Tweets

12 of us headed out on the first ferry to Lopez Saturday morning for our 3rd annual WOS field trip to San Juan County. Overall, it was a great two days of good company, good birds, and very cooperative weather. We were definitely a bit too early spring passerine migrants, but even without much in the way of new arrivals or rarities we had two fun days full of birds.



On the ferry ride over, birds were pretty thin, with many Rhino Auklets in their finery, Brandts & Pelagic Cormorants, the first of several breeding plumage Common Loons, and for a few people a Red-throated Loon.



We began on Lopez at Oldin County Park, where we watched the first of what would be a deluge of Orange-crowned Warblers - this one even showing its orange crown! A Pileated Woodpecker greeted us as we got out of the cars as well.



In the flooded fields off Port Stanley Rd., American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Savannah & White-crowned Sparrows, American Goldfinch & Pine Siskin joined the day, and our first swallows ? Violet-green. At a pond by Swifts Bay, we picked up Greater Yellowlegs, Gadwall, Hooded Merganser & Northern Pintail. Spencer Spit State Park had Northern Rough-winged Swallows, 5 loud Long-tailed Ducks out in the water, two Black Oystercatchers flying overhead, the first of many many Turkey Vultures, Mew & Glaucous Winged Gulls,, Hairy Woodpecker & Brown Creeper, and a very aggressive Rufous Hummingbird that chased us out of the parking area.



En route to Hummel Lake, we heard Wilson?s Snipe clicking in the fields. At Hummel we had our first Common Yellowthroats, Marsh Wren & Double-crested Cormorants, and heard a distant Mourning Dove across the water that we tried unsuccessfully to track down on the south shore.



At Fisherman Bay, from the south end, we spent ages trying to puzzle out the specific id of 3 dowitcher across the bay from us- light wasn?t great, distance was, and the birds remained stubbornly silent, so we eventually left them at ?dowitcher sp.?. In addition to the dowitchers, Fisherman Bay had several peeps, Dunlin, Greater Yellowlegs, & Caspian Tern. Outside the bay, we watched Pacific Loons, Harlequin Ducks, Horned Grebe and the like. We ate lunch at the Fisherman Bay Spit Preserve, a beautiful stop at the far end of the spit.



Stopping at flooded fields near the airport, on Fisherman Bay Rd., a flock of geese included Cackling Goose, Canada Goose & one White-fronted. Cliff & Tree Swallows were over the marsh, and we heard Sora. At the next marsh, viewed from Center Church, we saw our only American Coots of the trip, and a bright male Cinnamon Teal.



We stopped in at the Shark Reef Preserve, where we enjoyed good looks at Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones, Common Murres & Pacific Loons.



Aleck Bay Rd. had a flock of Wild Turkeys in the fields, and along Cousins Road we had excellent looks at a perched Golden Eagle, presumably part of the pair that nests in the area.



The day ended on San Juan Island after a ferry ride ? We picked up Eurasian Collared Dove at the corner of Bailer Hill & Douglas Rd. Then, while looking for bluebirds in the area, a Merlin came cruising in. It put on quite a show ? first being chased by crows, then chasing starlings, Rock Pigeons, and finally, returning to buzz the crows that had harassed it earlier.



Sunday 15 April:

Our second day began with a stop at 3 Meadows Marsh [permission requested to access] where we enjoyed a wide variety of ducks & swallows including our first Wood Ducks of the trip. On Sportsman Lake, we added Greater & Lesser Scaup to the trip list. Along Valley Farm Road, we saw a [the?] Merlin again, California Quail, and some lingering Golden-crowned Sparrows.



On Cattle Point Rd., just south of Little Rd., we had great looks at nesting Western Bluebirds perched near their boxes. 4th of July Beach was our next stop ? a large group of Long-tailed Ducks floated by, along with Surf & White-winged Scoters, and an Eared Grebe. Another extremely distant collection of shorebirds provoked more debates ? we could id Black-bellied Plovers & Dunlin, but were there also Surfbirds out there? Western or Least Sandpipers? At South Beach at American Camp, we scoped out 3 flying Brant and a Marbled Murrelet. Cattle Point offered more Black Oystercatchers, alcids, Surf Scoters & cormorants. At False Bay we saw our only confirmed California Gull along with another Greater Yellowlegs a couple Black Oystercatchers and many Green-winged Teal.



We spent less time over on the west side of the island than usual because we?d jumped the gun on the passerine arrivals ? nevertheless, at a pond below Mt. Dallas we got great looks at Hooded Mergansers & Wood Ducks, and at English Camp we enjoyed looks at an Osprey on its traditional nest .



For the trip, it looks like we tallied 113 species and had a lot of fun doing so.



Best,



Matt Bartels

Seattle, WA