Thursday, October 12, 2000, 12:54 a.m. Pacific
Outdoors
Hobby of the eagle-eyed: Fall is prime time for birders to collect
sightings

Background, Related Info & Multimedia:
by Sara Jean Green <mailto:sgreen at seattletimes.com>
Seattle Times staff reporter
Wings spread against a blanket of low-hanging clouds, two red-tailed
hawks circle over blackberry bushes and cottonwood trees near a
sewage-treatment facility in Snohomish County.
Chickadees and sparrows chatter as if to be sure everyone's aware of
overhead danger.
But the hawks keep circling, dancing on air currents. They call to each
other in mysterious screams.
"I think they're doing a pair-bonding thing," says Steve Mlodinow, 38,
tipping his head back to watch the aerial flirtations.
Their young, full-grown in a season, have already flown off to find
mates of their own. Now, it seems, the couple is reconnecting. These
hawks, like eagles and other predatory birds, will stay together for
years, maybe for life, says Mlodinow, an Everett physician and author of
several bird books.
Washington's mild climate and diverse habitats attract hundreds of bird
species with behaviors as unique as their markings. Some stay all year,
others for just a few days on seasonal stopovers. But with each autumn
day, more birds arrive from northern climes.
In this state, however, there aren't many people who can tell a
canvasback duck from a northern shoveler. Bird-watching isn't as popular
here as in some states and countries. Yet, those who love it say birding
is an exciting pursuit, full of intrigue and challenge and, on occasion,
the glory of spotting something rare.
A small world of enthusiasts
A small group of birders from the Seattle Audubon Society pull into the
parking lot at Spencer Island Park, which sits west of Interstate 5 near
Everett. As they gather their binoculars and scopes - specialized
telescopes used in birding - from the back of the truck, Mlodinow and
fellow birder Steve Pink drive up.
Washington's birding community is so small that birders frequently bump
into each other as they search for elusive sightings. Although Whidbey
Island, the Olympic Peninsula, Aberdeen's Bowerman Basin and the
Nisqually Basin south of Tacoma are all good bird-watching spots,
Spencer Island is a close-to-Seattle favorite.
The island, once an old farmstead that's now owned by Snohomish County
and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, is a bird-watching
gem in the heart of the Snohomish River estuary. Diverse ecosystems make
the island a year-round haven for all sorts of winged creatures. And
proximity to the Everett sewage-treatment plant adds another bonus;
waterfowl flock to the green-brown lagoons for easy meals.
Aside from local joggers and dog-walkers who frequent Spencer Island,
not many know what to expect from the park. Birders, however, do.
"Nisqually's OK, but there's more diversity here," says Pink, 53, an
aircraft consultant who lives in Bellevue. "With the combination of the
sewage ponds, Spencer Island and the Port of Everett, you can easily see
100 species in a day."
As if to prove his point, Pink sets his scope on two bald eagles perched
on a dead tree. Moments later, he spots a sharp-shinned hawk.
Scanning the tree line and marshes, the other birders call out their
finds: blue herons, belted kingfishers, mud hens, western meadowlarks,
cedar waxwings and even a pileated woodpecker.
Everyone gets excited when Richard Youel points out an American bittern
taking off from the marsh.
"That's a great bird," says Youel, the past Audubon chapter president,
of the elusive heron that's often heard but rarely seen, particularly
when it's in flight.
Then there are the ducks and geese, arriving en masse for the winter. A
flock of almost 200 greater white-fronted geese fly by in a noisy
procession, sounding more like a pack of terriers than their larger,
deeper-voiced cousin, the Canada goose.
"That's a new bird for me," says Stephanie Dosch, 17, scribbling in a
little yellow notebook. The geese, a fairly uncommon species, are Number
514 on Dosch's personal list of North American birds.
Birders are collectors
Part of the fun of birding is "collecting" species, recording birds seen
with your own eyes. Both Mlodinow and Pink, who've each seen upward of
1,200 birds, keep separate lists for different countries and continents.
Others don't keep tallies but, instead, write journal entries to
describe the birds they've seen.
How birders choose to document their sightings doesn't really matter
since they all agree that birding is about thrilling, fleeting moments.
There's a rush in being able to identify a species based on its habitat,
characteristics and other clues.
There's also the thrill in finding a bird out of its element. Despite
migration patterns as old as time, there's always a few surprises with
the appearance of "vagrants," birds whose internal compasses go screwy,
sending them places their kind don't usually go.
"Part of the magic of living in Washington is that we're on the edge of
the continent where really odd birds can show up," says Mlodinow, a
member of the Washington Bird Records Committee that investigates rare
sightings for the Washington Ornithological Society.
Last year, he says, a Eurasian kestrel showed up in a Mount Vernon back
yard; the type of falcon has been seen in Alaska maybe 10 times and in
the rest of North America on only three or four occasions.
Despite the potential for rare or rarely seen birds in Washington, there
are more bird watchers in Orange County, Calif., than in this entire
state, says Mlodinow. Most people can't understand birders' satisfaction
with nothing more tangible than memories.
"In England, bird-watching is a much more respectable thing to do," says
Pink, who is British. "Here, people ask you, `Why don't you shoot them?'
or `What do you do with them once you've seen them?' "
For bird watchers, birding is a way to enjoy the outdoors and interact
with nature. Many, like Youel, spent their boyhoods hunting and fishing
but as adults, wanted an alternative.
"You can go birding all year 'round and you can go anyplace in the world
and be interested in what flies by," says Youel, 56, a Seattle
architect.
Birding is still a mostly male, mostly middle-age pastime, something
Stephanie Dosch, 17, can't help but notice. A senior at Bellevue's
Forest Ridge School and a member of the local Audubon board, she says
there aren't many young female birders.
"It took me a long time before I was comfortable telling people I was a
birder because it's not exactly a cool hobby, especially for a girl,"
Dosch says. "I think boys are encouraged more than girls to be out in
nature. But I always say I was born with binoculars around my neck."
So, too, it seems, for 8-year-old Emma Kahle. She accompanies her dad,
Audubon chapter president Charlie Kahle, on most of his bird-watching
expeditions.
"Just imagine how good the scopes will be when you grow up," Mlodinow
tells her.
Sara Jean Green's phone number is 206-515-5654. Her e-mail address is
sgreen at seattletimes.com <mailto:sgreen at seattletimes.com>.

Copyright ? 2000 The Seattle Times Company