WINTER BIRDS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

UPDATE: SIGN-UPS FOR THIS TRIP CLOSE ON NOVEMBER 15, 2011.  This coming January PIB and Minneapolis Audubon are teaming up on a trip to the Pacific Northwest.  For Minnesotans the weather will seem mild despite the rain.  The wintering birds will agree.  Most have come down  from the Arctic to enjoy the temperate weather of coastal Oregon and Washington State.  The trip will begin and end in Portland.  For a complete itinerary, dates and list of target birds click here.

Here are soe pictures taken by birder Bob Shade on one previous trip:

Male Barrow’s Goldeneye on Hood Canal.

Black Turnstone on the rocks at Seaside, Oregon.

Pair of Harlequin Ducks just off the ferry dock at Keystone Harbor on Whidbey Island, WA.  This photo by tour leader, Harry Fuller.

A Pacific Wren in brush at Fort Lewis, OR, near the mouth of the Columbia River.  And a Surfbird with its gray back on the same stretch of beach as the turnstones.

A bunch of Brant watching a bunch of birders near Hama Hama, WA.

Other birds we see on this trip include: Red-throated and Pacific Loons, Black Oystercatcher, Long-tailed Duck, Pigeon Guillemot and Rhino Auklet, Glaucous-winged and Western Gulls, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Anna’s Hummingbird.  We will also visit Ft. Clatsop where Lewis & Clark spent the winter 1804-5 and a Native American cultural center for the S’Kallam Tribe.

Here’s a link to blogs done during last year’s trip.

SEABIRDS IN THE RAIN FOREST, GALLERY PART 2

More pictures from the birders on our 2010 winter trips to the Pacific Northwest.  HERE YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT OUR TRIP IN 2011.

PHOTOS, TOP TO BOTTOM:

Brant loafing along the shore of Hood Canal, Washington State.  Photo by Steve Murray.

Male White-winged Scoter, Hood Canal.  By Steve Murray.

Harlequin couple on the rocks along Hood Canal.  Photo by Jeannie Mitchell.

Male Olds… Long-tailed Duck cruising the yacht harbor at Sequim, Washington.  Photo by Ms Mitchell.

A Glaucous-winged Gull struggles to get up enough speed to show its disapprobation of an adult Bald Eagle.  The eagle seemed to be carrying a Coot  in its talons.  This action shot by Ms Jeannie Mitchell.

Red-tailed Hawk dining on fresh rodent, Sauvie’s Island, Oregon.  Photo by Ms Mitchell.

Trumpeter Swans in flight, Sauvie’s Island, Oregon.  Photo by Ms Mitchell.

Whidbey Island beach, photo by Jennifer Hyypio.  Here we saw a large flock of Black Oystercatchers.  A flotilla of Harlequins, several species of loon and grebe fished offshore and a Pacific (nee “Winter’) Wren came down to insect-hunt in the driftwood.

Hood Canal Beauties

ONe of the Barrow’s Goldeneyes we saw today.  One on the right is making his courtship moves.  “How smooth am I?” he mutters in Barrowese.

Harlequin pair we found near the Hama Hama Estuary.  There we also found some great smoked oysters.

Long-tailed Duck female at the Sequim marina.

Monday Checklists

Here are some of the sightings from specific locations today as we moved from Lacey to Sequim, Washington:

Location:     Kennedy Creek estuary
Observation date:     1/25/10
Number of species:     13

American Wigeon     40
Northern Pintail     60
Green-winged Teal     10
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Black-bellied Plover     15
Dunlin (Pacific)     300
Glaucous-winged Gull     6
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)     1
American/Northwestern Crow     12
Black-capped Chickadee     1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee     4
Golden-crowned Kinglet     6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     1
Golden-crowned Sparrow     4

Location:     Potlatch State Park
Observation date:     1/25/10
Number of species:     17

American Wigeon     60
Mallard     10
Greater Scaup     25
Bufflehead     15
Common Goldeneye     15
Barrow’s Goldeneye     6
Red-breasted Merganser     12,   Harlequin  1
Common Loon     4
Horned Grebe     4
Red-necked Grebe     1
Double-crested Cormorant     16
Great Blue Heron     1
Bald Eagle     1
California Gull     2
Herring Gull     2
Glaucous-winged Gull     8
American/Northwestern Crow     30

Location:     Hama Hama River Delta
Observation date:     1/25/10
Number of species:     17

American Wigeon     50
Mallard     10
Northern Pintail     35
Greater Scaup     15
Surf Scoter     85
White-winged Scoter (North American)     15
Bufflehead     12
Common Goldeneye     40, Harlequin 2

Barrow’s Goldeneye     8,  Red-breasted Merganser   16,  Common Loon     1
Horned Grebe     5
Double-crested Cormorant     20
Great Blue Heron     1
Bald Eagle     2
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)     35
Glaucous-winged Gull     3
American/Northwestern Crow     40

Location:     Dosewallips State Park
Observation date:     1/25/10
Number of species:     18

Brant     75
American Wigeon     40
Northern Pintail     60
Green-winged Teal (American)     12
Surf Scoter     4
Bufflehead     15
Common Goldeneye     10
Common Loon     1
Horned Grebe     2
Great Blue Heron     1
Bald Eagle     1
Dunlin     25
Mew Gull     15
California Gull     12
Herring Gull     5
Glaucous-winged Gull     30
Spotted Towhee     2
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)     8

Location:     John Wayne Marina
Observation date:     1/25/10
Number of species:     20

American Wigeon     30
Greater Scaup     4
Surf Scoter     8
Long-tailed Duck     1
Bufflehead     25
Common Goldeneye     25
Barrow’s Goldeneye     4
Hooded Merganser     3
Red-breasted Merganser     16
Common Loon     1
Horned Grebe     4
Double-crested Cormorant     15
Pelagic Cormorant     3
Great Blue Heron     1
Black Oystercatcher     1
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)     25
California Gull     2
Pigeon Guillemot     2
Belted Kingfisher     1
Bushtit (Pacific)     25
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     1

Location:     Seqium and Dungeness
Observation date:     1/25/10
Number of species:     23

Trumpeter Swan     62
American Wigeon     50
Mallard     40
Northern Pintail     30
Green-winged Teal     12
Surf Scoter     16
Common Goldeneye     10
Red-breasted Merganser     4
Pelagic Cormorant     6
Great Blue Heron     1
Bald Eagle     2
Northern Harrier     1
Cooper’s Hawk     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Black-bellied Plover     18
Marbled Godwit     1
Sanderling     15
Western Sandpiper     20
Dunlin     130
Mew Gull     10
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)     30
California Gull     6
Pigeon Guillemot     2
Mourning Dove     2