BIRDQUEST2004

Sue and I left Seattle on October 29, and took a leisurely drive east to Monroe, WA.

There is a old chimney that is the evening roosting site for up to 20 thousand swifts on any given night.  The old heating chimney (no longer used by humans) is at Frank Wagner Elementary School in downtown Monroe.

A few years back there was some question about the chimney’s safety in the cast of an earthquake.  After a successful campaign the people of Monroe raised enough money to have the chimney made safe for humans and swifts alike.

They have a webcam looking in the top of the chimney and a camera inside.  This is the link to their website:

http://www.monroeswifts.org

We spent an hour in the area hoping to see Vaux’s Swifts hawking for bugs over the river but it was just too late in the season, the swifts had all left and  their were none to be found that day.

On we went down highway 2, through Stevens Pass.  Things started to look familiar but I was sure I’d never been this way.  Sue then reminded me that we’d come from the other direction from Leavenworth, on our way to Vancouver Airport.

We stopped at Deception Falls and had a small stroll around the boardwalk to the falls.  I managed to see a Varied Thrush and Steller’s Jay but the light was bad for photos.

A couple was also viewing the falls so it was a great time for a photo op.

 

 

After a short drive, we arrived in Leavenworth.

We met Dave and Pat as they were just coming out the door, of our hotel.

We checked in, put our gear in the room and off we went in search of a White-headed Woodpecker.  I had been here before without any luck but we headed straight to the Sleeping Lady Resort.    http://www.sleepinglady.com

White-headed Woodpeckers have been found here in small numbers year round.  We stopped at the office and asked for permission to walk the grounds.  The lady at the desk said their was a pair in the area and gave us free rein to walk wherever.

First thing I found was a pair of Ravens, even managed a few close-up images.

Being familiar with the area didn’t help much, same old place, same old results nothing but Junco’s and Chickadee’s.  Not a Woodpecker or Sapsucker in sight.  We decided to wander over to the horse corral, we could see starlings, maybe there was a blackbird in the bunch.

Hearing a strange bird call as I got closer to the corral (Dave and I, can’t really pinpoint the direction of bird calls) it got my attention.  All the birds turned out to be starling’s and we decided it was time to go check out the hatchery a short distance away.

Thanks goodness for the ladies, they both saw the bird first it had flown in behind us and we had great looks at a lovely female White-headed Woodpecker, followed seconds later by a male.  ABA Lifebird #670 – White-headed Woodpecker

Next morning we headed to the intersection of Mission Creek Road and Sand Lake Road.  At the end of Sand lake Road is the entrance to hiking and biking trails in the Okanogan-Wanachee National Forest.  According to the guide this was a good spot to search for Red-Breasted Sapsucker.

We hiked up trail 221, searching for grouse, sapsuckers, pygmy-owls but just enjoying the hike and birding with good friends.   Well we climbed and after a few hours it was apparent that if here was anything to be found in this forest.  They were avoiding us like the plague.   When I say we saw only a few junco’s,  I mean nothing only a few juncos.  I had that sinking feeling this day was going to be a bust.

Arriving back at the car we had a few sips of water and were preparing to leave when again I heard something but my spidy senses were again looking in the wrong direction.  Sue saw it first, in a tree beside the car here was the bird we’d been searching for.   ABA Lifebird #671 – Red-breasted Sapsucker.

The sun was at the birds back which really didn’t show how bright the red is.  It seemed to like this spot but finally move into the sun and I squeezed off one more image in full sun.  Can you see the difference?

It feels so good when you see a bird you’ve been searching for, on any occasion I’d be happy with one but two tough birds in one 24 hour period – priceless.

We headed back to Leavenworth and left Sue and Pat to shop and headed to the Fish Hatchery, there are great trails along the river and you never know what you’ll find.  Dave and I ran into a flock of migrating Western Bluebirds.  They put on quite a show for us.  Allowing me to take one of my best photos to date.

I will be returning to this part of the country again, I missed one of the birds a Northern Pygmy-Owl.  Fairly common but I just couldn’t find one.  Dave went back a few days later an wouldn’t you know it……I think he sent this photo to me, knowing first chance I got I’d be on a plane west.

Maybe next time, I am thinking about going a January pelagic out of Westport.

Ciao for now.

 

 

 

 

Over the next year I really need to work on seeing pelagic species found only out in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Most of the birds I need on the west coast can only be found by going 35+ miles out on the edge of the Continental Shelf.

One of the of the companies that offer trips to the area is Westport Seabird’s.  They offer trips from January to October (November and December ocean is too rough, as I was told).  The ship is the Monte Carlo and information about trips can be found at:

http://www.westportseabirds.com

I was heading out to visit the Adams River for the sockeye salmon run and Sue had always wanted to visit Seattle, so the short 435 km side trip for a one day pelagic, was a no brainer.

I left north Seattle at 3:30 am and drove 250 km to Westport, arriving 15 minutes before final boarding. After the on boat instructions, the Monte Carlo headed out promptly at 6:30am.  As soon as we cleared the harbor we started to see birds.  Mew Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls, Sooty Shearwaters and Common Murre’s were fairly common outside Gray Harbor.  The further out we got the birds seem to become scarcer and most people settled in for the 3 hour trip out to the edge of the shelf.

On the way we passed a area where we found Cassin’s Auklet, most on board had seen this species but it was a new one for me. ABA Life bird #667 – Cassin’s Auklet.

What started out as a slow day really picked up when we got to the edge of the shelf. We encountered a trawler that was hauling in their nets and there had to be at least 2-3,000 birds in it’s wake.  A truly amazing sight.  I should have taken a panorama of the wake behind this ship.  It was tough deciding whether to look through the lens or the binoculars.

As we got closer, it was easy to see that most of the birds were California Gulls and Pink-footed Shearwaters but it didn’t take long for the spotters to pick up a single Flesh-footed Shearwater.  ABA Life bird #668 – Flesh-footed Shearwater.

Not long afterwards I heard the call “Buller’s Shearwater” and after quite a few anxious moments, I finally spotted the bird. ABA Life bird #669 – Buller’s Shearwater.

Through the rest of the day we encountered many species, just a great day on the water.

On my last trip with Westport Seabirds we had only encountered one Sabine’s Gull but on this trip the crew counted a staggering 2400+.

Black-footed Albatross

We encountered only one Fork-tailed Storm Petrel.

Pink-footed Shearwater were everywhere……

A South Polar Skua came by for scraps but unlike the Atlantic they do not come close to the boat often.  We saw 8 of these birds and most of them stayed way out.

We had a few Rhinoceros Auklets, 10+ Pomarine Jaegers, 2 Parasitic Jaegers for sure and I only saw a lone Red-necked Phalarope but in truth you can’t be on both sides of the boat at the same time.

My biggest hope was for a Laysan Albatross, Short-tailed Shearwater or a Thayer’s Gull but it just wasn’t to be, on this day.  Which is a good thing because I’ll get to go on another pelagic out of Westport.

We ran out of time and had to turn around and head for home after a super day but that didn’t mean the end of the birds for that day.  As we got closer to the harbor new trip birds could be see no matter which direction you were looking.

I would like to thank spotters Scott Mills, Ryan Shaw, and Bill Shelmerdine, job well done.

Thanks to Captain Phil Anderson and Chris Anderson, thanks for finding me a spot.

Ciao for now