Hi Tweets:
It was a cold, dreary day on Sat, Jan 19, when our group from Rainier Audubon headed
north to Point No Point. Temps for most of the morning were 38 degrees, and we
didn't see a "sunbreak" until the afternoon. (It lasted 3 minutes.)
I was hoping for lots of alcids at Pt No Pt, especially after last year when some
rare murres and murrelets were in the area in January. So I contacted Brad Waggoner
to find out what birds were being seen. He told me it had been very quiet there this
winter. (He was right.) He advised me to spend a little more time at our various
other
stops heading north.
We left Fife about 7:15am, and traveled over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Our first
stop was at Sinclair Inlet in Gorst, at the famous (infamous?) Toys Topless place on
Gorst Creek. We had several Bald Eagles perched and flying, plus quite a few other
species including 2 Greater Yellowlegs. There was only one Mew Gull on the sandbar
along w/ a number of Glaucous-winged Gulls. We had 3 Merganser species here.
We continued north on hwy 3 to just south of the Hood Canal Bridge, and stopped at
Kitsap Memorial State Park. There is a bluff for viewing seabirds, a open area with
some cabins, and a nice bunch of evergreens all around the park. Here we had views
of a few Red Crossbills (in the scope), hundreds of flying, calling, and singing Pine
Siskins, and a lovely close view of a HUTTON'S VIREO working a bush at about eye
level. Everyone got to study its field marks. Wow! It called a couple of times,
but never went into its spring song of repetitive vreet, vreet, vreet which can go on
and on.
It was still very cold. We headed to Pt Gamble. I started using the Birders Guide
to Washington as my guide. We were hoping for some good alcids or a Long-tailed
Duck, but it was pretty quiet there. I viewed from the overlook area, and could see
a Common and Red-throated Loon way out in the bay. Everyone went into the store, and
to the museum upstairs to have fun and to warm up.
Next we headed to Point No Point, arriving at the lighthouse about 11:15, 1.5 hrs
before high tide. It was raining, but there was no wind. There were several Pigeon
Guillemots, a Red-throated Loon, a few Common Loons, and only one Common Murre which
flew by. Otherwise
we were seeing the usual seabirds. I was glad that Brad had told us to linger at the
other parks on the way north.
For lunch, we headed to the nearby Hansville store and beach access (per the Birder's
Guide). From the little beach at the store we viewed 3 kinds of Cormorants on a
dock.
What a neat study. Among them there were two PELAGIC CORMORANTS. One of the
Pelagics flew and it had big white flanks. I thought it was kind of early to see
that breeding plumage. Small flocks of Dunlin and then Sanderlings flew past. The
store no longer has a bird log to enter sightings. But it has a lovely back room for
eating hot foods and drink with a big table and chairs, and a heater going! Our talk
strayed to the subject of birding tours in the tropics. Very fun.
Our next stop was Foulweather Bluff. We met up w/ Brad Waggoner's dad, Ross Waggoner
who was the Conservancy volunteer. He is very knowledgaeable. There were a number
of small birds working the woods across the street, including some Pine Siskins. and
then we took the approx. 1/3 mile trail thru the woods to the beach. I'm glad Ross
was there, as this trail has changed. He told us that a big storm one or two years
ago broke down the outer beach berm, and now allows salt water to enter the marsh
which is next to the trail. The water in the marsh is very high, and there is no mud
visible. The trail now stays more to the right. If you keep bearing right along the
main trail, you eventually get to the beach. Just before we arrived at the beach,
there were two VARIED THRUSH in the woods. We were glad to see them, as they have
been difficult to find this winter in the lowlands of South King County. From the
beach, we could see some common ducks in the marsh, and a few common seabirds out to
sea. Looking way out toward the Hood Canal Bridge, we could see a few RED-THROATED
LOONS. Ross pointed out that there are only a few Pacific Loons in the general area,
as they prefer deeper waters. We didn't see Pacific Loons on our whole trip.
>From there, we continued out on Twin Spits Road 0.7 miles, dropping down to a
turnaround at the end. We had a good view of the Twin Spits area of Hood Canal, and
saw Bald Eagles, and common seabirds.
Our next stop was a fun one. We turned south from Twin Spits Rd onto Hood Canal
Drive and traveled one or two miles south to a housing development called Driftwood
Keys
which is on the right next to Hood Canal. Brad Waggoner has written about it in the
past. We dropped
down to the lower area near a little bay. (You can turn right on Vista Key Rd, then
right on Bay St NE), and bird the brushy areas near Hemlock Lane down there. There
are houses and empty lots, groomed yards, and brushy spots. We walked the roads, and
had views of sparrows, and a lovely view of a Red-throated Loon down in the little
bay.
The rest of our trip was a return to the Hansville store w/ its sanican out back, and
a drive south taking the back way, hwy 305 toward Poulsbo. (Hansville Rd becomes
Miller Bay Rd, and it is all hwy 305.) We stopped north of
Poulsbo at Suquamish Bay, where hwy 305 takes a sharp right hand turn. We turned
left to the boat launch. It was raining pretty hard. Our stop at the boat launch
overlook yielded more common seabirds that we had already seen on the trip. That was
our last stop, so we proceeded home. It cost $3. and only about 5 minutes to pay the
toll to go over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Our group saw 61 species on Saturday, and everyone said they had a good time despite
the weather. Many thanks to Brad Waggoner and his dad, Ross Waggoner for all their
help to make this a good day.
P.S. Brad headed to Tri-Cities, and found a Ivory Gull over there. !!!!
Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines, WA
linusq at att.net