Subject: [Tweeters] SAS King County Big Day results, May 4
Date: May 4 23:13:47 2007
From: mattxyz at earthlink.net - mattxyz at earthlink.net


Hi all -
Today was the day for our third annual Seatte Audubon Society King
County Big Day field trip.
Michael Hobbs, MaryFrances Mathis, Tom Mansfield, Matt Dufort, Jack
Pauw, John Tubbs, Curt Black & I joined forces to brave the weather
and see what we could find. Our 2005 total was 112 species. Last year
we had 111 species. And Gene Hunn's 'rival' trip last year set a new
record with 124 species.

As it turned out, the birding gods were smiling, despite the weather....

Before our 5:00 start, Matt Dufort & I arrived a little early and
made a quick attempt to find the Great Horned Owl that had previously
been seen at Marymoor -- No luck on the GHOW [which hasn't been seen
there in probably a month now], but while heading back to the car, we
spotted a BARN OWL, the only owl sighting of the trip - a decent
start.

Next came the rain. It rained hard as we began our Marymoor walk.
Very hard. Harder than any of the winter rains on our weekly Marymoor
walks. As we slogged around, things looked pretty grim - I think all
of us were pretty much wishing we had just slept in for the first 2
hours or so. A couple good birds popped up though, including a
near-invisible GREEN HERON, a HERMIT THRUSH, and a late FOX SPARROW.
During breaks in the rain, we managed to pick up a decent collection
of other more common birds, ending our Marymoor 3 hours with about 56
species.

We headed out to Snoqualmie Valley where the rains continued, but
more intermittently. In Duvall, at McCormick Park, we called up an
AMERICAN BITTERN - even giving us views as it lurked in the cattails.
Next came Stillwater, where we lucked out on some of the best birds
of the day. First, we had a BULLOCKS ORIOLE pop up. Then came a
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. As we walked down the trail, we spotted the
'rarest' bird of the day, a VESPER'S SPARROW, hopping in front of us
on the path. The conversation just before seeing the Vesper's Sparrow
went something like this: "We had lots of sparrows here when we
scouted this section. But, it doesn't really matter because we have
all the sparrows we'll get today; no need to look at the sparrows.
Oh, there's a Vesper's Sparrow!" Out at the end of the trail, the
BANK SWALLOWS appeared at their colony. On the way back to the cars,
we picked up PILEATED WOODPECKER & WESTERN TANAGER, as well a
cooperative YELLOW WARBLER, a 'first of the year' for all of us in
the county. We moved up to Moss Lake, where we things were pretty
quiet -- only WINTER WREN, NORTHERN HARRIER, MOURNING DOVE, and
PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER were added [good, but nothing like our
scouting trip's success up there].

As we drove south, we added CINAMMON TEAL to our list in a pond south
of Carnation along 203. Down at the Snoqualmie Fish Hatchery, we
added AMERICAN DIPPER followed by the PEREGRINE FALCONs at their nest
up at Snoqualmie Falls.

By about 1:00, as we drove down to Auburn, we were at about 96
species. The next several hours were spent in the Auburn-Kent Valley
hoping for shorebirds, mostly in vain. At the fields near Emerald
Downs in Auburn, we picked up a late GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. A
long stop at Lake Fenwick Park in Kent turned up a few more good
birds including BLACK-THROATED GREY WARBLER, HAIRY WOODPECKER, and
HUTTON'S VIREO. A quick stop gave us an almost too easy WESTERN
SCRUB-JAY, after which we headed to Kent Ponds. From the Grassy Knoll
at Kent Ponds, we picked up a few ducks including our only RUDDY
DUCKS. Boeing Ponds added a SPOTTED SANDPIPER and lingering NORTHERN
PINTAIL and AMERICAN WIGEON. Next, at the muddy fields at 204th &
Frager, we had another surprise bird, a WESTERN KINGBIRD. Besides
that, we also found AMERICAN PIPIT, LEAST SANDPIPER & GREATER
YELLOWLEGS before leaving. At the construction ponds along 212th, we
added WESTERN SANDPIPER, our 5th & final shorebird species of the day.

A run through West Seattle was our next region, with time running
out. After a quiet walk at Lincoln Park that only added [finally]
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, we moved on to the saltwater birds along the
W.Seattle shore. And the birds seem to line up to be seen: BRANT,
HARLEQUIN DUCKS, COMMON LOON, SURF & WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, MARBLED
MURRELET, RHINO AUKLET, PIGEON GUILLEMOT, BARROWS & COMMON GOLDENEYE,
a couple CASPIAN TERNS, a single MEW GULL, BRANDT'S CORMORANT, and
WESTERN, HORNED & RED-NECKED GREBES all popped up on cue. Before
leaving West Seattle, we swung by Jack Block Park and ticked PURPLE
MARTINS, sitting on their gourds.

Our final stop for the day was the Montlake Fill, as darkness
descended. We quickly turned up our only RING-NECKED DUCKS and LESSER
SCAUP of the day to tie the old big day record of 124 species. Next
came a little tape-playing action. Much to our surprise, a SORA
answered to our tape, calling & whinnying away very close to the path
at the sw marshy area. As we walked back towards the cars, we gave a
couple shots at playing a RING-NECKED PHEASANT, and after we'd
stopped, sure enough, a Pheasant called back at us!

The day ended with 126 species - a new King Co Big Day record.

Notable misses include Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Swainson's Thrush,
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cassin's Vireo, Hammond's Flycatcher,
Red-breasted Merganser, Sanderling, Dunlin, and all owls but Barn. On
a sunny day, 130+ may well have been possible...

All in all, this was pretty much a great day - Given the rainy start,
we really weren't expecting much, but boy did the birds come through.

Good birding,

Matt Bartels [on behalf of the 8 of us]
Seattle, WA