Hi Tweets,

On Tuesday, Nov 5, Barbara and I hooked up with Georgia Conti, from Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico, nowadays, and Bob Whitlatch from Boise for a trip to Whidbey Island. After a couple of very short stops on Fir Island and at the Swinomish Channel we birded Rosario Beach State Park on the north side of Deception Pass, then made stops at Dugualla Bay, Joseph Whidbey SP, Bos Lake (see the ABA Birder's Guide to WA, p. 80), Penn Cove, Fort Ebey SP, and Crockett Lake. We left Whidbey at 3:30 to catch the last light near Duwamish Head in West Seattle so Bob could add Surfbirds and Black Turnstones to his life list. We had clear skies with gathering clouds in the afternoon and temps in the 50s with a chilly wind in places.

Our list for the day had a couple of surprises. The first came in the woods at Rosario Beach where we all had good looks at a Mountain Chickadee in a mixed flock of other chickadees, both kinglets, several Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a Brown Creeper. From the parking lot at Joseph Whidbey SP we all got good scope views of a half dozen Harlequin and eleven Long-tailed Ducks, plus Surf Scoters and a fly-by of a flock of fifty-odd Dunlin. A half-mile south at Bos Lake we found another surprise: a mixed flock of shorebirds on the south shore consisting of Sanderlings, Dunlin, and about 20 Black-bellied Plovers accompanied by a single Pacific Golden-Plover. At Mukilteo we spotted our first Barrow's Goldeneyes of the season. Altogether we saw 73 species, with 16 lifers for Bob.

Red-throated Loon - 2 seen from Rosario Head
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Tundra Swan - 6 at Dugualla Bay
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Gadwall
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Canvasback - about 20 at Dugualla Bay
Greater Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Surf Scoter
Barrows Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser - a dozen at Crockett Lake near the ferry terminal
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Black Oystercatcher - 3 in flight at Rosario Head
Pacific Golden-Plover
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Black Turnstone - 4 near Duwamish Head in West Seattle
Surfbird - 1 near Duwamish Head in West Seattle
Sanderling
Dunlin
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
American Herring Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Rhinoceros Auklet
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird

Good birding!
Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.websterATcomcast.net