Subject: [Tweeters] San Juan Island School Group bird list
Date: Feb 23 09:18:56 2006
From: nwpassages at aol.com - nwpassages at aol.com


Here is our list from Feb 16th (sorry it is so late) I would like to preface this with the fact that my students were given the task to learn 100 local species by borrowing CDs I made and using PowerPoints on my website. The day before the "survey" they took a test trying to identify 50 random birds from the list. Out of 84 students, 24 recieved 100% (therefore, they are now known as "Bird Brains") and a total of 46 students received an A (meaning they only missed 5 birds or less). With the bragging aside, there are some species they encountered that were not on their original list of 100 so they had to use their field guides to identify. Birds they were unsure of are marked with a "?". I have grouped these by "North" and "South" sites to consolidate the list a little. If you have questions about where a particular bird was found, just email me! NWPassages at aol.com
-Val Curtis

North end groups (comprised of Roche Harbor, Westcott Bay Sculpture Park, British Camp, Mt. Young, Davidson Head and the Roche Harbor Water Plant):
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double -crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Trumpeter Swan
Greater White-fronted Goose (British Camp)
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Canvasback
Redhead (?)
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Surf Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Black Oystercatcher
Sanderling (?)
Dunlin (?)
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull (?)
Glaucous-winged Gull
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northwestern Crow
Black-capped Chickadee (?)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Pine Siskin
House Sparrow

South end (comprised of Jackson's Beach, Cattle Point, Jakle's Lagoon, South Beach, American Camp and 4th of July Beach and a friend's property on Griffin Bay)
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double -crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Mallard
American Wigeon
Harlequin Duck
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel (predictable on the guard rail or near by on the way to Cattle Point)
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull (?)
Glaucous-winged Gull
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Northern Shrike (note:At American Camp below the Redoubt with little wind so hunting was fairly easy for the bird. We usually find it on the Redoubt Rd closer to the South Beach Rd but it was blowing pretty good there.)
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Warbler spp.
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Pine Siskin

That is all...not bad for a COLD and BLUSTERY day! :)