hello tweets.

i finally got out to look at some birds, for the first time in eight
weeks! i went with marvin cooper, another tweeter, to iona island,
with the hope that we could find the juvenile red-necked stint. we
did not find the stint, but did run into a few birders, most of whom
i had only ever communicated with by email. as a matter of fact, i
am still hoping to get together with barry and his wife so i can pick
their brains for their fiji bird report ...

marvin and i first checked the settling ponds before hiking out to
the end of the jetty at iona island. we saw many hundreds of gulls
on the settling ponds, most of which were mew gulls, although there
were a few california, glaucous-winged and "olympic" gulls mixed in
the group. it is possible that there were a few true western gulls
also, but after my recent trip to san diego, where western gulls
abound, i am not satisfied that there is a "true western gull" to
be found anywhere in the puget sound region. i did notice a tremendous
variation in the black markings on the california gulls, where there
were many black feathers on the wrists of both wings -- obvious when
in flight. we also saw four long-billed dowitchers snoozing, and many
winter-plumged dunlins. by the end of the day, i was convinced that
there were many hundreds, possibly thousands, of dunlin, moving around
the area.

we also saw many ducks on these ponds, including a nice-sized group
of the elegant canvasback located on the pond nearest the jetty parking
lot. there were winter-plumaged ruddy ducks, a few common and hooded
mergansers, and lesser scaup mixed in. however, we did not see the
tufted duck.

we then hiked out to the end of the jetty. along the way, we saw many
winter-plumage common loons (more than 20) and two winter-plumage
red-throated loons -- one of which was quite close to me and to a
common loon, giving good size and plumage color comparisons. we also
saw small groups of western grebes and horned grebes, and a few lone
red-necked grebes, all in winter plumage as well. surf scoters were
abundant, but we also saw at least three white-winged scoters as they
flew by the end of the jetty, following two surf scoters. bald eagles
were present; two adults and one juvenile-of-the-year (white arm pits).
one adult almost managed to grab a surf scoter from the top of the
waves, giving us a thrill as we watched the entire event unfold.
unfortunately, we did not see any alcids.

one snow bunting was busily poking around in the weeds at the end
of the jetty, and fox sparrows popped up between the rocks to peer
curiously at us. the biggest surprise was the varied thrush that was
hopping around on the rocks of the jetty, about 1/4 of the way beyond
the first rest stop. this bird finally stopped long enough to allow
us some good long looks at its gorgeous orange-red plumage. this
bird's feathers were in such immaculate condition that i wonder if
it recently finished its moult?

a final check of the settling ponds near the birder's book gave me
the opportunity to watch the drama unfold when a female harrier and
a peregrine both decided to hunt for groceries at the same time. i
had returned for a final look for the red-necked stint and to find a
thayer's gull (mentioned to us by barry levine) and a herring gull
(mentioned in the birder's book from, i believe, the previous day),
but the raptors had other ideas. i had studied probably 50 gulls
when the entire group of birds popped up into the sky and formed a
swirling, chaotic cloud that hung above the harrier as she glided
easily over the wet earth, while the peregrine pierced this sea
of birds like a sewing machine needle. the entire spectacle was
impressive to watch, even though neither raptor managed to capture
lunch.

on the way back from iona island, we wandered around chuckanut drive
hoping to find the eurasian kestrel, without luck. we did see many
harriers and also watched a short-eared owl start out on its nightly
rounds. i could clearly hear the owl's raspy shrieks, and saw the
odd bat-like wingbeats that provided a sharp contrast to the more
fluid wingbeats of the numerous harriers.

the entire trip was wonderful, the company provided by marvin was fun,
the weather was great and the birds were spectacular, as always. i can't
think of a better way to spend a day than looking at birds.

in total, we saw 57 species between iona island and chuckanut drive.
for those who are interested, our bird list follows;

red-throated loons, 2
common loons, 20+
horned grebe, 15-20
red-necked grebe, 2 or 3
western grebe, 20-30
double-crested cormorant, adults and immature
pelagic cormorant, 1
great blue heron, 30+
trumpeter swans, adults and immatures, 30-40
snow geese, flocks numbering at least 100 total (est)
canada geese
mallard
gadwall
green-winged teal
american wigeon
northern pintail
northern shoveler
canvasback
lesser scaup
white-winged scoter
surf scoter
harlequin duck, 1 first winter male
barrow's goldeneye
bufflehead
red-breasted merganser
hooded merganser
ruddy duck
northern harrier, 20+
bald eagle, 2 adult, 1 juvenile
red-tailed hawk, dozens
peregrine falcon, 1
american coot
killdeer
dunlin, hundreds
long-billed dowitcher, 4-6
bonaparte's gull, 1 winter adult
ring-billed gull
mew gull
california gull
"western gull," 2
glaucous-winged gull
"olympic gull" (glaucous-winged x western), lots
rock dove
short-eared owl, 1
american crow
black-capped chickadee
bushtit
varied thrush, 1
american robin
european starling, ho-hum
spotted towhee
fox sparrow
song sparrow
snow bunting, 1
brewer's blackbird
house finch
english sparrow

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
<><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>