is the boss of me. Sigh. She can pick me up with 1 hand so I guess she has a point. Anyway, I love ridin’ in the car. While the folks are looking for eagles and other birds I am monitoring the road. Maggie likes to bark at bicyclist and I join her but then I go a step further. Pedestrians, cars breezing by, even a set of silhouettes that line one of our favorite drives. The people get a kick out of the last of my passions. But this set is of wolves, howling to the sky. Who could resist such a noble group? I also love strolling through the neighborhood. While Maggie and I sniff and roll in our favorite smells Pamela or Mama, whoever is walking us, will bird watch. “Look, there’s a flock of tiny birds. Tiny, tiny.” Pamela will gawk up into the trees. She doesn’t realize the good smells are down below. I don’t deign to notice birds, except sometimes crows. They are admirable creatures, almost my size, sleek and they can run. I like to run to keep up with them, but Pamela fusses. She say’s I’ll scare the birds. How pathetic. If anything scary comes along I’m right behind my person, guarding her back while she takes care of what’s up front. But if my neighbor friends come along I greet them happily, 2 feet or 4 paws. I have little to add to the birdwatching saga, but I get to participate. And I love it. Out and about... Adventures while ridin' and walking with the dogs. “Going ridin’ in the car to the park” I carol, bringing Katie to an exuberant dance. I’m excited about bird watching. Katie and Maggie want to stroll along, sniffing, or march smartly around the park. They like to see other dogs and people. They like a little excitement. I enjoy their joy. The drive itself is full of delightful scenery. My sister is the driver and I am the backseat driver and we don’t bicker as much as we could. We’re much too busy looking for and counting birds, slowing to talk to cows and horses, and enjoying the views. Meanwhile, in the back, Katie would love to just dangle out the window, all limbs splayed, with the wind flapping her ears. Lucky for her we belt her into her bed so she can only stick her head outside. She tries to strip her harness and attachments so we have to keep an eye out on our Houdini. Maggie doesn’t like riding, but she likes being with her people so she puts up with it. What are some key factors in bird watching? Weather, traffic, time of day. The blinding sun can be as severe as fog and rain. Still, we like to do a lot of our jaunts in the mid morning. Not as many people are about at 9am as there are around noon. Fewer people are better for quiet stillness and less nervous birds. Both the dogs love to bark at the passing vehicles, including bicycles. But my sister and I like a quiet road, where we can go slow and look up into the trees, out into the meadows and fields, and over bodies of water for birds. Mid morning is a good compromise. This month of January, 2021 we went to Flaming Geyser State Park 4 times, Boeing Ponds, and a few local hot spots. . Boeing Ponds is near the King County Regional Animal Shelter, where we found 2 of our kitties. Right behind the building is Green River Conservation, a wonderful place to view eagles, hawks, and lots of water birds. But dogs aren’t allowed so we pull up beside the animal shelter and watch from a safe distance. There is a heronry that is active in February and March, but it wasn’t up and running yet. We saw no blue herons on our visit. The pond is actually about 2 blocks away, and can be a treasure trove of birds. But on our visit we only saw a single robin. Maybe next time will be better. The trips to Flaming Geyser were more interesting. Blue Herons, pigeons, mallards, mergansers, king fishers, starlings, crows, seagulls, Canada geese, Swans, eagles, hawks, kestrels, and a thrush all caught our eyes. We also heard the “weider” of red wing blackbirds, though none of them showed themselves. Maybe in February. There’s always something to look forward to in birding. Before we left our yard, and all day as I worked, birds partied hardy around our feeders. I didn’t see a single hummingbird or our towee, but goldfinches, house finches, house and white crown sparrows, scrub jays, black cap and chestnut back chickadees as well as starlings and crows came to visit. Sometimes we count more birds in the yard than on a 2 hour drive to and from the park. I cleaned all my feeders this month – something I try to do quarterly. There were articles about sick birds at King County feeders and I didn’t want to have any trouble in my yard. Luckily there was none. If you have feeders set up you may want to clean them well before spring. That sums up January birding in 2021 for me. Come back to hear about February at the end of the month. Maggie’s story. It starts with a car ride, which I don’t really like. Sometimes I enjoy looking out the window and feeling the breeze in my ears, but I’m not crazy about it like Katie is. What I like is the destination. What’s so great about walking with people who are birdwatching? The smells. There are trees, grass, posts, and pavement that carry all sorts of inviting aromas. Sometimes people will be grilling for picnics and that adds to my excitement. But they never invite me to join them and Pamela won’t let me invite myself. I’m not excited to meet other doggies, though some can be okay. What I love are the people who say things like “Hello, cutie!” Now that’s fun. But I don’t linger for chitchat. There are prey to be pursued… not the silly birds that delight Pamela. I don’t like a fast running river but I annoy Pamela by trying to drink out of puddles. Pamela will say “We have water in the car – fresh water, Maggie!” She worries about my safety. It’s exasperating. We also disagree about picture taking. There is no time, silly woman. I’m on a hot trail. Don’t slow me down! Still, we both enjoy our walks in the park, and we’re both usually ready to go back to the car after 20 – 30 minutes. No long, extensive treks for us city creatures! On the way home Pamela and mom will make a big deal bout the farm animals. I’m not too impressed, myself. I’ll curl up and take a light doze. Perhaps the best thing about the end of the year is the coming new year. It gives new perspectives and hope for a future. Here in King County, Washington, this fresh opportunity is greatly looked forward to. Bird watching has been a bright spot this year for me, and I look forward to a new year.
In December, 2020, darkness and rain clouds hung around. But in my yard gold finches, house finches, house sparrows, white crowned sparrows, juncos, a towee, chickadees, starlings, scrub jays and a pair of humming birds provided beauty in their appearances and songs. Even a few crows joined in. I put out varieties of food and suet and just watched from my window as I drearily worked. The work became a little less cumbersome as I smiled at my entertainment outside. My weekly trips birding took me to Flaming Geyser state park several times, where I saw swans, kingfishers and blue herons. I take turns walking Katie and Maggie, my dogs, on these jaunts. They enjoy sniffing and rolling and meeting other dogs and people. They don’t enjoy stopping for photos. Katie will sometimes notice bigger birds such as crows and robins. She doesn’t chase them, but she will try to race them if they hop around. It’s clear that her goal is to get ahead of them, and they don’t appear alarmed when she does this so I don’t fuss. Maggie ignores the birds. They’re not worthy of her notice. I also like to take the girls riding in a semi rural area of my city of Auburn, WA. On one of these drives we saw a common egret, which is not a common sighting for me. I believe I have only seen 1 egret before. We also saw 5 bald eagles in 1 trip! Two were in one tree, probably mates. The others were solitary. It is not uncommon to see 5 hawks in a ride, but it is unusual to see so many eagles. While I tried to take a picture of a kestrel, of which I have never gotten a good photo, a second kestrel flew in and settled beside him. Mates? They looked like it. I put 2 pictures on my gallery board. Take a glance. Mallards, mergansers, pintails, wigeons, northern shovelers and a wood duck were all massed on swamps and marshes. Canada Geese mixed with them as well as swans. I also saw killdeer and plovers on my birding expeditions. Pigeons and Seagulls graced the light poles and bridges of the city. This month I counted over 20 species of bird. Over 10 of those were in my own yard. Only one was uncommon for me. Their liveliness and cuteness cheered a dull, grey month. Now we face a new year. May it be bright and beautiful for you, and I hope you see a lot of birds. November in King County, WA is wet and chilly. This year was no exception. Lots of ducks, geese, some raptor birds and swans all joined us here. Blue herons were plentiful, and we saw a few kingfishers. Fog fills the mornings after the sun has begun to rise. We don’t get to go birding in the evenings anymore – it’s too dark.
But my yard was host to all day celebrations as hummers, sparrow (house and white crowned), chickadees (black capped and chestnut backed), scrub jays, juncos, finches (house and American), a towee and more feasted and partied. My party was inside, as I watched through the window. I had to work, after all. Someone has to pay for the food, suet and sugar water. I had companions inside – my cats chirped excitedly as the birds landed in our overgrown (over 6-foot-tall) Camilla bush. They aren’t allowed out. I haven’t taught them to walk on a leash and I refuse to be irresponsible and let them out to get hit by a car or attacked or lost. My dogs walk in the park with me on weekends. Maggie enjoys following smells. One day she might find what she’s sniffing for. Whose to say? Katie likes attention – from other park visitors and their dogs. Neither like to stop and look at birds or worse, take photos. But they’re the best dog companions I could ever hope for. Maggie is good on a trail. Katie likes crossing the meadows. They provide more opportunities than I can imagine for bird watching, though that is not their goal. Darkness in the morning. Darkness in the evening. In King County, WA, October has a lot of dark moments. But in the day, cheer can still fly on the wings of birds. Chickadees, gold finches, sparrows, juncos, and a pair of hummingbirds filled my yard with delight this month.
Out and about, I saw blue herons, hawks, kingfishers, kestrels, and ducks. More and more ducks and geese seem to be arriving. So far, I’ve seen mallards, wigeons, and northern shovelers. Will mergansers, wood ducks, cinnamon and green teals follow soon? I hope so! I love duck season. For one thing, as I’ve mentioned, many waterbirds are great to photograph. The weather is getting colder, even here in the northwest. It’s green all year around, but the leaves are still dropping and so hawks are more visible in the trees. Birding in the northwest is awesome. My cats, Annie and Gracie think so, too! Everyday the chickadees, sparrows, and scrub jay showed up in my yard. Sometimes juncos and hummingbirds also appeared. But more happened bird-wise this month, finally.
Rain came. Cool air and humidity and even downpours seemed to help the fires surrounding us. The conditions cleared the smoky sky and air. Overhead, almost every day, I heard honk-honks of Canada Geese and ducks returning. Fall has occurred in King County and it is good, especially for the birds. Dry fields developed puddles. Swamps grew almost moist after practically drying up. Rivers expanded to almost normal. Blue heron is showing a little more frequently. So far, the only ducks I have seen were mallards, with their bright greens and little purple windows in their sides. I like mallards. I also enjoy seeing large fields populated by Canada Geese. September was delightful – I saw an eagle, though I didn’t get a good picture. The starlings and swallows dwindled. I only saw barn swallows this month, not unusual here. My favorite sighting was a surprise. We were on our weekly birding venture with the dogs. We had been to the park and the girls were happily poking their heads out the back windows as we returned home. On top of a light pole was an unusual sight. Each of us thought that a stuffed bird had been placed up there. But he was live – a turkey vulture with his wings extended. He was beautiful. So, September in King County, Washington resumed some normalcy birding wise. I’m back to being a very happy birder. |
AuthorI love birdwatching. It's relaxing and fun. Even though I've been birding for over 10 years I classify myself as an amateur birder. I plan to write a blog each month about my experiences. Hope you enjoy them! Categories |
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