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.

Steve Murray: More Fine Northwestern Images

Top to Bottom:  Mule deer buc watching the watchers.

Red-breasted Merganser.

White-winged Scoter male on Hood Canal where they were often within thirty yards of shore.

Lincoln’s Sparrow in the marsh at Crockett Lake on central shoreline of Whidbey Island, across the road from  the Keystone Ferry Terminal.

Marsh Wren at Nisqually NWR.

Shade Pictures of the Northwest, II

Top to bottom;

Brant on the beach at Dosewallips, along Hood Canal.

Common Loon with heavy beak and squarish head.  The more slender Red-throated Loon with a slightly up-turned beak.

Pileated Woodpecker at Tolmie State Park north of Olympia, WA.

Golden-crowned Sparrow.

White-winged Scoter on Hood Canal.   Male with his fancy face mask.

Red-tailed Hawk juvenile on

Sauvie Island.

Beach at Fort Ebey State Park on Whidbey Island.

February PIB birders sharing the path with Canada Geese at Nisqually NWR.

Northwest Birding Gallery, February, 2010

One of the numerous Bald Eagles on Sauvie Island, west of Portland, Oregon.  The large number of wintering waterfowl attract the predatory eagles each year.  The competition is easily viewed as mature eagles like this one frequently swoop in and displace a younger eagle from its perch with a clear view of the lakes and marshes.  Geese and ducks are spooked into swirling flocks aflight whenever an eagle soars over their location.  Harriers can also raise a cloud of birds. The potential prey does not act the same way when a Red-tailed Hawk is seen.

Below:   Peregrine overlooking marsh on the  west end of Sauvie Island.

Top to bottom:  Looking east across the flats of Sauvie Island.

Dawn at Astoria near the mouth of the Columbia River.

Eagle pair overlooking Columbia from perch in Warrenton, Oregon.  After they left this lone young eagle took the same perch, well known, apparently, among local eagles.

Two Surfbirds on the boulder beach at Seaside, Oregon.  As usual, they were mixed in with a flock of Black Turnstones.  Offshore were White-winged Scoters.  On the right: single Surfbird and starfish on rocks.

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