Subject: [Tweeters] Mason Co. birding 12-03-06
Date: Dec 3 19:34:34 2006
From: Ruth and/or Patrick Sullivan - godwit513 at msn.com


Hello Tweets,

Today we birded in Mason Co. between the Belfair-Allyn area south along S.R.106(Hood Canal)to Hwy.101 as far west as Potlatch State Park. It was an enjoyable day fiilled with good birding,as well as great weather and scenery along the Hood Canal with spectacular and panoramic views of the snow-covered Olympic Mountains. Our main area on interest were the large amounts of waterfowl we encountered along S.R.106 between Belfair south to the Skokomish River Delta. At times we observed large rafts of Surf and White-winged Scoters followed by good numbers of Common Goldeneyes. Horned Grebes were also especially abundant along with Buffleheads and perhaps many of these species were drawn out into the open water due to hunting at the Skokomish River Delta,but the feeding may have contributed to the high density of species too. Barrow's Goldeneyes were fairly common along the Hood Canal between Belfair and Union,but in no where the abundance of Common Goldeneyes.Although much of the highway between Belfair to just past the town of Union is lined with waterfront homes we did manage to stop at several spots to scope the water. We first made a stop just south of Belfair,where a nice resident invited us into the backyard of his waterfront home after he saw us scoping from a safe area along the shoulder of the road. From the road we had limited views of the water,but going into his backyard offered much better views,as we scoped the vast areas of waterbirds. One species that we found interesting during the day was Ruddy Duck that we experienced in very good numbers along the Hood Canal just south of Belfair. We located 2 large groups of Ruddy Ducks including one very large raft consisting of 350 birds,which seemed remarkable for this area. Another much smaller group of 45 Ruddy Ducks was encountered further north closer to Belfair,which was mixed with other waterfowl species. Our visit to the public waterfront dock at Allyn produced 4 additional Ruddy Ducks. In addition we located Canvasback from 2 separate locations along the Hood canal. Our first 2 Canvasbacks were noted in a large raft of a mixed waterfowl flock just south of Belfair. Much father south just north of the Skokomish River Delta along S.R.106 we located 2 additional flocks of Canvasbacks that were primarily pure flocks. The first flock was noted from a pull-off along S.R.106 1 mile south of the Hood Canal Marina at Union,which consisted of 8 birds. Within this flock we located 2 female REDHEADS,which seemed quite out of place for this general area and a very good species for Mason Co. The other large flock of Canvasback was closer to the delta itself and contained 32 birds. We also had a nice day for Eared Grebes from several locations to be listed below. We encountered two very large groups of Western Grebes including uncountable flocks from the Allyn and Wauna(Pierce Co.)waterfronts. These flocks were labeled as uncountable due to the distance and lighting.

As we continued south of Belfair towards Twanoh State Park waterbird numbers became fewer and more spread out as Hood Canal became wider along this stretch. We didn't encounter large numbers of birds until we drove south of the Hood Canal Marina at Union on our approach to the Skokomish River Delta. Earlier in the day our visit to Allyn hosted good numbers of birds too,but not as diverse and concentrated as the Hood Canal. We made a short stop at Potlatch S.P.,which was fairly slow with very few birds although 4 Egyptian Geese(of unknown origin)grazed in the grassy area with 2 Canada Geese. We made a nice side excursion to the inner portion of the Skokomish River Delta via Reservation Rd.,which produced a nice subadult NORTHERN GOSHAWK that actively hunted the area before being chased off and pursued by several Common Ravens. It was a unique area to visit although waterfowl hunting is ongoing in this area through the winter. Our last stop of the day was made along S.R.302 at the Wauna waterfront in Pierce Co.,which hosted several waterbird species,but nothing too exceptional.

A list of our other notable species of interest encountered during the day include the following:

Red-throated Loon
2 birds off Twanoh State Park
10 birds at Wauna,Pierce Co.

Pacific Loon
1 bird off Twanoh S.P.

Eared Grebe
5 birds from Ross Point at Sinclair Inlet,Kitsap Co.
25 birds at Allyn
5 birds along S.R.106 south of Belfair
1 bird off Twanoh S.P.

"Black"Brant
38 birds along S.R.106 south of Belfair
2 birds along S.R.106 south of Union

Black Scoter
1 bird at Gorst,Kitsap Co.
10 birds along S.R.106 south of Belfair
4 birds along S.R.106 north of the Skokomish River Delta

Peregrine Falcon
1 immature bird at the Skokomish River Delta
1 adult bird perched near the top of a large dead Black Cottonwood tree along Hwy.101 at the Skokomish River bridge

Greater Yellowlegs
1 bird at the Gorst Estuary,Kitsap Co.

Dunlin
6 birds at the Gorst Estuary,Kitsap Co.
8 birds along the Allyn waterfront

Hairy Woodpecker
1 male at the Skokomish River Delta

Hutton's Vireo
1 bird at the Skokomish River Delta

Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 bird along S.R 106 just north of Union

Pine Siskin
one flock of 200+ birds at the Skokomish River Delta


A very nice day along the Hood Canal away from our usual haunts!



Good birding,


Ruth and Patrick Sullivan
Fircrest,WA
godwit513 at msn.com