Subject: Washington BirdBox 7/3/98 through 7/16/98
Date: Jul 17 02:29:15 1998
From: Jane Hadley - jhadle at halcyon.com


Transcribed by Jane Hadley
jhadle at halcyon.com
phone: (206) 328-7605

The Washington BirdBox is a voice mailbox sponsored by the
Washington Ornithological Society. To leave a message about a
notable sighting, or to listen to the messages from the last seven
days, call (425) 454-2662 and follow the prompts. Hal
Opperman, system administrator (halop at accessone.com;
personal phone 425-635-0503).

Please contact me (Jane Hadley) by phone or e-mail if you have
any corrections, comments or questions about this
transcription.

Wednesday, July 15, 2:05 p.m. Hello, this is Zen (sp?) Freeman
for Wednesday the 15th of July. Today at the Montlake Fill
there was one MacGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS, two
NORTHERN ORIOLES, two WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, two
PEREGRINE FALCONS, two RING-NECKED PHEASANTS,
several peeps, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, one GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, AND five LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS.
That's all. Thanks.

Monday, July 13, 11:08 p.m. Jan Bragg 206-524-3460. There
was a CHIPPING SPARROW in Northeast Seattle this evening,
Monday, July 13th. It was feeding on the lawn at the Sandpoint
Country Club.

Monday, July 13, 12:07 a.m. Hi, this is Stephen Mlodinow.
Today Greg Toffic, Dennis Duffy and I went out to look for the
TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRDS east of Soap Lake. We followed
Dave Beaudette's excellent instructions, looked over the marsh,
and at quite a distance saw about five male TRI-COLORED
BLACKBIRDS and a similar number of female TRI-COLORED
BLACKBIRDS. Heading back towards Soap Lake, about a
quarter mile before hitting the highway, across from a
farmhouse, we found a mixed flock of blackbirds. These birds
were actually feeding in the sage brush and other bushes. In this
location, there were about three more male TRI-COLORED
BLACKBIRDS and about seven more females, with excellent
comparisons with the RED-WINGS available as well. Later in
the day, at the south end of Jameson Lake in Douglas County,
we had a SOLITARY SANDPAPER, and near the town of St.
Andrews, heading west on St. Andrews Road W., in a marshy
area, we had a PECTORAL SANDPIPER. That's it. Good luck
and good birding.

Sunday, July 12, 10:46 a.m. Hi, it's Paul Leemon(?) calling
again. Just a quick follow up on the BAR-TAILED GODWIT.
We saw it again this morning, Sunday. This was on the west
side of the Tokeland Peninsula. Today, this morning, the large
flock of large shorebirds there at dawn at high tide was closer in
and so you could actually see them pretty darn well. The
BAR-TAILED was with them, along with about 250
WHIMBREL, 45 MARBLED GODWITS, and about 32
LONG-BILLED CURLEWS. By the way, the BAR-TAILED
GODWIT, a lot of it's already basic plumage or it never molted.
It has a tan wash on the neck down to the extreme upper
breast. Most of the underparts are all whitish; there's no buff on
the underparts. So look for a bird like that. There are, however,
a couple of faded MARBLED GODWITS in the flock that have
very little buff below, so don't be fooled by them. But anyway
the BAR-TAILED was still there this morning. It was high tide
with the tide starting to go out and the exposing flats right there
on the southwest side of Tokeland was where all the birds were
feeding. You could see them pretty well. Bye bye.

Sunday, July 12, 5:14 a.m. Hi, this is Steve Mlodinow. I've
heard basically a second- or third-hand report that ELEGANT
TERNS have appeared in the Ocean Shores area over the last
couple days. Don't have any more details, but the source is a
trustworthy one. That's it. Good luck and good birding.

Saturday, July 11, 7:31 p.m. Hi, this is Stephen Mlodinow
reporting for the WOS field trip to Whidbey Island today. The
YELLOW-BILLED LOON was still present in the Swantown
area. Today it was off of the end of Hastie Lake Road. Other
highlights included three SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS at
Crockett Lake, and actually that's about it, so good luck and
good birding.

Saturday, July 11, 7:14 p.m. Hi, my name is Paul Leemon. I've
been in Washington off and on the last 10 days or so leading a
Wings Tour. Today, Saturday the 11th, we took a Terry Wahl
trip out of Westport and then afterwards birded the Tokeland
area for couple hours at high tide on the north end of Willapa
Bay. And on the west side of Tokeland, on the big sand spit that
sticks down toward the mouth of the bay west of town near the
entrance channel to the little marsh there, we had a large flock
of large shorebirds, which included a BAR-TAILED GODWIT,
also there 250 WHIMBREL, 25 MARBLED GODWITS, 20 to
25 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS at that same place. You need a
very good powerful scope to see it from the side of the beach
next to this little crescent-shaped road there on the west side of
Tokeland across the big channel to that spit at high tide.
The Terry Wahl trip today was pleasant. Highlights were two
LAYSAN ALBATROSSES, 180 BLACK-FOOTED
ALBATROSSES, lots of FULMARS, PINK-FOOTS, and
SOOTYs, couple SABINE's GULLS, 300 FORK-TAILED
STORM-PETRELS, and 15 LEACH'S STORM-PETRELS.
Those were pretty much the highlights of the Westport trip
today.
And lastly, a couple days ago we were at Swantown looking for
the YELLOW-BILLED LOON that Steve Mlodinow had found,
which we could not find, but we did have an OLDSQUAW
there in the ocean off Swantown. That's it. Goodbye.

Friday, July 10, 6:17 p.m. Hello, this is Dave Beaudette
206-365-2083. On July 9, went for a bird hike up the
Rattlesnake Ledge Trail south of North Bend in King County. At
the bottom of the trail along Rattlesnake Lake was a singling
BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER. The trail then enters a
woodland of small-diameter Douglas Firs. Singing at the edge of
this was a DUSKY FLYCATCHER, and calling further back in
the woods was a HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER. About
one-half to two-thirds of a mile up the trail were two singing
HERMIT WARBLERS. Further up the trail were three singing
TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. To get there: from I-90, take Exit
32, then south on 436th Ave. S.E. and the Cedar Falls Road
S.E. for a total of about 2.8 miles. The parking lot for the trail
will be on your right as you enter Rattlesnake Lake Park.
Thanks to Roarke Donnelly from the University of Washington
for the tip about the presence of the HERMIT WARBLERS
there. Catch you later. Bye.

Friday July 10, 11:16 a.m. This is Carl Haynie, and this report is
for Friday, July 10th in eastern Grant County. The
TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRD colony described by others is
probably best observed in the morning. I had some Questar
views of about five or six adult male TRI-COLORED
BLACKBIRDS and it's probably important to have a
high-powered scope of some kind there. This was between 9:30
and 10:30 in the morning on Friday.

Friday, July 10, 10:23 a.m. This is Charles Easterbrook,
206-362-2914. On July 2nd at Magnuson Park, I observed a
MYIARCHUS FLYCATCHER. I was unable to identify exactly
what it was, but it certainly had the rusty tail and the size,
coloration that would indicate very logically an
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. This was along the concrete
road that runs past the waterfront going north towards the
NOAA complex, and where the road makes a long sweep to the
left, the habitat on the left is brushy and with some gooseberry
bushes. The bird was flycatching in those bushes and grass.
Thank you.

Monday July 6, 8:29 p.m. Yes, hello. This is Virginia Arnon. My
telephone number is 206-230-9429. I am calling to report the
CROSSBILLS at the bird (tape skip) --theater, which is attached
to the back of my house. Thank you.

Monday, July 6, 12:43 a.m. Hello, this is Dave Beaudette at
206-365-2083. This report is for Grant County in Washington.
In the early afternoon of July 5th, I located a fairly large
breeding colony of TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRDS in the Crab
Creek wetland along the north side of State Route 28. To find
these birds, just south of the town of Soap Lake, head east on
State Route 28 to just east of the 73 Milepost. Take Road 22
N.E. on the north side of the highway. This is the road to
Marlin. Go about 1.9 miles on this road to a large pullout on the
north side of the highway. At the point where you should pull
off, I've placed a piece of orange flagging on a mullin(?) plant,
which is a tall weed. Walk to the north end of the pullout, and at
the corner of the barbed-wire fence, I have placed two orange
flags. The colony of tri-colors can be seen from here looking
down the steep hill. They're nesting in a large cattail marsh and
can be viewed from the orange flags area. Be cautious about
going down the hillside, as I observed two rattlesnakes here.
DeLorme Atlas, page 69, a little below coordinates A-8. Good
luck and be careful.

Sunday, July 5, 11:13 p.m. Hi, this is Scott Hoskins,
206-789-8990. On Friday, July 3rd at the Montlake Fill, there
were 10 LEAST SANDPIPERS, one SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPER, and one GREATER SCAUP. On today July 5th,
Sunday, at the Montlake Fill, the GREATER SCAUP was still
there, along with six LEAST SANDPIPERS. And at the Kent
Ponds today, there was four LESSER YELLOWLEGS, one
GREATER YELLOWLEGS and four LEAST SANDPIPERS
That's it. Goodbye, good birding.

Sunday, July 5, 8:25 p.m. Hi, this is Stephen Mlodinow. Today
Greg Toffic and Chuck Siegel(?) and I went out to Whidbey
Island. At Cultus Bay, first thing in the morning, among 500
RING-BILLED GULLS and a similar number of
GLAUCOUS-WINGS and CALIFORNIAS, we had a
POMARINE JAEGER. Also present at this site were about
2,500 RHINO AUKLETS. At Crockett Lake, there was a
GREATER SCAUP, about a dozen SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPERS, a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, and three
BUFFLEHEAD. At Swantown, in the strait off of Swantown,
there was a basic plumaged YELLOW-BILLED LOON, possibly
the same bird present there last summer at the same time.
Dell(?) Covered Sewage Treatment Ponds, there was a
SHOVELER with five young. At the Jennison(?) Access to the
Skagit Wildlife Management Area, there were three
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. These were present in the
plowed field immediately adjacent to the parking lot at high tide.
At Dugualla Bay on Whidbey Island, there were six AMERICAN
WIGEON. At the Stanwood Sewage Ponds, three COMMON
GOLDEN EYE and a BUFFLEHEAD. The Everett waterfront
had a PURPLE MARTIN, and on private property on Whidbey
Island, there was a CACKLING GOOSE, GREEN-WINGED
TEAL with five young, and an OLDSQUAW. That's it. Good
luck and good birding.

Sunday, July 5, 5:26 p.m. Hello, this is Craig Kemper,
206-789-9255, reporting for Friday July 3rd and Saturday July
4th. Friday July 3rd at the Everett Waterfront, in the morning,
southwest of the marine boat launch, I had five COMMON
TERN over the jetty and to the northeast in the log rafting
holding area amongst the pilings, four PURPLE MARTINS. At
Crockett Lake on Whidbey Island Friday afternoon I observed
two SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, one RED-NECKED
PHALAROPE, and one DOWTICHER species amongst a lot of
WESTERN SANDPIPER. And at Penn Cove, three GREATER
YELLOWLEGS. On Saturday July 4th, Gary Bletsch and I
birded Hardy Burn, east in Skagit County, where we observed
one NORTHERN GOSHAWK, three PINE GROSBEAK, two
RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, and a female and a male
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER. Thank you.

Friday, July 3, 11:28 p.m. Hi, this is Stephen Mlodinow. Today
Casey Bietschel(?) and I birded a very wet, windy Whidbey
Island and parts of Snohomish County. Crockett Lake had a
COMMON GOLDEN EYE, about 700 or so WESTERN
SANDPIPERS and five SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. At
the Stanwood Sewage Ponds, there remained three COMMON
GOLDEN EYE. There was also a BUFFLEHEAD there. At the
flooded field on 28th, heading north from Norman Road,
northwest of Sylvana, there was a number of WESTERN
SANDPIPERS and a SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. At the
Port of Everett, there was the BLUE-SNOW cross that's been
there for a year-plus, as well as a BLACK BRANT, hanging out
with the numerous CANADA GEESE. Also, there was a
COMMON TERN, but no ARCTIC TERN seen around Jetty
Island, and two PURPLE MARTINS were seen in a nest hole
north of the bridge that goes from the Port of Everett to Legion
Golf Course. Also on private property at Whidbey Island, there
was a CACKLING CANADA GOOSE and an OLDSQUAW.
That's it. Good luck and good birding.

[Messages last checked 1:30 a.m., Friday, July 17, 1998]
--
Jane Hadley
jhadle at halcyon.com
Seattle, WA