We had a good day going out to Vashon today with 69 species. We mostly seemed to pick up a lot of the usual suspects with a few uncommon to rare birds.

Highlights:

Brant: a couple of dozen on the ferry coming and going
Harlequin Duck: always a pretty show, some right by the Vashon dock and a nice long fly by look at mid channel which was unusual.
Red-breasted Merganser and Common Merganser: several nice flocks of 20-50 of each
Eared Grebe: a good bird for King County, hard to miss at the Tramp Harbor fishing pier, bright, beady, red eyes
Virginia Rail: calling at the Monument Road marsh
Wilson's Snipe: rocketing upwards suddenly at Monument Road, probably more that didn't flush
Three alcid species: Common Murre and Rhino Auklets mid channel and many Pigeon Guillemot chasing each other at both the Fauntleroy and Vashon docks
Three loon species: some good, if sometimes distant, looks at Red-throated and Pacific Loons in Tramp Harbor with some close in Common Loons
Three cormorant species: Brandt's Cormorant in breeding plumage about 10-15 feet from the ferry windows at the Vashon dock
Common Raven: only about 20 at the Matsuda Preserve, often as many as 50 here in the last couple of years
Northern Harrier dive-bombed by American Kestrel at Wax Orchards
Marsh Wren at Monument Road: a species for some reason very rare for Vashon
White-throated Sparrow: only uncommon but still a fun bird to find, this one has been present since at least the CBC in Vashon town (picture the owner of the house in question coming outside to their car to run an errand, pinned by a wall of binoculars, unruffled, this happens every day on Vashon)
Yellow-rumped Warbler: again not that unusual but I still love to find warblers of any kind in winter

Ed

Ed Swan
Nature writer and guide
edswan2 at comcast.net
206.949.3545
www.theswancompany.com

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