March 12 - Mountain Quail and Garry Oaks

There was a high overcast and it was 38° F when we got up this morning.  I got Marty off to work, then drove out through Allyn to the Kitsap Peninsula where Mountain Quail had been reported to eBird this past week or so.  As I drove north on U.S. Highway 101, the Olympic Mountains were showing above the clouds.

Dontcha just hate having to live in the Pacific Northwest?

However, when I got to the clear-cut where the quail have been seen and heard, it was pretty foggy.  As I got out of the car, I heard the clear whistle of the Mountain Quail,

There's a quail calling out there

repeatedly coming from the brush to the west.  I walked out to the power lines and back,

Still foggy, still hearing the quail off to the right . . .

but never got a view of the quail, although I got a sound recording.

Go to the eBird report for the sound recording . . .

On the way back toward Olympia, I stopped at the Bayshore Preserve, owned by the Capitol Land Trust.

The preserve covers 74 acres on the western shore of Oakland Bay, Puget Sound, about three miles northwest of Shelton in Mason County, Washington on Oakland Bay.

The property features 27 acres of pristine salt marsh habitat, over 4,000 feet of Oakland Bay shoreline, and the lower portion of Johns Creek.

Don't walk on their marsh

A portion of the preserve includes the 47-acre former 1948 nine-hole golf course that closed at the end of 2013.  The Trust notes that the course is “… being restored to native habitat.”  Unfortunately, much of the “restoration” consists of planting a lot of fir and pine trees, along with willows and other deciduous starts in what was obviously a remnant of Puget Sound native prairies.

Many conservation groups believe that "restoration" means planting trees . . .

Rather than planting “native” lodgepole pine, it would have been so nice for the Trust to have worked with other conservation organizations to restore the critically endangered prairie habitat.

Remnant white oak prairi

There are many beautiful “heritage” Garry Oaks on the site, but the “restorers” have planted “native” trees and shrubs underneath these ancient oaks.  The problem is that when the trees and bush grow up into the limbs of the oaks, and finally over-top them, it will kill the white oaks by shading them and increasing the moisture and insects for a tree that needs open, dry growing conditions.

"Restoration" will likely kill this oak in about 40 years . . .

Part of the completed restoration includes removal of buildings and a 1,400 foot tidal dike, and the creation of new tidal channels along the marine shoreline and new side channels on Johns Creek.

In spite of the land-use "restoration" issues, this is a nice place to stop and bird along Highway 3 in Mason County.

146^th Street Quail Spot eBird Checklist is Here

Bayshore Preserve eBird Checklist is Here

March 10 - Westport, Washington

It was clear and 26° F when we got up this morning at 8:30 - we hadn’t set the clocks ahead for Daylight Savings Time, and slept in until what would’ve been 7:30 . . .    Marty and I decided to drive over to the Coast, and we went south and around the Capitol Forest via the Elma-Gate Road to Highway 12, where she could do a drive-by assessment of a couple of her work projects.  On the drive over, I stopped at a couple of places to scan the swan flocks, as I haven’t seen a Tundra Swan yet this year, but all the birds I looked at were Trumpeter Swans.

We drove out to the south side of Grays Harbor, through Westport, and out to Westhaven State Park.

Gulls were bathing in the freshwater deflation plain 'pond'

I walked out to the base of the jetty to see if I could find any ‘rockpipers’, but didn’t see any.

There was a lot of "human traffic" on the Jetty

So, we went over to the finger jetties and harbor in Westport, but again I didn’t see any shorebirds.

In the Westhaven Marina there were quite a few Western Grebes

Love those red eyes!

and gulls to sort through on the wooden breakwater

I only saw one Mew Gull amongst the other gulls . . .

I did run into the Black Hill Audubon Identifying Shorebirds class, led by Scott Mills, as they departed Float 21,

The class included Ken Brown and Mary Pearce

where there were a few Marbled Godwits and Black Turnstones.

There are often 'shorebirds' on the old floats on the north side of the boat basin.

The "black dots" were Black Turnstones

I was surprised at the 'suds' floating through the commercial docks toward the Coast Guard station.

Hope they're using organic detergents . . .

Defeated by the rockpipers, Marty & I went to Blackbeard’s brew pub for dinner and a couple of pints of their Märzenbier.  Littlerock-area birder Jay Stene came in for a pint, and told me that the class had seen birds on the rocks at the Fishermen’s Memorial, so after we finished eating, we stopped there, and sure I climbed back onto the breakwater to scan the rocks.

One of Westport's Finger Jetties

Sure enough, there were Surfbirds, Rock Sandpipers, and more turnstones on one of the finger jetties that I’d scoped earlier in the day.

Surfbirds, Black Turnstones, and Rock Sandpipers on these rocks

“Time, Patience, and Perseverance will accomplish all things . . . .” 

I didn’t see any Life Birds today, but added Black Turnstone, Surfbird, and Rock Sandpiper as “Year Birds”.

Westhaven State Park eBird Checklist is Here

Early Afternoon Westport Marina eBird Checklist is Here

Late Afternoon Westport Marina eBird Checklist is Here