My husband and I had a great day on Whidbey Island on Tuesday. We failed to
spot the King Eider at the appointed place but managed four new species
anyway. I love living in a new area where lifers can come so easily with
each new trip and season! Hope the next folks have better luck with the
Eider. We were at the west end of Hastie Lake Road for over 40 minutes
around 2:00 pm. looking, to no avail. Although I can't say I was
confident that I knew what I was looking for, having never seen one and
not knowing what plumage it's in.

YELLOW-BILLED LOON

The only bird we saw that might be of note to others of you is a
Yellow-billed Loon about 30 meters off the beach east of the ferry
terminal at Admiralty Inlet. The bird was in a subdued brownish plumage
but the yellow bill and loon-ness were unmistakable.

OTHER LIFERS FOR ME

We managed only 16 varieties of ducks on the island, but I still felt
good since both Oldsquaw and Black Scoter were new ticks for me. A male
Harlequin Duck on the NW shore of Penn Cove had a yellow band on his left
leg, but we couldn't see numbers. Would that be reportable to anyone?

The other lifer, in the interest of completeness, was the extremely
cooperative short eared owl at Crockett Lake (as well as an additional
two on Fir Island). We had great views as it cruised up and down the
south shore of the lake, putting the Dunlin up into their amazing
undulations, and then perching on a post directly in front of us,
offering itself to our scope. We weren't quick enough with the camera, I'm
afraid, but we can't complain.

FIR ISLAND

The Trumpeter Swans on Fir Island were out in force - none behind the
dike at Jensen's access where we had expected to find them, they were all
over the fields on the north side of the island instead. We had hoped to
see Brandt and Snow Geese too, but they eluded us. We checked at BayView
State Park and along the Whidbey west and north coasts, where possible,
for Brandt. Any suggestions? Or do we just need to wait a few weeks?

We were surprised to see eight Black-crowned Night Herons roosting in a
tree near the road along a small slough between a pair of houses. There
were two in juvenile plumage and six adults. This was at 4:30 pm.

All in all a good day out of the city!


Becca Knox
Seattle, Washington
rknox at scn.org