Hi Tweeters,

This roundup covers the first two months of 2020. We have seen or read reports of most of the expected birds for the time of year. Following are the rarer birds we have added to the 2020 year list.

January: Code 4 species: Black Turnstone and Surfbird on the marina breakwater; Great Horned Owl in the Seaview Park neighborhood; American Kestrel flying above Yost Park. Code 3 species: Lesser Scaup on the Edmonds side of Lake Ballinger; Wilson's Snipe at the marsh; Brewer's Blackbird, Dunlin, Brandt's Cormorant, Harlequin Duck, Northern Pintail, and Red-throated Loon along the waterfront; Common Raven in a Pine Ridge park neighborhood; Eurasian Collared-Dove in a waterfront neighborhood; White-throated Sparrow in a north Edmonds neighborhood.

February: Code 3 species: Wood Duck at Pine Ridge Park; Eurasian Wigeon at Water Street. The Great Horned Owl in the Seaview Park neighborhood again was heard hooting after dark.

While we still see species diversity, numbers continue to decline. I would guess it is consistent with the recent report on the decline of North American birds and not just a local anomaly. For example, Surf Scoters used to winter along the waterfront in a flock that numbered over a hundred birds. Ten to 20 Surf Scoters are now more typical. On the other hand, cormorant numbers have declined over the years since the Unocal dock was removed from Marina Beach. It was a major roosting site. Now they are limited to a few pilings inside the marina, near the ferry dock, and at Haines Wharf Park. So cormorant decline might be related locally to the loss of a major roosting site as opposed to an overall decline in numbers..

We ended February with 103 year species. Thanks to all of you who share your Edmonds sightings with me. They really help us develop an accurate year list. We do look at eBird, but for various reasons do not always add those sightings to our local year list. The 2020 year list is in the bird information display case at the Olympic Beach Visitor Station at the base of the public pier. I update it from time to time.

Our revised checklist reflects 276 species, including two new species. They are Slaty-backed Gull and American Tree Sparrow. The checklist is available in a PDF format that you can keep on your device or print out if you want to use it in the field. If you would like a copy, please request it at checklistedmonds at gmail.com.

Good birding,

Carol Riddell
Edmonds, WA

Abundance codes: (1) Common, (2) Uncommon, (3) Harder to find, usually seen annually, (4) Rare, 5+ records, (5) Fewer than 5 records
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