Hammond’s Flycatcher and Bell’s Vireo, Massachusetts, November 2016

That’s certainly a nice pair of rarities for New England – let alone in the same state and on the same day! 

While I was away on 2 weeks of business trips in early November there were several really nice rarities seen in New England.  These included Gray Kingbird and Bell’s Vireo on Cape Cod, and a White Wagtail on the NH coast.  Although each one stuck around for a while, one by one they were gone before I got back home.  The Wagtail was by far the biggest miss for me since it would have been a lifer.  Very disappointing.  At least I included a long weekend of birding in WA while I was away and found some great birds out west.

But just after I returned home there was a report of another Bell’s Vireo in MA, this one in Plymouth.  This bird had apparently been banded in the area weeks earlier, and was amazingly still sticking around.  There had been several Bell’s Vireos found in MA the last several years, but I was never able to chase after any of them.  So along with the frustration of missing the one on the Cape earlier in the month, I really wanted to go after this one.  So with a bit of effort I was able to clear my calendar in a couple days to give the Vireo a try. 

And just as I was finalizing my plans for the Vireo chase there was a report of an Empidonax spotted near Boston in Medford.  The next day that bird was confirmed to be a Hammond’s Flycatcher, only the 4^th record for MA.  I’ve had no luck chasing after western Empids anywhere in New England, so this was another one that I really wanted.  But I wasn’t sure if I could squeeze them both in in the same day, and I likely only had that 1 day available.  The Flycatcher was rarer than the Vireo, so the former was the higher priority target.  But I didn’t want to give up on the Vireo either.  That just meant I had to try for them both that day, and hope that whichever one I tried for first cooperated quickly so I could move on to the other bird early enough in the day while it would hopefully still be active.  Since the Flycatcher was the rarer target, that would be my first stop, and then I would drive down to Plymouth for the Vireo.

As I made my final preparations I researched the eBird reports and the listserve for detailed directions.  Unfortunately the Flycatcher was reported from 5 discrete locations in Middlesex Fells – that is if you believed the eBird reports.  Luckily a couple birders responded to my request for details giving me explicit micro-directions to the one spot where the bird was actually being seen.  (That level of detail used to be included in the listserve posts, but so few people post to the listserve anymore...)  At least the directions to the Vireo were pretty good, so I was optimistic I could easily find the proper location for that bird.  I was ready to go.

I arrived in Medford at 8, after an hour and 15 minute drive in ugly rush hour traffic.  The Flycatcher was not seen until 9 AM the previous day so I didn’t think I needed to be there too early.  After a 5-minute walk I could see the small wetlands up ahead where the bird was being seen.  And before I even got to the spot I could hear the bird giving its “pip” call in the distance.  Three birders were already there with binocs pointed over to the woods.  I quickly picked out the bird as it foraged for insects in the low tree branches and underbrush.  Success!

I’ve now seen Hammond’s Flycatcher in KS and MA as a rarity, along with most all of the states in its regular range (see my statebird map below).

The bird had just become active 5 minutes earlier so my timing was almost perfect.  And the bird continued to call and flick its wings and tail almost non-stop during the 5 minutes that I studied the bird.  Luckily it was most cooperative because I needed to get to Plymouth to try for the Bell’s Vireo.  I hated to “bird and run”, but within a few minutes I was back on the road heading south.

The Bell’s Vireo had been apparently pretty reliably seen or heard in thick brush at the edge of a cranberry bog in the Manomet portion of Plymouth.  At least the reports made it sound like it was reliable – there had been no negative reports but that doesn’t always mean that everyone that looked for it had been successful.  After a long 2 hour drive in more rush hour traffic, I finally got to Manomet and quickly found the proper bog.  With perfect directions I was standing at the edge of the brush at the northwest corner of the bog in hopes of finding the bird.  And within a minute I heard the Bell’s Vireo calling back in the brush, giving its “chee chee chee” call that was reminiscent of a Titmouse.  Sure was nice to have found it so quickly, but now I wanted to see the bird.  So I stared back into the brush where the call had come from fully expecting to see my target, but saw no movement at all.  I continued to peer into the thick brush, from multiple angles, but still with no luck.

Two hours later I was still watching and listening for the elusive Bell’s Vireo.  Although I could have just checked it off based on the calling bird, I wanted to see it as well.  While I was waiting, 4 different times I spotted a most cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler, which at times foraged just a few feet from me.  And each time I spotted the greenish-yellow bird I tried unsuccessfully to make it into the Vireo.  I also found a late Blackpoll Warbler, but had no Vireo calls or sightings.

It was nearing lunchtime and I was thinking about calling it quits when another birder arrived.  As he walked toward me he called ahead and said he had the Vireo.  But it turned out to be just the Orange-crown.  But then a couple minutes later he said he had the Vireo again – and this time it was indeed the Bell’s Vireo.  We got reasonably good views of the bird as it moved through the brush to the east, and even once saw it near the top of 20-foot junipers.  His timing was impeccable.  Five minutes later I re-found the bird at its “regular” area at the northwest corner of the bog.  Wonder where it had been for the last 2 hours.

MA was my 3^rd New England state for Bell’s Vireo, along with NH and ME.  Plus I’ve seen this species in most of the states in its regular range in the Midwest and Southwest.

 
I now have 413 species in MA, my second highest statelist.  And the Hammond’s Flycatcher was #436 for me anywhere in the 6 New England states.  After missing several New England potential ticks while I was away, it was good to get back to adding birds to my New England statelists.

18 Statebirds in Washington, “Reportable Plus 15”, November 2016 – Part 2 of 2

I was really excited when a business trip to Seattle was scheduled in November 2016 giving me another opportunity to bird in the Pacific Northwest.  My WA statelist was 251 which was 3 over the old ABA reportable threshold, defined as half of the state total.  But with a little on-line research, I found that the WA statelist now stands at 511 – a whopping 15 higher than the total when the ABA threshold was calculated back in 2011.  Dividing 511 by 2, the present threshold would be 255.5.  WA is a great example of why I’ve revised my goal to be at least 15 over the old ABA threshold in each state, or “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.  In fact, maybe Reportable Plus 15 may not be enough to keep me over threshold for long in WA.  In any case, I wanted to add at least 12 to my WA statelist to get to 15 over the ABA threshold.

Now comes the planning.  Although I had a pretty good WA list already, I expected I would have realistic possibilities for new statebirds throughout the state.  I was thinking of adding at least a couple vacation days to my trip which would allow me to get to most any portion of WA except for the far eastern end.  But now I needed to decide if I should I go east into central WA for inland targets, stay in the Cascades for mountain targets, or head to the coast especially for waterbirds and the like?  I compiled a list of targets for all these areas, and came up with pretty significant lists of possibilities in each region.  Then I set up a Needs Alert in eBird and found that not only were most of my targets being seen, but several pretty extreme rarities were being seen in Neah Bay, which is at the northwest tip of the Olympic peninsula.  The reliable Neah Bay rarities included Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Dickcissel, Ruff, numerous Palm Warblers, and as many as 6 Tropical Kingbirds.  With some more research I found that Neah Bay is quite notorious for vagrants in October and early November.  So even if these rarities weren’t still around in 3 weeks when I got to WA, others might take their place.  Plus there were several more regular targets being seen in the area as well, especially on seawatches. 

The last key factor was that I had planned to take a summer trip one year to eastern OR to work on my statelist there.  On that trip I had also planned to add a day or two in eastern WA to fill gaps in my WA list.  My targets on that eastern WA trip included several of my central WA targets of this November trip, as well as many of my targets in the Cascades.  And of course few if any of my coastal targets would be possible in eastern WA.  This was enough to help me make my decision – I would take the coastal route on this trip, especially hoping for some nice WA rarities. 

With a couple tweaks just a day before my trip started, my planned itinerary was to start on the afternoon of Day 1 pursuing two stakeout shorebirds in the Seattle area, then bird the last couple hours of the afternoon at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.  On Day 2 I would spend the entire day in Neah Bay trying to chase after all those landbird rarities and to do an extended seawatch.  Birding Day 3 would start in southwest WA in Westport for a stakeout Bar-tailed Godwit and nearby Snowy Plover, and then near Ridgefield NWR for Red-shouldered Hawk and Sandhill Crane.  Finally, I had a late morning flight out of Seattle on Day 4, which would give me a couple early morning hours near Seattle to fill any last remaining gaps in my list. 

With that itinerary I estimated that I might be able to add 8 birds to my WA list.  Though it would be great to add 12 to reach my Reportable Plus 15 goal.

This post summarizes Days 3 and 4 of my WA statebirding trip.  The previous post summarized Days 1 and 2, when I ended with 11 new WA statebirds.

Day 3 – Southwestern WA

My plan for Day 3 was to start at the Westport Marina to try for a Bar-tailed Godwit that had been in the area since August.  The Bar-tailed Godwit had been reported mixed in with a large flock of Marbled Godwits in the marina.  Although there were few details on the eBird reports, luckily I was able to connect with a most helpful local birder who gave me great details.  He mentioned that the Godwit was most frequently seen perched on the jetty or a floating dock in the Westport Marina.  However, that was only at high tide.  At lower tides the birds would disperse to feed, and the most recent sightings were of the Godwit feeding at Bottle Beach, more than 3 miles from the marina.  Not only is that a huge area to look for a foraging bird, but the most recent report was 2 weeks earlier.  And the most recent report of the Bar-tailed at the marina was almost a full month ago.  But the local birder suggested it was likely no one had looked for the bird recently, so not to worry about the recent lack of reports.

Needless to say it seemed like my chances of finding the Bar-tailed were higher if I could find it perched with the flock of Marbleds in the marina.  Unfortunately the tides weren’t on my side – high tide was at 5:16 AM, and sunrise wasn’t until 7:07 AM.  So by the time there was enough light to look for the bird there would be sufficient mudflats for the flock to be out feeding.  My best hope was to get there at first light in hopes that the flock was still sleeping in the marina.  Since my hotel in Neah Bay was a 3 ½ hour drive away, that meant yet another white-knuckle pre-dawn drive on rainy, dark, and twisting roads.  I left my hotel at 3:45, and luckily it only rained part of the way on the drive.  Good thing I’m a morning person.

I arrived at the marina just after 7, and began my walk out to the end of Float 21.  My birding contacs said to hope that there were no boats blocking my view across the water.  But the floating dock was full of boats, including 2 very large fishing boats at the end.  To reach the end of the dock I had to very carefully maneuver around ropes that were tying the boats to the dock.  I was able to see around the bow of one of the fishing boats to the rocks to the northeast, but saw no Godwits at all.  Then I got to the stern of that boat and looked to the southeast and spotted the flock of Godwits all sleeping on a distant floating dock.  The good news was that I had an unobstructed view of the flock.  Now I needed to pick out that one Bar-tailed in a tightly packed group of 300 or more Marbleds.

I set up the scope, again avoiding the ropes, and almost instantly spotted a bird that looked like it was paler below that the others – the key field mark at this distance.  I zoomed in to try to get a closer look, but then the dock started rocking back and forth.  Did I say it was a floating dock?  It wasn’t as bad as setting up a scope on the deck of a boat, but almost.  Finally I got a good view and I was able to see the Bar-tailed Godwit standing at the edge of the flock of Marbled Godwits - paler below, and a bit smaller than the others (WA statebird #12).  I got this phone-scoped photo – not bad given the distance and the rocking of the dock.

WA was my 3^rd state for this species – I’ve seen it in MA also as a rarity, as well as in AK as a breeder.

Not a minute after I took that photo a gull that was also perched on the dock walked through the Godwits, waking all the birds, and causing the Bar-tailed to walk to the middle of the flock.  At that point the smaller Bar-tailed completely disappeared from view.  I thought I would just wait for it to walk to the edge again, but then seconds later the entire flock took off, not to return.  Boy was I lucky – if I had arrived just a few minutes later the bird would have either been obscured, or the entire flock would have been gone.  Not to mention if the target bird had roosted anywhere in the flock except the edge closest to me it would likely have been invisible the entire time.

With 12 new WA statebirds that meant I had reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal.  And I still had a lot of birding ahead of me.

I had given myself a couple hours to bird the area looking for the Godwit, so I was nicely well ahead of schedule.  So I turned my attention to what other birds might be in the marina, and quickly spotted a sleeping flock of Aechmophorus grebes.  Clark’s was a remote possibility, so I thought I’d give it a try since these birds were quite close.  With a quick binocular scan I noticed one bird was paler than the others.  Could my luck continue?  I continued to watch this bird until it woke up raising its head.  The face was paler than the couple others nearby, but not pure white.  Then I focused on the bill – it was bright yellow; much paler and brighter than the others.  I worried a bit about the face not being completely white, but when I looked at the field guide I realized the pure white face was for a bird in breeding plumage; the paler but not white face was good for a non-breeding bird.  And the bill fieldmarks were perfect.  It was an unexpected Clark’s Grebe (#13).  That’s was one that would have been a bit more likely if I had taken the inland option on this trip, though even then not very likely.  I’ve now seen Clark’s Grebe in almost all of the states in its regular range.

Next I was on to Grayland Beach State Park to try for Snowy Plovers.  Although that might sound like a promising opportunity, in reality I was quite skeptical about finding this target.  In the several weeks leading up to my trip there had been no reports of this species at all.  It was only when I started doing research into older reports that I found the State Park could be a possible spot for Snowy’s.  The most recent report was more than a month old, and specific locations weren’t provided in most of the eBird reports.  But fresh off a successful search for this species in coastal OR a couple months earlier, I decided to give it a try.  Plus I was ahead of schedule, and now had quite a bit more time than the 2 hours I had originally allotted to search for this species.

I parked at the north end of the State Park, and started my walk south down the beach.  Although signs said it was OK to drive on the beach, I didn’t want to take any chances about getting my rental car stuck in the sand.  Plus I thought I’d find more birds by walking instead of driving.  I targeted the higher portion of the beach complete with bits of shells and driftwood, which is the typical habitat for Snowy’s.  Along the way I encountered a nice mixed flock of Canada, Cackling, and Snow Geese, along with a few Dunlin, foraging in a freshwater pond at the upper edge of the sand.  And there were a few mixed flocks of Sanderlings and Dunlins down at the surf.  But no Plovers. 

As I kept walking south down the beach I had to cross a pretty deep stream that was cutting its way through the beach to the ocean.  I only got a little wet.  But then I came to a larger one that seemed a bit too deep to cross.  I couldn’t realistically go any farther south (unless I changed footwear), so I set up my scope to look farther down the drier part of the beach.  Once again I didn’t see any Plovers.  Then I scanned toward the surf and I could see a small group of Sanderlings feeding in the distance near the mouth of this stream.  Then I noticed two birds a bit farther from the flock, though still close to the surf.  I zoomed in and they looked like they could be Plovers.  I walked down to the beach and got closer views of 2 Snowy Plovers foraging in the wet sand (#14).  I was surprised to see them so close to the surf.  I got this phone-scoped picture of one of the birds which was banded.

I checked by GPS and I was 1.3 miles south of the parking lot.  Still ahead of schedule I turned my scope toward the ocean to do a bit of a seawatch.  But after a few minutes of seeing almost nothing passing by, I called it quits and headed back.  Luckily the weather had improved dramatically so it was a nice walk down and back.

My next planned stops were about a 2 ½ hour drive south and east to try for Sandhill Cranes and Red-shouldered Hawks.  (I’m never proud of my carbon footprint on these trips.)  Both birds had been reported regularly at Ridgefield NWR, though the Cranes were reported in only small numbers.  However much larger numbers of Cranes were being reported a short distance to the north at Woodland Bottoms.  Plus there was one report of a Red-shoulder there as well.  So since I was ahead of schedule, and Woodland Bottoms was on the way to Ridgefield NWR, I figured I would stop there first.

While on the road of course I always keep my eyes open for birds that might be along the way.  At one point I stopped for a large flock of Cackling Geese in a wet pasture.  And at that same location I spotted a raptor perched up ahead on a telephone wire.  It turned out to be just a Red-tail not its smaller cousin.  But the prize along the way was in the small town of Raymond.  As I slowed for a red light a small Accipter flew right in front of the car – it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk (#15).  Although this is quite a common species nationwide, it has been an elusive one for me in several states.

 
I eventually rolled into Woodland Bottoms in the early afternoon hoping to find Sandhill Cranes.  This is a flood plain of the Columbia River, with many acres of farm fields.  The suggested strategy to find the Cranes is to drive the roads in the area in search of which field the birds happen to be feeding in at that time.  As I drove into the northern part of the area I quickly spotted numerous raptors feeding low over the hayfields.  And then I noticed an occasional Great Blue Heron out in the fields which initially grabbed my attention, but I couldn’t turn them into Cranes.  I then climbed the road up to the top of the dike and headed north in the general area where the one recent Red-shouldered Hawk had been spotted.  I pulled over to scan the fields from this higher vantage point and as I rolled down my window I heard a bugling Sandhill Crane (#16).  I found a flock of 95 in the field a short distance away feeding with a flock of about 200 Ring-billed Gulls.  WA was my 36^th state for this species, including several states in the east where it is expanding its range.

 

I continued to search for Red-Shoulders in the trees lining the river but with no success.  Though I did end up with a nice raptor tally otherwise – 6 Red-tails, 5 Harriers, 4 Ketrels, and 1 Rough-leg.  Plus I spotted a flock of 9 Great Egrets out in one of the pastures.  There must have been shallow drainage ditches out there that attracted all these waders.

Next I headed a short distance to the south to try for Red-shouldered Hawk at what I hoped to be their more reliable location.  Initially this species wasn’t even on my target list, as the maps in the field guides indicated that the western race of this species didn’t get any farther north than OR.  But they showed up in a number of my eBird Needs Alerts, almost always at Ridgefield NWR.  And although they were reported at multiple eBird locations, the “epicenter” of these sightings appeared to be the River S area and the auto tour route there.  Though since most sightings were of just 1 bird (occasionally 2 or 3), this certainly wouldn’t be a slam dunk.  But with lots of time on my hands I figured I would just keep driving the auto tour route until I found one.

The tour route was full of cars, mostly either folks out for a drive in the nice weather or photographers with their long lenses trying to catch a photo of tame waterfowl close to the road.  I on the other hand was scanning the trees in the riparian woodlands nearby for a small perched raptor.  In the first half of the drive I spotted several Red-tails and some hunting Harriers, but no Shoulders.  Then I reached the southwest part of the loop that drove right through a stand of trees which I suspected might increase my chances.  And sure enough I soon spotted a small perched raptor in the distance that turned out to be an immature Red-shouldered Hawk (#17).  A bit farther along I spotted likely the same bird perched in the woods right along the road.  I got this backlit photo holding my phone up to my binocs.

I’ve now seen Red-shouldered Hawk in all of the states in its regular range – both the eastern races and now the western elegans race. 

With some time on my hands I first turned my focus to trying for Swamp Sparrow in the wetlands along the road.  But like my efforts the day before at Neah Bay, again I had no luck.  Though I did have a couple small groups of Sandhill Cranes here along the way.  Then I spent some time studying the numerous Cackling Geese – I love hearing their higher pitched calls.  I got this phone-binoc shot of this most cooperative flock (of the minima race I believe) right along the road.

I still had a couple hours before sunset and decided to take a short walk in the Carty Unit of Ridgefield NWR which the guides mentioned was one of the few locations in WA where you could find White-breasted Nuthatch of the Pacific aculeata race.  Although I already had White-breasted Nuthatch on my WA state list, those are inland birds of the tenuissima race.  There is talk about splitting this one into multiple species someday, so perhaps aculeata might be a separate species worth banking for now. 

I took the short walk from the parking lot over the train tracks to the riparian and oak habitat on the other side to start to look and listen for Nuthatches.  One of the first birds I had there was a calling Red-shouldered Hawk in the distance.  Good thing I didn’t have to worry about Blue Jays imitating their call out here (or do Scrub Jays imitate them as well?).  A slow walk through the oaks yielded numerous Scrub Jays, and a number of Woodpeckers.  And each time I heard tapping I tried to track down the source to see if it might be a Nuthatch – but the best bird I could find was a Red-breasted Sapsucker.  At one point heard a pair of Scrub Jays calling, and a White-breasted Nuthatch joined in.  Not the most satisfying observation but good enough to bank an aculeata White-breasted Nuthatch.  As I drove out of the area toward my hotel another Sharpie flew by – a nice way to finish the day.

I ended up with 6 new WA statebirds on the day – I had thought only the Crane and Red-shoulder would be likely additions so this was much better than I expected.  Another great day of birding!

Day 4 – Greater Seattle in Route to the Airport

With a late morning flight I had a couple hours of early morning birding time available on Day 4.  But since my hotel the night before was a 2 hours to the south of the SEATAC airport (with no traffic!), I would likely need to limit any stops I would make to somewhere in the greater Seattle area.  My original plan was to look for Surfbirds in downtown Seattle.  But I saw this species as a bit of a surprise at Neah Bay, so it was no longer a target.  I had a feeling I was fresh out of species to chase after within my narrow time and geographic window – a victim of my own success perhaps.  But I decided to check the eBird Needs Alert one last time, and found recent reports of a Snowy Egret south of Seattle.  The bird was first found feeding in a flooded field near the town of Orting 3 days ago, and re-found 2 days ago, though there were no reports the previous day.  I had a feeling that might mean the bird had moved on, but since I had no other targets to chase, and the spot was roughly on my route to the airport, it was worth a shot.

The eBird reports gave excellent micro-directions to the location – a flooded field between Orville Rd. and a set of soccer fields just south of Orting.  I arrived at the location about 30 minutes before sunrise hoping the see the bird quickly and then continue to the airport.  After all, despite the low light conditions an all-white wader should be pretty obvious.  But there were no waders in sight.  And worse than that, the flooded field where the Egret had apparently been feeding had pretty well dried out.  I waited a bit longer but still had no target bird.  One report mentioned the bird had flown off to the northeast, so I drove around a bit in that direction, found some drainage ditches and a runoff retention pond that could be suitable habitat, but still no waders of any type.  I then drove a short distance to the south to continue to search the road-side drainage ditches, but came up empty again. 

It was just about time to head off to the airport, and I decided to make one more search at the soccer fields.  As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed a white spot in the field in the distance.  Could it be?  I put it in my binoculars and it was the Snowy Egret (#18).  It must have just flown in.  Not only was this another eBird rarity, but also a review species for the WA rare bird committee.  The bird was most cooperative, and I got these two phone-binoc shots of the bird.

What a way to end the trip!  I even made it to the airport in time despite miserable rush hour traffic.

The Trip by the Numbers

I had a total of 122 species for the trip, including 18 new birds for my WA statebird list.  Needless to say that was way over the 8 additions I hoped for when planning the trip.  That gives me 269 in WA, which is 21 over the old ABA threshold.  WA is now my 39th state where I’ve reached my Reportable Plus 15 goal – I have 6 others that are over the threshold though not 15 over.  Of the 18 birds I added only 4 are possible on that future eastern WA summer trip, meaning there is still a lot of statebird potential in eastern WA.  Then again, maybe I don’t need to take an eastern WA trip now that I’m now safely Reportable Plus 15 in WA.

Although ordinarily the highlights of my statebirding trips are related to reaching new levels in my statelists, for this trip the key highlights were all the rarities I was able to see, some of which I found on my own.  These included 12 birds for which details were required in eBird –

• Pink-footed Shearwater – found on my own
• Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel – found on my own
• Snowy Egret – stakeout, WA review species
• Bar-tailed Godwit – stakeout
• Red Knot - stakeout
• Prairie Falcon – found on my own
• Tropical Kingbird - stakeout
• Palm Warbler - stakeout
• Prothonotary Warbler – WA review species found on my own, 4^th WA state record
• Common Yellowthroat – found on my own
• Harris’s Sparrow – stakeout (but not new for my WA list)
• Orchard Oriole – WA review species, 1 found on my own and 1 stakeout

 A truly remarkable trip!

18 Statebirds in Washington, “Reportable Plus 15”, November 2016 – Part 1 of 2

I was really excited when a business trip to Seattle was scheduled in November 2016 giving me another opportunity to bird in the Pacific Northwest.  My WA statelist was 251 which was 3 over the old ABA reportable threshold, defined as half of the state total.  But with a little on-line research, I found that the WA statelist now stands at 511 – a whopping 15 higher than the total when the ABA threshold was calculated back in 2011.  And dividing 511 by 2, the present threshold would be 255.5.  WA is a great example of why I’ve revised my goal to be at least 15 over the old ABA threshold in each state, or “Reportable Plus 15” as I call it.  In fact, maybe Reportable Plus 15 may not be enough to keep me over threshold for long in WA.  In any case, I wanted to add at least 12 to my WA statelist to get to 15 over the ABA threshold.

Now comes the planning.  Although I had a pretty good WA list already, I expected I would have realistic possibilities for new statebirds in most any part of the state.  I was thinking of adding at least a couple vacation days to my trip which would allow me to get to most any portion of WA except for the far eastern end.  But now I needed to decide if I should I go east into central WA for inland targets, stay in the Cascades for mountain targets, or head to the coast especially for waterbirds and the like?  I compiled a list of targets for all these areas, and came up with pretty significant lists of possibilities in each region.  Then I set up a Needs Alert in eBird and found that not only were most of my targets being seen, but several pretty extreme rarities were being seen in Neah Bay, which is at the northwest tip of the Olympic peninsula.  The reliable Neah Bay rarities included Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Dickcissel, Ruff, numerous Palm Warblers, and as many as 6 Tropical Kingbirds.  With some more research I found that Neah Bay is quite notorious for vagrants in October and early November.  So even if these rarities weren’t still around in 3 weeks when I got to WA, others might take their place.  Plus there were several more regular targets being seen in the area as well, especially on seawatches.  The downside was that Neah Bay was at least a 4-hour drive from Seattle, trading a lot of potential birding time for driving time. 

Next I turned my sights to the closer Cascades.  My interest was piqued by a post on the listserve about some seemingly reliable Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers northeast of Cle Elum.  And several other mountain targets were being reported near Mount Ranier.  But calls to the local forestry service and Mount Ranier National Park indicated that the roads would at least be very muddy if not snow-covered.  Not the best for a small rental sedan. 

Then I researched the drier central part of the state, and again came up with some possible targets.  But these were more spreadout, and many seemed to be less reliable.

The last key factor was that I had planned to take a summer trip one year to eastern OR to work on my statelist there.  On that trip I had also planned to add a day or two in eastern WA to fill gaps in my WA list.  My targets on that eastern WA trip included several of my central WA targets of this November trip, as well as many of my targets in the Cascades.  And of course few if any of my coastal targets would be possible in eastern WA. 

I had made up my mind – I would head to the coast on this trip, focusing not only on all those rarities in Neah Bay, but also potential targets elsewhere on the coast, and others in route to and from the coast not likely to be seen on a future eastern WA summer trip.  As the trip neared, unfortunately the Grosbeak, Dickcissel, and Ruff were no longer being reported in Neah Bay.  But just as I expected, new rarities were being found there, like Orchard Oriole, Clay-colored Sparrow, Gnatcatcher, and a state-first Field Sparrow.  But then most of these were not being reported in the last couple days before my trip.  Unphased, I tried to remain optimistic that a coastal itinerary including Neah Bay would be my best choice.

With a couple tweaks just a day before my trip started, my planned itinerary was to start on the afternoon of Day 1 pursuing two stakeout shorebirds in the Seattle area, then bird the last couple hours of the afternoon at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.  On Day 2 I would spend the entire day in Neah Bay trying to chase after all those landbird rarities and to do an extended seawatch.  Birding Day 3 would start in southwest WA in Westport for a stakeout Bar-tailed Godwit and nearby Snowy Plover, and then near Ridgefield NWR for Red-shouldered Hawk and Sandhill Crane.  Finally, I had a late morning flight out of Seattle on Day 4, which would give me a couple early morning hours near Seattle to fill any last remaining gaps in my list. 

With that itinerary I estimated that I might be able to add 8 birds to my WA list.  Though it would be great to add 12 to reach my Reportable Plus 15 goal.

This post summarizes my Day 1 and Day 2 sightings.  The next post will summarize my birding on Days 3 and 4.

Day 1 – Morning – Surfbird Chase in Seattle

My first target bird was Surfbird reported on the waterfront only 15 minutes from my meetings in downtown Seattle.  These birds had been reported in October at Alki Beach and two nearby locations in West Seattle, though not in the last couple weeks.  Although my meetings started at 8, which was roughly sunrise, I figured I could see these birds at first light, and still have enough time to make it back for the meetings.  I specifically targeted the Don Armeni Boat Ramp where 36 Surfbirds along with 35 Black Turnstones had been reported 2 weeks ago - this was a very specific location and seemed to have the critical number of “rockpipers” to suggest they would still be there 2 weeks later when my trip began.  I arrived at the park at about 7 AM, and although it was still dark, I counted on being able to see the birds at the boat ramp under the lights of the park.  But to no avail.  I also walked the entire rocky waterfront along the park and didn’t see a single shorebird.  Could the birds instead be at either of the other nearby locations where they had been reported recently?  Unfortunately I didn’t have time to check these other spots, and I reluctantly left at 7:30 having missed my first target.  As I drove back into downtown (in some pretty ugly traffic), I wasn’t too disappointed since I optimistically assumed I would be able to find them in the early morning the day I was to fly out on Day 4.

Day 1 – Afternoon – Seattle and Hurricane Ridge

My meetings were done right on schedule at Noon, meaning I had time to both make a quick stop for a stakeout Red Knot nearby, and still have time to spend a couple hours birding Hurricane Ridge.  The Knot had been reported seemingly reliably for some time in Yukon Harbor, though with no specific location given.  Each time it was seen with Killdeer, and most recently with some Dunlin.  So although I was optimistic that the bird would be in the harbor that day, I worried a bit about how long it might take for me to find the bird.  After all I was on a tight schedule, made even tighter when my map app sent me on a very inefficient route that cost me 15 to 20 minutes of extra travel time.  But the good news was that the tide was pretty high so the mudflats would be limited, hopefully concentrating the shorebirds.

When I finally neared the harbor I noticed a small creek entering the harbor to the south with a bit of a beach, so I targeted this spot as my first stop.  But a quick scan revealed just a couple gulls.  I then scanned the rocky shoreline to the north and noticed another larger creek coming into the harbor, with a nice exposed delta.  I thought this spot looked like a great location for Killdeer to forage, maybe to include a wayward Knot.  A couple minutes later I pulled up to that beach and instantly noticed a larger pale bird standing on the mud right next to the road.  Seconds later I got great binocular views of the Red Knot (new WA statebird #1), along with 5 Killdeer.  A nice “write-in” in eBird.  As shown in my statebird map below, WA was my 18^th coastal state where I’ve seen Red Knot, along with sightings as a rare migrant in 3 inland states.

Next I was off to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park with the principal target being Sooty Grouse.  This area also had occasional reports of a few of my targets from the Cascades, the most likely being Clark’s Nutcracker.  So although I would have just 2 hours of daylight, I was hopeful I would turn up something there.  And then when I paid the surprising $25 fee to drive up Hurricane Ridge, I sure hoped I would be successful in my searches.

The weather near the bottom was quite nice – mid 50s, partly cloudy, and light breezes.  But the forecast was for late day showers, and as I climbed the ridge I could see really dark clouds in the distance.  When I got to the top the skies were threatening, and I could see it was snowing in the distance.  Temps had dropped into the low 40s.  And most importantly – it was really windy.  Winds were so strong I literally could not walk into the wind.  Now I know why it is called Hurricane Ridge!  Luckily I found a few trails that were on the lee side of the ridge and started my searches.  Unfortunately I found few birds at all – just some Golden-crowned Kinglets, a couple Varied Thrushes, and a few “Oregon” Juncos.  At one point I looked down in the valley still on the lee side of the ridge and spotted a migrant Bald Eagle passing by below me.  A nice and somewhat surprising find.  Then on the next scan I spotted a large brown Falcon.  My first thought was that it was a Prairie Falcon, but that would be a rarity this far west.  So I watched it intently trying to turn it into something else.  It was too small (and too brown) to be a somewhat more likely Gyrfalcon.  And it lacked the strong moustache stripe of the Peregrine.  Unfortunately since the bird was flying below me I did not have the opportunity to see the tell-tale dark armpit of a Prairie.  I watched the bird pass by for about 30 seconds before it flew out of sight behind another ridge.  And despite my efforts to try to turn it into a more likely species, I concluded it was a Prairie Falcon (#2), rare for this part of the state and one of my targets but only if I had made the trip into central WA.  That fills a gap in my statebird map, though I still need this species in several western states in its regular range.

Day 2 – Neah Bay

The forecast for Neah Bay was for rain in the morning and showers in the afternoon – that would certainly make for challenging birding conditions, but it was WA in November afterall.  I left my hotel in Port Angeles at about 5 AM, and started the 90-minute trek to Neah Bay in some heavy rain and fog.  And along with the very dark and twisting road it made for quite the white-knuckle drive.  My plan was to arrive in Neah Bay pre-dawn to try for a Pygmy Owl that had been reported about a week earlier.  Luckily by the time I rolled into the area the rain had stopped, and with no wind I had good conditions to listen for the Owl.  But despite several stops I couldn’t scare one up.  I quit owling about 30 minutes before sunrise and decided to make a quick tour of this small town to get a better handle on all the different locations where the rarities had been reported.  It was nice to finally see the town after staring at the GoogleMaps images for so long.

I decided to start my daylight birding at the far eastern edge of town on a road called Ba’adah Village Loop Road.  The previous weekend a Clay-colored Sparrow had been seen there several times in the brushy edges of a big excavation.  So armed with these excellent directions, I made this my first stop arriving about 15 minutes before sunrise.  I walked up to the excavation and spotted a couple sparrows feeding in the dirt, but they were just Golden-crowns.  I followed them over to the base of a small blackberry thicket but didn’t see any other sparrows.  Then I noticed a bright orangey-yellow spot in the brush.  I put my binoculars on it and got a partial view of a bright yellow bird – could it be a Prothonotary Warbler?  Then it popped into the open not 20 feet from me – it was indeed a gorgeous male Prothonotary!  (#3)  I knew that was quite a rarity, so while I watched the bird I called a WA birder who had given me advice to alert him.  It turns out that this was only the 4^th record for WA.  He spread the word, putting it on the listserve and calling a few other birders who were in the area.  My statebird map shows pretty good coverage of this species in its regular range in the southeast and south-central states, and now WA as an extreme rarity.

After about 30 seconds I lost the warbler in the tangles even though it was a pretty small area.  I noticed a bird fly out of the brush to the west, so I headed in that direction and found more good brushy habitat, but didn’t re-find the warbler.  I headed back to the original spot and spotted a larger paler yellow bird fly overhead.  Even though it was a quick view I knew it was an Oriole.  I watched it land in a tree on the other side of the excavation and spotted the Orchard Oriole (#4) – not nearly as rare as the Prothonotary but still a great rarity.  WA was my second west coast state for this species as a rarity.

 

At one point the bird landed very low in a bush where I got this shot with my phone.  Needless to say not even a record shot, but indicative of how cooperative the bird was.

And although 2 Orchard Orioles had been reported in Neah Bay a week ago, they were from an area more than a half mile away, and there were no reports since then.  So I felt like I had found a new bird. 

I spent some more time around the excavation which was now quite birdy, finding a number of Golden-crowned Sparrows and Juncos, and seeing the Oriole a couple more times.  I then headed east around the loop road, especially focused on the brushy areas hoping for more rarities.  Plus a tropical Kingbird had been seen in the area so I watched the open perches.  I ran into a number of smaller passerines like Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Bushtits, Pacific Wrens, and both Kinglets, but no more rarities. 

Soon I was back near the excavation and again the area was hopping – loads of sparrows, a couple Spotted Towhees, and some Sooty Fox Sparrows.  Then I spotted the Oriole again – or should I say another Oriole?  This one looked brighter yellow below than the first one.  And then I spotted another flash of yellow as a bird flew by me landing on top of the same bush where the Oriole was perched - a Tropical Kingbird (#5).  WA was my 6^th state for this species – 4 of which as a rarity.

So in a little more than an hour I had found one extreme rarity (the Prothonotary), found 1 (or maybe 2) other rarities (the Orioles), and re-found another rarity (the Kingbird).  Amazing!

I then walked a short distance to the north where more brush lined a rock wall at the water’s edge.  There were a number of birds calling in the brush and I picked out a Yellowthroat (another eBird write-in) along with several sparrows.  I walked to the top of the rocks, and spotted a couple warblers flitting about.  Hoping to pick put a Palm Warbler, I tracked them down and spotted one Audubon’s and one Myrtle Warbler.  As I put one in my binoculars I noticed a couple birds soaring low over the water in the background – they were Fulmars (#6).  WA was only my 6^th state for Fulmar.

I changed my focus to the water and it was alive with Fulmars.  I wasn’t planning to do a seawatch here, instead planning to look from the jetty later in the day.  But since there were so many birds in view, I decided to give it a try.  After heading back to get my scope and umbrella (it was raining again), I was back looking out over the ocean.  A quick scan revealed dozens if not a hundred Fulmars soaring back and forth.  And there were several flocks of alcids, mostly likely Common Murres, flying west in the distance.  Then I started to focus on the Fulmars to see if I could pick out anything else.  I was especially hoping for Pink-footed Shearwaters which had been reported several times recently.  I was able to pick out a few Sooty Shearwaters mixed in which seemed to fly a little more buoyantly than the Fulmars.  And a couple of times I picked out light phase Fulmars which really stood out against the dark sea and dark sky. 

And then I spotted a small pale bird fluttering low over the water.  It was a Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (#7), a rarity reported only a couple of times from Neah Bay recently.  I’ve only seen this species once before – on my first trip to Alaska in 1987.  I hate to think that was nearly 30 years ago!  It took me a while to realize it, but that meant that the Storm-Petrel was new for my Lower 48 list - #726.

It was really raining now, but at least the wind was at my back so I wasn’t looking into the rain.  I continued scanning through the many Fulmars and spotted a bird which was generally dark but with a pale body.  This one had potential…  It was paler brown above than the Fulmars, and did indeed have a pale body, and lighter underwings, and again had the more buoyant shearwater flight.  It was a Pink-footed Shearwater – another eBird rarity (#8).  I’ve only seen this species once before – while on a pelagic trip off CA.

And then not a minute later I noticed 3 small pale shorebirds flying low over the water – Red Phalaropes (#9).  Another species reported from only a few recent Neah Bay seawatches.  WA was my 12^th state for this species – a nice mix of coastal states, a few inland states where it was a rarity, plus a breeder in AK.

That gave me 4 targets from the seawatch, all within just 30 minutes.  And although all 4 had been seen during recent Neah Bay seawatches, only the Fulmar was regular.  Although I really wanted to continue the seawatch, I thought it was best to keep with my original plan of landbirding in the morning and doing a more extensive seawatch in the afternoon from the jetty.  After all, by far the greatest numbers of seabirds had been reported from the jetty. 

It was now about 10:00, and I decided to head toward the waterfront east of the Warmhouse restaurant where several rarities had been reported the last couple weeks.  I had just started birding this area, not seeing much of anything in the way of passerines, and trying unsuccessfully to find a Surfbird in with a flock of Black Turnstones.  Just then 3 cars of birders pulled up, and one birder asked if I was the one who had seen the Prothonotary.  I gave them directions to the spot, and also asked if they had found any rarities yet that morning.  They had started at Hobuck Beach but had struck out on the flock (!) of Palm Warblers that had been reported there seemingly reliably – one less spot for me to head to I guess.  Seconds later they were off to try for the Prothonotary.  Although I had already birded that area, I thought it would be worthwhile to join them, not so much to re-find the Prothonotary, but instead in hopes that all those eyes would find more rarities.

Minutes later we were back at Ba’adah Village Loop Road fanning out to look for the Warbler.  Despite lots of eyes no one found the Warbler.  Though the Orchard Oriole appeared at least a couple of times once again giving good looks.  We were now birding the brush along the rocks along the shore and one birder mentioned he had a flock of Surfbirds down below at the waterline.  A few seconds later after clamoring up the rocks I was looking at a flock of 8 Surfbirds down below (#10) – not a rarity but still not regular at Neah Bay (there had only been 1 sighting of this species there this Fall).  That meant I wouldn’t have to try for Surfbirds near Seattle the morning I was to fly out – giving me flexibility to search for other targets that might be around.  I’ve now seen Surfbird in each west coast state, along with ME as an amazing rarity a few years back.

Not having found any new rarities in the area, I wished the birders the best in their Warbler chase, and decided to head into town to bird some of the other spots where rarities had been reported.  First I headed to the vicinity of the Butler Motel where Swamp Sparrows had been reported, but with no luck.  Then I walked the streets of “downtown” Neah Bay looking for good brushy habitat where rarities might hide out.  In one vacant lot I found a large flock of Zonotrichia sparrows - principally Golden-crowns with a few White-crowns, but no Harris’s that had been reported in the area.  Though I did find 1 if not 2 Tropical Kingbirds.  After striking out at a couple more stops I headed down to the marshes of the Wa’atch River Valley in another search for recently reported Swamp Sparrows.  Although the habitat looked great, I couldn’t get any to respond to taped calls (they are normally very tape responsive).

It was now lunchtime, and I had been invited to the 70th birthday party for Nancy Butler, the owner of the Butler Motel.  Ordinarily I would have passed on the invitation and continued birding, but I felt like it would be nice to be part of Nancy’s celebration.  After all, it was the Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Dickcissel coming to her feeders that initiated my interest in coming out to bird Neah Bay in the first place.  While we were waiting for the party to begin, a couple of the birders who were with me looking for the Prothonotary arrived with smiles on their faces.  They had re-found the warbler, getting some great pictures.  I guess that meant the heat was off for the WA rare bird committee to accept my visual-only account of this rarity.  Here is a phone shot of the camera display of the picture taken by Brad Waggoner.

Nancy wanted to share her birthday celebration with her birds, and had made a cake out of suet cakes for them.  This is a shot of her taking out the cake, with her famous feeders nearby.

After a quick stop at the party, and a tasty sandwich which was much better than the lunch of power bars I had planned otherwise, I was off to the jetty for my long-awaited seawatch.  Almost every seawatch from the jetty in the last couple weeks had reported high numbers of Fulmars, with occasional Pink-footed Shearwaters, Red Phalaropes and a couple Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and Buller’s Shearwaters.  Of course I had already seen all but the Buller’s in the morning at my impromptu seawatch.  So I had just the Buller’s Shearwater as a possible long-shot target.  It would be a lifer!  And of course I could always find something else.

When I got in place on top of the rocks a quick scan revealed a number of Fulmars passing by, though not as many as during my morning seawatch.  I settled in and started my scans, spotting a couple Pink-footed Shearwaters including one that was pretty close in giving much better views than the one I had in the morning.  And I starting picking out a number of single Red Phalaropes, some of which landed to feed in the floating seaweed, close enough for me to try unsuccessfully to turn them into Red-necked Phalaropes.  An occasional Kittiwake passed by as well – not a rarity but at least unusual for the location.  Over the next 90 minutes I estimated I easily watched 20-30 Fulmars each minute – several were light phase which some day may be a different species.  Since many may have been flying back and forth, I made a conservative estimate of only 5 new birds per minute, or 450 Fulmars.  I also tallied 2 Pink-footed, 12 Red Phalaropes, and 6 Kittiwakes.  I also had a few Murres and several single Marbled Murrelets.  But no Buller’s Shearwaters, though I tried to make each light-phased Fulmar into one.  Overall numbers on a per minute basis were lower than what I had seen in the morning – in hindsight I should have stayed at the morning seawatch longer.  I took this representative phone-scoped shot of a Fulmar passing by in the distance.

Just as I was leaving the jetty a couple birders were arriving to start their seawatch.  I compared notes with them – they had not seen the Prothonotary despite a pretty extensive search.  I asked if they had had any Palm Warblers, the last of the recently reported rarities that I had not yet found, and in fact they had.  They had found one in a mixed flock in town, along with the Harris’s Sparrow.  I got the location from them and was on my way.

Ten minutes later I had parked the car and was walking along the town streets looking for the foraging flock.  Within a couple blocks of their reported location I started to hear some chip notes of Yellow-rumps and soon located the flock.  I counted at least 5 Yellow-rumps of both races, mostly in a tree with bunches of white flowers that were attracting a number of insects.  There were also a large number of Golden-crowns and few White-crowns in the shrubs and on the ground.  This had to be the correct flock, but where was the Palm Warbler?  Just then another warbler popped into the open – with the tell-tale wagging tail it was the target Palm Warbler of the western race (#11).  WA joins CA as my second state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity.

And not a minute later I noticed a flash of yellow in the flowering tree.  It was another Orchard Oriole; very likely a different bird than the one I had in the morning a mile and a half away on the east side of town.  While I was getting good views of the Oriole I heard some commotion from the sparrows, and many of them flew up into the tree next to me.  With a quick glimpse I thought one looked different, and sure enough it was the continuing Harris’s Sparrow.  I didn’t need that one for my WA statelist, but it was nice to re-find the stakeout rarity.  What a great flock of birds!  But it wasn’t over – as I walked back to my car I spotted 2 different Tropical Kingbirds.

Next I headed to the Neah Bay harbor to try to find a Clark’s Grebe that had been reported a couple times recently.  I found at least 200 Western’s, but couldn’t find one of their paler cousins.  And behind me I spotted yet another Tropical Kingbird, getting this phone-scoped photo.

Another stop on the waterfront yielded a nice diverse group of divers, and then I found a flock of Wigeon that included this male Eurasian Wigeon.

It was now pretty late in the day, and I decided to head down the Wa’atch Valley as my last stop to see what I might find.  Although not a rarity, it was fun to watch a flock of about 200 Cackling Geese, with 9 Snow Geese at the edge of the flock.  Plus a Rough-legged Hawk perched on a telephone wire was a nice addition to the day list.  But again I came up empty trying to attract Swamp Sparrows.

I spent the last few minutes of the day watching the feeders right outside my room at the Butler Motel.  Steller’s Jays and Golden-crowned Sparrows dominated the seed feeders, and an Anna’s Hummingbird posed very cooperatively at the hummingbird feeder.  I got this passable photo holding my phone up to my binocs (the 511th species I've photographed).

What a great way to end an amazing day.  I ended up with 83 species, 9 of which were new for my WA statelist.  And 8 were eBird rarities requiring details.  Of course the highlight was finding the Prothonotary Warbler.  What a day!

I now had 11 new birds for my WA statelist, already way over my expected 8 new birds with more than a full day of birding yet ahead of me.  Plus I only needed 1 more to get to Reportable Plus 15.  It was turning out to be a great trip.