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.

Alcids all around

Two adult Pigeon Guillemot on the left.  Adult with immature on the right.  The medium-sized alcids were abundant today in Admiralty Sound off Port Townsend.  We also found a Common Murre, one lone Cassin’s Auklet, scads of Marbled Murrelets in pairs, some young Rhino Auklets and then a dense float of adults.  The latter were about a mile offshore from Point Wilson, Fort Worden State Park.

Altogether our group had over 75 species on the day, our most productive of the five-day PIB Northwest birding trip.  We had over 115 species for the trip and everybody picked up lifers.  And photos of many of our birds will be forthcoming on this blog.  Here are a couple more:

A Turnstone Tornado.  Over 120 Black Turnstones on the wooden pier structure of the ferry terminal at Port Townsend.  They were accompanied by shrill whistles and a couple Surfbirds.  That’s the Surfbird with yellow legs in the final picture.

We also had a trio of Trumpeters in a pasture on Whidbey Island, giving us a total of 30 waterfowl on the trip.  We chose to spend our time chasing a Yellow-billed Loon off Point Wilson rather than pick up the 31st, Ruddy Ducks in a pond in Port Townsend.  We didn’t get the loon but did see the float of adult Rhino Auklets, some already in breeding plumage.

Pictures From Puget Sound

Here are some fine pictures by Tom Bush, one of the PIB expedition members on the Northwest birding trip.  We expect to do another trip in 2011.  The next group to go will gather in Portland next week.

There could not be a more emblematic bird for our trip than the Harlequin.  This delicately marked duck goes from breeding on crashing streams to wintering on cold, open water.  Here’s a pair of males cruising off Whidbey Island.

Here’s a pair on the rugged shore at Hama Hama on the Hood Canal.

Here’s that same pair, now alerted to our staring gaze.

Top to bottom:

Barrow’s Goldeneye male on Hood Canal at Potlatch State Park.

Common Goldeneye male practices for the spring displaying competition.

Truly a golden eye.

Black Oystercatcher feeding on the beach at Sequim yacht harbor.

Young Bald Eagle at Nisqually NWR.  We probably saw four dozen different Bald Eagles on this trip.  Sightings included a copulating pair at Railroad Bridge Park in Sequim.  Tow different eagles with ducks at Whidbey Island.  Most amazing was a young eagle catching, then losing, a Cackling Goose on a lake on Sauvie Island.  That action attracted three other Bald Eagles and not even the mature individual could re-capture the goose which actually dove to escape capture.

Trumpeters at Sequim.

Song Sparrow, Nisqually.