Hello, tweetsters. Steven and I spent a very pleasant morning on the
north shore of Lake Quinault, at the Lake Quinault Resort Motel, which we
recommend. We walked down to the motel's small beach and spent
approximately an hour watching and listening to the wildlife in the
vicinity. The birds we saw included Common Loon (I'm guessing Common, in
winter plumage), Spotted Towhee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Bald Eagle (white
tail, prob. adult), Western Grebe, Hooded Merganser, Mallard, American
Crow, and, the highlight of that session, Red-breasted Sapsucker--a life
bird! We're pretty sure about the ID--didn't see black on the breast, but
we did see the red head/nape, chest, and yellow belly. Steven also saw
the white in the wings that weren't shown in the NG field guide for
similar species. Any comments/guidance on that ID would be appreciated.
Wildlife heard that morning included Kingfisher, Red-breasted Nuthatch,
Douglas Squirrel, Varied Thrush, and Common Raven. Later that afternoon,
after reading in a promotional brochure that Trumpeter Swans frequently
winter at the lake, we spotted several large white dots near the lake
shore where we couldn't get a better look. I did start scanning the
opposite shore with the scope when we got back to our motel, though, and
saw five adult swans! I will guess Trumpeter Swan, since that's what the
brochure said; even with the scope, I couldn't distinguish between
Trumpeter and Tundra Swan (of course, I haven't learned to tell them apart
yet, anyway, at any distance). I _hope_ they weren't Mute Swans, but I
couldn't rule them out from what I saw. Earlier in the afternoon, while
we were walking part of the lake shore trail near Lake Quinault Lodge, we
had a delightful close encounter with a small flock of Chestnut-backed
Chickadees; we also saw a Steller's Jay.
The weather was fair Friday night when we arrived at the lake and fair
most of Saturday, with a very slow accumulation of clouds during the day.
A very pleasant place to stay and bird, with unexpectedly fine weather.
--Anna & Steven Coles, Seattle, WA acoles at u.washington.edu