Matt et al.,

Congrats on the new King County Big Day record. We've got our work cut out
for us next Sunday.

Gene.
----- Original Message -----
From: <mattxyz at earthlink.net>
To: <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 11:13 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] SAS King County Big Day results, May 4


> 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
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