During 2019 I visited Carkeek Park in northwest Seattle regularly
throughout the year, making at least a brief stop on 223 different days.
I've only been birding there for a couple of years since I moved to the
neighborhood so I'm still working on getting a good sense of what is to be
expected year to year, but it has been a lot of fun getting to know a new
birding location fairly well. Here are many of the highlights from the 178
species that I observed at the park in 2019. Birds listed in all capital
letters were particularly surprising and rare in the general region. Birds
marked with an asterisk were new species for the park as far as I can tell.

Snow Goose - five sightings with a max of 30 on 10/15
Greater White-fronted Goose - two late September sightings including a
flock of 58 flying over on 9/26
Brant - max of 70 on 4/20
Cackling Goose - max of 73
Trumpeter Swan* - 10 on 3/30, 4 on 11/19, 2 on 11/28
Tundra Swan* - 1 flying north with two Trumpeter Swans on 11/28
Wood Duck - 1 on 7/31
Cinnamon Teal - 2 on 4/22 were probably the same two seen earlier in the
day at Richmond Beach Park, 1 on 8/24, 9/24 & 9/27
Northern Shoveler - max of 32 on 8/11
Eurasian Wigeon - max of 3 on 10/8
Eurasian x American Wigeon (hybrid)* - 1 on 10/8
Northern Pintail - max of 475 on 10/7 in just half an hour toward the end
of the day
Green-winged Teal - max of 116 on 8/24
Canvasback - 1 male on 11/2
Ring-necked Duck - 10 on 10/6
Lesser Scaup - max of 15 on 10/27
Harlequin Duck - eight sightings with a max of 4 on 8/24
Surf Scoter - max of 250 on 4/7
White-winged Scoter - max of 19 on 10/24
Black Scoter - max on 25 on 12/1, much more common this winter than last
Common x Barrow's Goldeneye (hybrid) - one wintering both this year and last
Hooded Merganser - 2 on 4/12, 1 on 8/8 and 8/15
Ruddy Duck* - 2 males on 10/15 was probably my most surprising waterfowl
sighting of the year
Pied-billed Grebe* - 1 on 10/25
Horned Grebe - max of 145 on 3/30
Red-necked Grebe - max of 103 on 3/12
Eared Grebe - one seen regularly from 10/15 to 12/1
Western Grebe - seen all 12 months with a max of 450 on 4/28
Clark's Grebe - 1 on 9/14 and 10/29
Eurasian Collared-Dove - only seen twice with 3 on 5/4 and 1 on 7/14. I
also found a freshly killed dead bird in the fall.
Mourning Dove - 1 on 5/4
BLACK OYSTERCATCHER - 2 on 4/2
Black-bellied Plover* - 1 on 2/9 during the snow
Semipalmated Plover - six times 8/9 to 8/24 with a max of 2 on 8/16
Killdeer - max of 22 on 8/9
Whimbrel - four late April to early May sightings plus 1 on 8/11 and a max
of 6 on 8/24
Black Turnstone - 3 on 8/15
Surfbird - 27 on 1/5
Dunlin - max of 150 on 10/26
Baird's Sandpiper - max of 5 on 8/13 plus one daily 9/4 to 9/6
Least Sandpiper - max of 40 on 8/11
Semipalmated Sandpiper - sightings on seven dates from 7/3 to 8/11 with a
max of 2 on 7/9 & 7/10, one of which was banded in Peru back in 2012-2013!
Western Sandpiper - max of 48 on 8/11
Red-necked Phalarope - max of 70 on 8/24
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 on 7/16
Lesser Yellowlegs* - 1 on 7/23, 8/4, 8/6 & 8/9
POMARINE JAEGER* - 1 on 11/24 flying south fairly close to shore
Parasitic Jaeger - seen on 14 dates from 5/21 to 10/6 with a max of 3 on
7/2 and 9/11
Common Murre - max of 2960 on 8/24, the big numbers gather in the distance
off Jeff Head
Pigeon Guillemot - max of 5 on 5/4
Marbled Murrelet - max of 12 on 7/1
Rhinoceros Auklet - max of 193 on 7/14
HORNED PUFFIN* - 1 adult flew past heading south on 7/1
TUFTED PUFFIN* - 1 adult flew past heading south on 7/13
Bonaparte's Gull - max of 2090 on 4/7
Heermann's Gull - max of only 32 on 9/29. In 2018 my max was 350 on 11/3.
Ring-billed Gull - max of 6 on 4/20
Western Gull - single birds on 2/9, 5/8, 5/10 & 10/8
California Gull - max of 800 on 10/5
Herring Gull - one on 4/27, max of 2 on 11/9
Iceland Gull - max of 4 on 10/15
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL* - 1 adult found by Sarah Peden on 10/22 was the
first record for Seattle and only about the 10th for western Washington
Caspian Tern - max of 70 on 4/20
SOOTY SHEARWATER* - 1 on 8/12, 8/13, 8/14 & 8/26
BROWN PELICAN - 1 on 7/16 & 7/18
Great Blue Heron - max of 12 on 7/14
GREAT EGRET* - 1 in view for over 20 minutes flying north on 10/6
Green Heron - 1 on 5/21
Turkey Vulture - sightings from six dates with a max of 25 on 9/26
Northern Harrier* - 1 on 9/28, 2 on 10/6, 1 on 10/27
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 light adult Harlan's on 11/3 and 12/17, this bird seems
to be wintering in the area this winter
Rough-legged Hawk* - 1 on 9/30
Barn Owl* - 1 on 10/2
Red-breasted Sapsucker - max of 3 on 10/1
American Kestrel - 1 on 4/20 migrating north
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1 on 5/4, 2 on 9/10
Western Wood-Pewee - 1 on 5/12
Willow Flycatcher - 1 on 8/1
Hammond's Flycatcher - max of 2 on 4/27 & 5/4
Cassin's Vireo - 1 on 4/28, 1 singing on territory 5/10 to 7/1
California Scrub-Jay - 1 on 8/27
Common Raven - max of 4 on 10/8
Horned Lark* - 1 on 9/11
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - max of 3 on 5/4
Purple Martin - max of 34 on 8/19
Tree Swallow - max of 4 on 8/12
Violet-green Swallow - max of 4 on 7/3
Bank Swallow* - 1 on 4/20 migrating north
Barn Swallow - max of 9 on 8/15
Cliff Swallow - 1 on 4/27
Hermit Thrush - max of 11 on 4/28
Cedar Waxwing - max of 108 on 9/24
American Pipit - max of 4 on 10/6
Evening Grosbeak - four sightings
Red Crossbill - 4 "Type 3" on 5/28 was my only sighting of the year
Pine Siskin - max of 280 on 12/1
American Goldfinch - max of 32 on 4/20
Chipping Sparrow - 1 juv on 7/19, 1 adult on 9/27
BREWER'S SPARROW* - 1 on 5/21 spent its time buried in the vegetation along
the railroad tracks and only was visible when flushed up by passing trains
White-throated Sparrow - max of 2 on 4/15 and 10/2
VESPER SPARROW* - 1 on 5/1 to 5/2
Lincoln's Sparrow - max of 3 on 5/4
Western Meadowlark - 1 on 10/6
Bullock's Oriole* - 1 on 5/10
Red-winged Blackbird - max of 3 on 5/6
MacGillivray's Warbler - 1 on 5/9 and 8/23
Common Yellowthroat - max of 2 on 4/28 and 9/11
Yellow-rumped Warbler - max of 160 on 4/26
Black-throated Gray Warbler - including a late bird on 10/5
Wilson's Warbler - max of 38 on 5/4

Good birding,
Ryan Merrill
Seattle, WA
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