Rob,
Great trip, with lots of good birds. The one that really jumped ot was the CATTLE EGRET.
Where exactly is the Boeing Longacres pond?
Greg Toffic
Everett

>>> "Rob Conway" <robin_birder at hotmail.com> 09/28 11:44 AM >>>
Tweets,


After having no time to bird for months I decided that last Saturday,
September 25, 1999 - I would do nothing but bird, and make it a ?Big Day?
at that. I decided to limit myself to King County and see just what I could
turn up. I had massive luck with the weather and with birds. I plotted my
trip carefully (at least I thought I did), moving west to east and back west
across the county, no more than 30 minutes at a given spot(yeah right) and
no more than 15 minutes drive between spots.

I started birding at 5:30AM and ended at 9:30PM. My route took me from the
West Seattle shoreline, to Foster Links, Boeing Longacres and Fort Dent in
Tukwila, Coulon Park in Renton, Newport Shores in Bellevue, Cougar Mountain
Regional Park/Golf Club at Newcastle, Lake Sammammish State Park in
Issaquah, over to the Snoqualmie Valley for a stop in Carnation, north to
the turf farms near Redmond, and back west to Ballard and Discovery Park ,
and back east to my home in Bellevue for owls.

The really windy conditions of the previous night had calmed to stiff
breezes by the time I got out of the car in West Seattle. I started my list
with, what else, AMERICAN CROW. I quickly added WESTERN GREBE, COMMON LOON,
WESTERN GULL, RING-BILLED GULL and a very accommodating RHINOCEROUS AUKLET.
I had targeted HARLEQUIN DUCK for this spot and eventually found a pair just
around the point from where I started, as well as both SURF and WHITE-WINGED
SCOTERS. I also added ROCK DOVE, AMERICAN ROBIN, HOUSE FINCH AND HOUSE
SPARROW before the drive to Tukwila.

Foster Links and Fort Dent are great for gulls. I was not disappointed. I
had HEERMAN?S before I left the car, and added GLAUCOUS-WINGED, CALIFORNIA!
and MEW in a few minutes. I also had CANADA GOOSE, MALLARD, GREAT BLUE
HERON, COMMON MERGANSER, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK,
NORTHERN FLICKER, and a single lonely BARN SWALLOW. At the Boeing Longacres
pond I added a HUGE surprise CATTLE EGRET (OK, so I saw it there the day
before), and called out a VIRGINIA RAIL. A single GREEN HERON caught a frog
or ??? as I watched. There were three late VIOLET GREEN SWALLOWS working
the pond surface. Both MARSH WRENS and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS were calling
from the cattail margins and easily located. AMERICAN WIGEON AND CINAMMON
and GREEN WINGED TEAL went onto the duck list. I also saw the first of at
least 60 RED-TAILED HAWKS for the day.

A quick dash to Coulon Park. I had hoped to find that the wintering Greater
White Fronted Geese had arrived, but alas, no. I did find AMERICAN COOTS,
PIED-BILLED GREBE, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, nine RING-NECKED DUCKS, KILLDEER,
ANNA?S HUMMINGBIRD, BELTED KINGFISHER, STELLER?S JAY, BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEE, BUSHTIT, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, EUROPEAN STARLING, CEDAR
WAXWING, TOWNSEND?S WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, GOLDEN CROWNED SPARROW!,
BREWER?S BLACKBIRD, and added the first of eight BALD EAGLE?s to the list.

North to Newport Shores where I hoped to plump up the duck list. There was
a single CANVASBACK (early?), as well as NORTHERN SHOVELER, GADWALL, and a
single female WOOD DUCK. Just as I was turning to leave I heard a SORA. I
tried to call it out but only got replies from at least six VIRGINA RAILS.
I checked up the street and found a MERLIN who has been resident in the
neighborhood for over two years now and a VAUX?S SWIFT who seems to be an
earlier arriver and late departer from this location. A DOWNY WOODPECKER
was working a nearby snag. I broke my rule and hung around for another 10
minutes as I could hear a group of STELLARS JAYS calling from the nearby
housing tract. There has been a SCRUB JAY travelling with this pack of
hooligans as of late and I wanted to add him to my list. I was not
disappointed, as they all showed up to investigate the goofy jay imitation I
make by puffing out my right cheek and blowing air through my teeth into it
(hey, modified pishing, OK?). I made a quick stop to a spot on Coal Creek
where I had a staked out AMERICAN DIPPER. I also had the lucky addition of
a BROWN CREEPER at this spot.

I picked Cougar Mountain Regional Park / The Golf Club at Newcastle because
I know them well and I had a loop hike planned for thirty minutes (actually
took over an hour and fifteen) to get warblers, woodland birds, and sparrows
in a clearcut. I headed for a spot I knew to harbor WESTERN SCREECH OWLS,
and found one right away, I also flushed a COOPER?S HAWK on the trail.
CALIFORNIA QUAIL were surprisingly abundant. I found 23 BAND TAILED
PIGEON?s that appeared to be feeding on Big Leaf Maple seeds ? something
I?ve never seen before. I added PILEATED WOODPECKER here, a pair attended
by an ?entourage? of 4 NORTHEN FLICKERS. WINTER WREN?s were everywhere. I
had an early RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, and found both a HERMIT THRUSH and a
VARIED THRUSH in the Madrone forest border. A really surprising flock of
little guys was also on the forest edge, BUSHTITS, GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLET,
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, and a
BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (what are they still doing here?) were picking
over the vine maple and devil?s club patch. SPOTTED TOWHEES were very
abundant and there were literally crowds of SONG SPARROWS. At the clearcut,
which borders the golf course I found CHIPPING SPARROW, WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROWS (dozens), DARK-EYED JUNCO, LINCOLN?s SPARROW, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH,
and a BROWN HEADED COWBIRD. I waited and waited to get a glimpse of my real
target at this location ? a GOLDEN EAGLE who has been patrolling the golf
course area on and off for almost two years now. Just as I was about to
give up she showed up, perching nicely in a snag with a good view of the
clearcut and course edge which is replete with bunnies and mountain beavers.
Back into the forest where I got FOX SPARROW, and a super surprising four
very late WESTERN TANAGERS. A BEWICK?s WREN must have thought I?d forget
him as he called out from an overhead perch for great views. Back at the
car taking a rest I had a flock of PINE SISKINS and two RED-CROSSBILLS. I
missed the Northern Goshawk that I see here regularly.

On my way over the mountain to Lake Sammammish State Park I had a RUFFED
GROUSE right in the middle of the road. At the Park I added COMMON SNIPE,
NORTHERN PINTAIL (a first in this location for me), along with GREATER
SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, and OSPREY. I moved out to the shore and was surprised
to find DUNLIN flying in an avoidance formation and was shocked to see a
PEREGRINE FALCON was the enemy they were trying to confuse. Where was I?
Samish Flats? I also saw about a dozen RUDDY DUCKS and many WESTERN GREBES
well off of the shore. Working the meadow on the way out was a NORTHERN
HARRIER. I checked for the Long-eared Owl who has been around since
November of 1997, but could not locate him. I also could not positively
identify a FLYCATCHER sp that gave me about 10 seconds to view before flying
off.

Over the hill to Carnation with the river, lakes and swamps. HAIRY
WOODPECKER greeted me at my first stop. I realized he was distracted and
found that he was tailing a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER who was drilling on an
already oozing evergreen sapling. A quick stop at my favorite roadside
swamp netted HOODED MERGANSER, and AMERICAN KESTREL as well as CASSIN?s
VIREO. A GREAT HORNED OWL was also in his traditional cottonwood perch.
There was a single WILSON?s WARBLER, singing no less, from the willow
border. Back to the Audobon / Golf Course area where I found PURPLE FINCH
and EVENING GROSBEAK in a mixed flock.

I decided on the turf farm stop in hopes of catching the plover and
sandpiper crowd. The first bird I found there was a TURKEY VULTURE (got
that Diann?) that was headed due south without stopping. KILLDEER were
everywhere. There was a GOLDEN PLOVER sp which I just couldn?t nail down.
Also, heading south directly overhead was a skein of thirteen SNOW GEESE.
I also found 3 FRANKLIN?S GULLS here, as well as a WESTERN MEADOWLARK and 5
HORNED LARKS. Just as I?d given up on Sandpipers etc.. two LONG-BILLED
CURLEWS landed less than 50 feet from where I was standing. What a great
day!

The trip to Ballard and on to Discovery Park was in hopes of picking up a
few more salt water species. I was exhausted but enthused when I reached
the park. I did come up with some great birds including a BRANDT?S
CORMORANT in the middle of 9 DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANTS, a PARASITIC JAEGER
cruising the bluff edge, PIGEON GUILLEMOTS and MARBLED MURRELETS just
off-shore, a COMMON RAVEN, and oh ? 2 COMMON TERNS in Ballard. I found a
late RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (that didn?t look well) near the parking lot.

Off to home where I knew I could pick up two more birds. BARRED OWL and
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, both of which live in the greenbelt at the back of
the house and both of which have been very vocal over the past week. I got
these within a minute of stepping out onto the back deck, martini in hand
(now that is birding).

Overall a fantastic day, 126 species in 16 hours. It was great to be in
the field and to get some bird surprises. Now, if I only could have gotten
up to the pass for GRAY JAY, BLUE GROUSE, PYGMY NUTHATCH, MOUNTAIN
CHICKADEE?.. Oh well, another day.

Good Birding to All

Rob Conway
Bellevue WA
Robin_birder at hotmail.com







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