Subject: [Tweeters] Puget Sound Rarity Chase
Date: Dec 31 22:28:11 2006
From: Gina Sheridan - gsherida8502 at yahoo.com
Happy New Year Tweets!
While so many great rarities have been piling up
around Puget Sound, several of us decided (Harold &
Karen Cottet, Patricia Lott, and I) that it was time
to give chase. We only had two days (12/29/06 &
12/30/06)to whip around a considerable distance and to
locate our target species.
After last week's storms we enjoyed quite a bit of
sunshine and a range of temps from +3 degrees at
Ellensburg; freezing to the mid-40s around the Sound.
We encountered the worst weather on the Semiamhoo Spit
in Blaine.
On the Snohomish Flats, we stopped at the primary spot
on Hwy 9 (south of Marsh Road). We quickly learned
that the Whooper Swan had been reported early in the
morning, but no one had seen it for over two hours.
As I scanned the large flock of swans to the west, I
detected a white-headed goose with with a blackish
throat. Although the bird's body was hidden by a berm,
I was obviously peering at an adult EMPEROR GOOSE.
Unfortunately, we never obtained better views of this
bird. a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE gave me another
bodiless view.
Sensing that the Whooper was no longer at this spot, I
decided to move on the next location. On Stringhetti
Road, we scanned through a another (closer) group of
Trumpeter Swans, but didn't see the Whooper. When we
reached the junction, we decided to backtrack and
continue southeasterly. As we passed the same group of
Swans on Stringhetti, we could see that more swans
were flying into this site.
When we pulled in to a turn out, a local birder named
Todd yelled "There it is!". The WHOOPER SWAN had just
landed in the midst of the Trumpeters.
The Whooper looks like someone had wrapped a yellow
plastic sheath around a Trumpeter Swan's bill. The
outrageous bill color seemed to match the yellow
school bus that I observed traveling on Hwy 9 behind
the swan flock. In full sun and relatively close
range, we could also see the yellow stripe on the
underside of the bill.
Afterwards, we drove up to Blaine. As we searched for
the King Eider, an unexpected gale force wind and rain
squalls hampered viewing conditions. Along Drayton
Harbor, we found both GREATER & LESSER SCAUP,
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, PINTAIL, DULIN, GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
VARIED THRUSH, BELTED KINGFISHER, RED-THROATED LOON,
and COMMON LOON. In Semiahmoo Marina, we saw HARELQUIN
DUCK, LONG-TAILED DUCK, all three Scoter species,
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, AME. WIGEON, HORNED GREBE,
AMERICAN COOT, RED-NECKED GREBE, RED-BREASTED
MERGANSER, DC CORMORANT, and COMMON MERGANSER.
However, the strong winds drove us back into our rig
to regroup. This time we spotted the KING EIDER along
the inside edge of the southern most floating dock.
After the rain abated, we had excellent views of of
this first year bird.
On the next morning (12/30/06), we crossed the
Edmonds-Kingston Ferry and proceeded straight up to
Point No Point. Upon our arrival, the sunny calm
weather made for superb lighting and viewing
conditions. Around the lighthouse parking area, we saw
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, SONG SPARROW, HOUSE FINCH, and
SPOTTED TOWHEE.
Scoping the sound, we picked out BRANDT'S CORMORANT,
PELAGIC CORMORANT, COMMON LOON, PACIFIC LOON, SURF
SCOTER, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, HORNED GREBE, RED-NECKED
GREBE, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, RHINOCEROUS AUKLET,
PIGEON GUILLEMOT, COMMON MURRE, MARBLED MURRELET,
BONAPARTE'S GULL, MEW GULL, and GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL.
As my Questar came loose from it's mounting plate, I
had to rely on my companions' scopes. While sifting
through scads of Marbled Murrelets in various plumage
states (winter basic to all brown breeding type
plumage), Harold called my attention to a lone
murrelet that was a good distance due north from the
beach (toward Double Bluffs). This was around 8:30 AM.
This bird was vigorously preening and was tipped over
so that it's white belly was tilted toward us. After
much flapping, the bird settled down so that I could
obtain an excellent side view of a black and white
murrelett without an hint of a post-ocular collar,
solid black nape, and typical white scapulars. After
scoping through myriad Marbleds, I was convinced that
we had found a LONG-BILLED MURRELET. Unfortunately,
the bird dove and we could never relocate it.
Later, Patricia called our attention to three murres
in the rip tide zone to the northeast. One bird was a
standard basic plumaged Common Murre, and the second
bird was a much darker bird with chocolate smudginess
around the face, but it still keyed out as a Common
Murre. However, the third bird had a much crisper
black and white pattern without any hint of white
behind the eye. More striking to me than the plumage,
was the bill that seemed like a blunted Common Murre
bill, and it had a stockier, more compact body.
I saw some other Common Murres that didn't show much
white behind the eye, but there was usually more of a
chocolate wash that obscured this feature. There was
certainly plenty of variation in the color pattern on
the murres, but the body and bill structure seemed
more consistent.
All of us had good views of this bird (for over five
minutes), and we felt confident enough to identify it
as a THICK-BILLED MURRE. It sounds like Ned McGarry
and Patrick Sullivan probably saw this same bird later
too.
My overall feeling, it that the exceptional good
viewing conditions allowed us to quickly get on these
birds and to see important features that could easily
be missed under less favorable conditions. It seems
like there is good possibility that these rarities
could overwinter here.
As others have mentioned, Point No Point delivered
incredible views of dozens of ANCIENT MURRELETS. This
species rides so low on the water that it reminds me
of the low profile, ironclad "Monitor" of the Civil
War. Since these murrelets, barely surface before
diving again, and look so cute with their pale tipped
bills, black face and battleship gray backs, they are
delightfully fun little birds to watch!
In the early afternoon, we drove to the fish pens on
the southern end of Bainbridge Island. When we arrived
we saw three rather glum birders on the beach (Kristin
Stewart, Jamie Akers, and Jeff Dillon). The dock gate
was locked and birders could not access it.
As most of the day was foggy, no one had seen the
Black-headed Gull well enough for a countable look.
There were a couple of tantalizing moments related,
but no one wanted to count it yet.
After standing on the cold, damp beach for a couple of
hours, it was not looking good for us. Finally, Rick
Taylor spotted a candidate bird on the flying over the
opposite shore. When Rick put me on the bird, I
could see a Bonaparte's type gull with darker
underwing. At first, I thought the darker underwing
may have been an artifact of the distance, but
observing nearby Bonaparte's Gulls appeared to dispel
this notion.
Other birds that we saw on the island included PINE
SISKIN, BELTED KINGFISHER, RC KINGLET, GC KINGLET,
VARIED THRUSH, AMERICAN ROBIN, BC CHICKADEE, DOWNY
WOODPECKER, SONG SPARROW, and FOX SPARROW. A pair of
HARELQUIN DUCKS provided us with an entertaining show
too.
Even though we had a marvelously successful trip, now
I am reading about the latest Slaty-backed Gull
sightings as well as considering my desire to see the
Bewick's Swan. So many good birds, so little time!
Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA
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