Conference Birding - Seattle, mid-May 2016 (1 Viewer)

The jetlag between Hong Kong and the US West Coast is an utterly relentless stone cold bitch. The upside is that in May dawn breaks at 5am - which means I only had to wait between two and three hours staring at a black ceiling before heading out to go birding.

The first day I arrived I had no sleep on the flight and was literally too tired to think. Having missed the bus to get to the boat to look for Orcas out of Anacortes by not more than a couple of minutes, I barely had energy for a short walk around the grounds of the excellent Cedarbrook Lodge which sits on a small flooded woodland on the edge of a lake just to the west of SeaTac International Airport. I picked up a black-hooded “Oregon” Dark-eyed Junco singing from the top of a fir tree, an American Robin and a friendly family party of Bewick’s Wrens, lurking in the undergrowth, a pair of Bushtits, grey-brown passerines with a jizz part-way between long-tailed Tits and Penduline Tits, several American Crows and a very inquisitive Song Sparrow.

Next morning I peered through the curtains just as it was getting light to find a Rabbit cropping the grass on the lawn outside. Over the next couple of hours the overcast and drizzly dawn gradually revealed a nice range of woodland birds. The first of these were a pair of Steller’s Jays, deep indigo blue with azure wings and a short triangular crest, busily collecting dry moss and rootlets from the base of a tree – doubtless to line their nest. Other birds nearby included a Spotted Towhee calling from the top of a fir, male and female Brown-headed Cowbirds, both Dark-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, a pair of Warbling Vireos, two Orange-crowned Warblers, and best of all a stunning yellow Wilson’s Warbler with smart black crown spot. A lovely maleBlack-headed Grosbeak singing from an exposed perched provided a fine finale before diving into the conference for the day.

Cheers
Mike

The following morning I ventured further afield , but spent a great deal more time getting to Seahurst Park, a steep wooded valley leading down to the sea, than I did birding it. Apart from the good numbers of American Robins there was not much to see in the early morning gloom on the way down, but a few Glaucous-winged Gulls on the beach and five Surf Scoters bobbing offshore cheered me up, while the pair of Harbour Porpoises was a welcome mammal tick. I had a few more birds on the way up, headed by a white-rumped Northern Flicker that zipped across the road and a briefly seen Golden-crowned Kinglet, looking for all the world, with its strong white supercilium and flaming crown like an American cousin of Europe’s Firecrest. Other birds here included a couple of Barn Swallows hunting low over a garden lawn and a pair of House Finches.

An evening visit to the home of our host from Seattle Airport overlooking the Sound provided an opportunity for a stroll around the marsh and woods behind Normandy Park Cove. There were not may birds on the sea, but an adult Bald Eagle flying by was my first of the trip. Looking inland as the wind dropped and the sun came out my attention was immediately caught by five or six Red-winged Blackbirds that were vigorously proclaiming their ownership of the little marsh by the car park. Responding well to my pishing, they put on a wonderful display, clinging onto the bulrushes and drooping their wings to display the fine red shoulder patches to best effect. A couple of Cedar Waxwings disappeared into a bramble patch, but were kind enough to perch later on a treetop snag with another pair.

Other birds in the woods, which I accessed by the boardwalk trails that told a great story of ecological restoration by the Normandy Park Community Club included a cracking male Wilson’s Warbler, a female Black-throated Grey Warbler which initially confused me with its pale throat, Spotted Towhee, Black-capped Chickadee, a showy American Robin and the usual furtive scuttlings of a couple of Song Sparrows. As I emerged Violet Green and Barn Swallows were hunting over the lawn, while higher up a pair of Red-tailed Hawks were doing their best to ignore the attentions of a couple of American Crows and a fine pair of American Goldfinches posed nicely at the edge of the reed bed. Just before heading back for dinner I found an immature Glaucous-winged Gull and a family of Mallards on a pool tinged a wonderful mix of greens by the reflections of the spring-leafed trees. Other birds included brief views of a female hummingbird sp., and a Bald Eagle that flew directly overhead carrying a fish – and disappeared behind a roof at exactly the moment I pressed the shutter of my camera.

Cheers
Mike

Nice shot of the robin, Mike. A truly underappreciated bird.

And if I had to guess, I think your flycatcher is a Hammond's. I see a greyish head and greenish body. But the all dark bill gives me pause.

Many thanks Jeff - I also had the same response on the ID forum - and its a lifer!

On the day before I was due to fly back to Hong Kong I had a few hours to spare and went up to Edmonds – about 30 minutes north of downtown Seattle by train – to see if I could fluke an Orca from the shore and to explore the potential of the marsh and the sea here, which looked pretty good from eBird. There were no Orcas, but in the two hours I did have I still added significantly to the trip list.

The train journey was a cultural experience in itself. King Station is a beautiful 100-year-old building with white marble-clad walls and floors, elegant chandeliers and a wonderful old clock. Unfortunately the booking process was as antiquated as the building. When I bought my ticket I was not allocated a seat on the train, but was told to go and queue for a seat number near the departure gate. I spent 40-odd minutes in a queue that filled most of the hall to receive a piece of pink card with a hand-written seat and coach number. This was utterly astonishing in the most technologically developed country in the world and in a city that hosts companies such as Microsoft and Boeing! Entering the carriage was like a step back into the seventies, with beige leather seats like old-style business class https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-BV836_FCLASS_P_20120719183331.jpg - complete with an in-flight magazine. My pink card was slotted into a special stub holder above my seat, and then, to my delight, as were about to pull out the bearded and buttoned station-master looked up and down the train and called out “All aboard”.

The upside of taking the train was that it ran along the pebble-beached edge of Puget Sound pretty much all the way to Edmonds, and I picked up 20-odd Great Blue Herons and even better a couple of light grey Harbour Seals, including one perched on a tiny sandbar, tail and head curled in the air like a podgy, but nonetheless elegant grey banana. Five or six small waders were most likely, but untickably, Spotted Sandpipers. American Crows and Glaucous-winged Gulls were the only other birds on show.

I eventually arrived at Edmonds – helpfully right next to the ferry port and spent an enjoyable couple of hours not seeing any Orcas, but adding some good birds. The water immediately around the ferry terminal held several Pigeon Guillemots – all black with a large white oval on the wing – a couple of Brandt’s Cormrants, four or five distant Pacific Divers, several Surf Scoters and a handsome drake Harlequin asleep on a floating log about 60m offshore. There were Glaucous-winged Gulls and Canada Geese, including one with a solitary gosling on the beach and I was pleased to pick up a very approachable Belted Kingfisher and a magnificent Bald Eagle that dropped onto a post just offshore to eat what I think was a crab, closely attended by an irritating pair of American Crows. Further out on the water, right on the far limit of identifiability with my bins, were a couple of single-figure groups of stocky Rhinoceros Auklets. I was also pleased to add a bull California Fur Seal that cruised by just as the ferry to Victoria was leaving.

Wandering over to the marsh on the other side of the railway tracks I was delighted to pish in a Marsh Wren which sang lustily from a bulrush and watch an immature Great Blue Heron stalking one of the pools. Other birds included four or five Mallards and a couple of Gadwalls, a Purple Martin and half-a-dozen Tree Swallow patrolling the skies, and a juvenile sparrow sp. and a fine pair of Common Yellowthroat in the scrub. Other species included Song and White-crowned Sparrows, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbirds and a couple of Bushtits. On the train back to Seattle I was surprised to see a single Kildeer in the marshalling yards just to the north of the city centre.

Cheers
Mike

Wow. I've never seen a kingfisher that close in the US.

And by my experience, South Korea is way further technologically advanced than the US. As is much of Western Europe.

Jeff hopkins said:

Wow. I've never seen a kingfisher that close in the US.

Click to expand...

The zoom power of my trusty Canon SX50 brought up close and personal Jeff, but even so it can have been more than 25 metres away.

Cheers
Mike

Some great shots there Mike! Like Jeff...I've also found Belted Kingfisher not very confiding, however the Canon did the Bald Eagle proud, but for me....the epaulettes on the Red-winged Blackbird stole the show!

Cheers

Many thanks Ken.

The blackbird is probably my favourite shot too.

Cheers
Mike