Happy New Year, Tweets.

We finished 2016 with 183 species seen in Edmonds. Code 5 (fewer than five records) birds included: Redhead, Great Egret, Swainson?s Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Western Screech-Owl, Say?s Phoebe, Western Kingbird, and Palm Warbler. Code 4 (rare, 5+ records) birds were: Trumpeter Swan, Clark?s Grebe, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Lesser Yellowlegs, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson?s Phalarope, Cassin?s Auklet, Sabine?s Gull, Western Gull, American Kestrel, California Scrub-Jay, Bank Swallow, Chipping Sparrow, and Common Redpoll.

Some notable misses in 2016 were several code 3 (harder to find, but usually seen annually) species: Cinnamon Teal, Common Tern, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Red Crossbill.

We look forward to a birdy 2017. We already have ticked about 60 species, including the continuing Palm Warbler that many birders saw today at Marina Beach. Our 2017 Edmonds checklist is ready. It reflects the major changes in taxonomic order and adjusts both American White Pelican and Surfbird from code 5 to code 4. Send a request to checklistedmonds at gmail.com <mailto:checklistedmonds at gmail.com> and we?ll send you a pdf file of the one-page checklist. We keep a copy of the checklist in the bird information box at the visitor station at the base of the public pier. New year sightings are added to it regularly.

Good birding in 2017,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds