Hi everyone,



Last Saturday (the 14th), Mason Flint and I co-led a field trip for Seattle Audubon through the Snoqualmie Valley.? We had a good (read dry) day weather-wise, with no fog (unusual for the valley in the morning this time of year) with a good group.? No rarities were seen, but we picked up most of the species that would be expected for this time of year - total species seen by the group was 55.? Most notable of all perhaps was the significant damage caused by this winter's major flood - there was more damage in the valley than I have seen in several decades of living in the area.? I had been concerned this might reduce the number of ground-dwelling birds we saw, and the number of sparrows seen was probably lower than would normally be expected, but on the whole the avian denizens didn't seem too worse for the wear.? People on the trip wanted to have a checklist of what we saw, which follows.



A couple of quick notes of potential interest:



-? There was a group of swans along West Snoqualmie Valley Road between 80th and 100th which have been there multiple times this winter when I've driven by.? There was at least one Tundra in with the Trumpeters, and the flock included a significant percentage (perhaps a third) of immature Trumpeters.? Parking in this area is difficult and the road is well-traveled, so it is not the best place to stop and observe.



-? Bald Eagles were very numerous - perhaps as many as twenty seen during the day.? This is relatively common in recent years, and the steelhead are running up the Snoqualmie now which is probably one of the factors.?



-? An American Dipper was found at the bridge near the fish hatchery on Tokul Creek, one of the most reliable places to see this species in King County.? Tokul Creek suffered a very significant amount of flood damage, including wiping out the intake supply system for the hatchery, but the Dipper was doing its thing as usual.?



-? A brief walk on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail at Stillwater proved productive, as this spot virtually always does, including several Purple Finches.? This stop also provided the very rare opportunity to compare Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers side-by-side in the same binocular field of view when the birds spent several minutes working the same tree in very close proximity.? The same situation occurred with a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, which were both perched sufficiently close for a simultaneous scope view - clearly showing the different in size between the male and female.?



-? Hooded Merganser pairs seemed to be particularly common, seen in multiple locations.



- A pair of American Kestrels were seen near Sikes Lake, a fairly reliable site to find this relatively uncommon King County species.



-? Several Ruby-crowned Kinglets were seen at the pond by the Stillwater parking lot, engaging in hawking small bugs.? The birds were in the pond-side vegetation but focusing on hawking bugs rather than nervously working through the trees as is typical for the species.? This situation afforded great views for everyone, including the resplendent ruby crests.



The complete checklist, in taxonomic order, from the trip was:



Snow Goose - one bird seen at the parking lot in a flock of Canadas, not seen by the whole group

Cackling Goose

Canada Goose

Trumpeter Swan

Tundra Swan

Gadwall

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Ring-necked Duck

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Pied-billed Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier - seen at distance, not seen by the whole group

Cooper's Hawk

Accipiter spp in flight, un-ID'd, probably also Cooper's

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Western Gull (a single bird seen in Fall City perched on a light pole)

Glaucous-winged Gull (and Glacous x Western hybrids)

Rock Pigeon

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Steller's Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (heard only)

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

European Starling

Spotted Towhee

Fox Sparrow (seen by one member of the group during lunch break)

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Purple Finch

House Finch

House Sparrow



John Tubbs

Snoqualmie, WA

johntubbs at comcast.net