Tweets,

Phyllis Moss and I led a fun and rewarding Seattle Audubon trip to Birch Bay, Semiahmoo Spit, Drayton Harbor and Discovery Bay on Saturday with a very cooperative and congenial set of birders on Saturday, December 10. After an early morning start during which the eclipse of the moon was still visible, we made a quick stop at the Whatcom Wildlife Unit, a mitigation project on Grandview Road near the BP Cherry Point refinery, where we were surprised by a large flock of Western Meadowlarks in addition to Spotted Towhees, Song and Golden-crowned Sparrows, American Robins, a Varied Thrush and Red-winged Blackbirds.

Moving on to Birch Bay State Park, we were pleasantly surprised by the number of waterfowl. The highlights of almost two hours of scoping Birch Bay from several locations included Cackling Geese; Eurasian Wigeon; thousands of Northern Pintails;, stunning views of Harlequin Ducks; Surf, White-winged and Black Scoters; many Long-tailed Ducks; Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers; good looks at Red-throated, Pacific and Common Loons; Horned, Eared, Red-necked and Western Grebes; Greater Yellowlegs; a quick glance at a Pigeon Guillemot; and a Downy Woodpecker.

Sated with both diving and dabbling ducks, we next headed to Semiahmoo Spit and foggy views of Drayton Harbor, where we were pleased to find Brant; hundreds of Canvasback, more Long-tailed Ducks; Pelagic Cormorants; very close views of the resident Peregrine Falcon; one of the spit's Black Oystercatchers, dozens of Surfbirds, Sanderlings and Fox, Song, White-crowned, Golden-crowned and House Sparrows workng the leaves near the Marina restaurant, where we were able to warm ourselves with hot drinks and soup.

We ended the day at the dike at the 72nd Street entrance to Boundary Bay Regional Park in British Columbia, where we were first surprised when we stepped out of our cars by dueling Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls, and then almost overwhelmed by the large number (18) of Snowy Owls scattered around the tidelands of Boundary Bay. The Snowy Owls ranged from dark to light colored, and seem unfazed by the attention they were receiving from photographers, birders and walkers. We spent the remaining daylight hour watching the Snowies, Short-eared Owls, and Northern Harriers and several shape-shifting flights of Dunlin far away on the tide-flats. By the end of a cold but good birding day, we had seen 72 species. Here's the list:

Brant
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Greater Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Double-creasted Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Surfbird
Sanderling
Dunlin
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull
Mew Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Pigeon Guillemot
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Snowy Owl
Short-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Steller's Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Sparrow

Jim Owens
Mercer Island