December 3, 2019 - The Missing Emperor

Now that I’m attempting to remain in the eBird “Top Ten” list of species seen in the ABA Area (North America north of Mexico), I realize that there’s another birder (Charlie Bostwick from Georgia) tied with me for 10^th place!  Well, shoot!  Up until now, I hadn’t been in competition with anyone but myself during this Peregrination year, and my focus was on seeing “Life Birds”.

Sigh . . . an adult Emperor Goose has been seen just across the Columbia River in Oregon, on Sauvie’s Island.  Since I’d not seen this species yet this year, I made the drive down I-5 and crossed the Columbia River at Longview, stopping en route at the old Trojan Plant to sort through several hundred Cackling Geese near the roadway for anything odd or interesting.

The Trojan site was developed by PGE as Oregon’s only commercial nuclear facility in the early 1970s.  Vocal opposition to the plant, as well as evidence of shoddy construction, finally led to its shut-down in 1993 after yet another leak of radioactive water.  The plant was decommissioned soon after, and the structures were finally torn town in 2006.  The former grounds provide habitat for birds, now, as well as being operated as a park.

With just the ‘usual suspects’ at Trojan, I arrived at Sauvie’s Island headed north out Reeder Road toward the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area operated by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife.  You’ll see the island’s name as Sauvie or Sauvie’s; and pronounced “Saw-vees”.  My Grandfather had, many years ago, met members of the old family, and told me they pronounced their name “Soo-vey”.

I always stop to scan through the goose flocks for birds that have been banded and marked by waterfowl managers, as I’d been paid to do so while working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service back in the Willamette Valley during the 1980s.  While enumerating geese back then, there would be dozens of plastic neck collars to read.  Now, looking through a thousand birds might yield a few collars - hopefully close enough to read one.

I did read a few collars on Cackling Geese, and one on an adult Snow Goose.  As with a bird band you find on a window-killed robin or a sparrow your cat brings in, if you can read the plastic neck collar on a goose, you can (should!) report the number to the Bird Banding Laboratory.

Another benefit of slowing down to look for marked birds is that one can sometimes find the ‘odd duck’ (in this case, a goose . . .) among the members of the flocks.  Here, a “Blue Goose” joins the “Snows”.  The “Blue” goose is a color phase of the Snow Goose, and is relatively common in the Central Flyway, but is uncommon in the flocks here in the Pacific Northwest - indeed, throughout the “West”.  The blue-phase and white-phase were considered separate species until 1983, but were “lumped” following genetic studies.

Every once in a while, an eagle would pass over and the flock would become airborne.  Sometimes, they seemed just to flush and re-settle for no discernible reason.

Oregon Birders Bill Tice and Steve Nord let me know that a Vesper Sparrow had been seen today along Rentenaar Road, just north of where we were, as well as an intermittent Black-and-White Warbler along Walton Beach.  They were going to look for the Vesper, so I gave up on endlessly scoping through the goose flocks, and opted to follow them to the sparrow site.  I’d seen many individuals of this species through the year, but it’s always nice to see one in western Oregon or Washington.  Sadly, I’d let my camera battery get low, and it ‘died’ before I could get a photo of the Vesper . . .  Thank goodness, Bill and Steve got decent photos.

Darkness comes in the early afternoon in the Pacific Northwest in December, so I headed toward home, having ‘dipped’ on the Emperor Goose.  But, there’s more opportunities before the end of the year, so “Hope Springs Eternal.”

Trojan Plant eBird checklist is Here

South Sauvie Island eBird checklist is Here

Sauvie Island Reeder Road eBird checklist is Here

Sauvie Island WA Observation deck eBird checklist is Here

Sauvie Island Rentenaar Road eBird checklist is Here

May 1 - Last Day at Nisqually for a while

I had a dentist appointment this morning, but it was over by 10 a.m., so I drove out to Nisqually NWR, as I won’t be able to go out on the weekly Wednesday Bird Walk for a while, as I’m leaving for Ohio next Monday.

I understand that there are no White Volcanoes in Ohio . . .

I caught up with the weekly Wednesday Birdwalk folks along the west boardwalk, looking at a Rufous Hummingbird on her nest.  Neither of our usual Refuge Volunteer leaders-of-the-walk, Shep Thorp nor Phil Kelley, was able to be here today, so Russ Smith and Ken Brown led the walk, and Russ pulled off partway out the north dike.

Along the dike, we usually see what geese remain this late in the Spring.  We were surprised by seeing a single Greater White-fronted Goose mixed in with the Cackling geese.

The "Specklebellies" nest on the Arctic tundra, and some winter all the way into Mexico.  We get a few in wintering in the area, as well as passing through on migration.

Outstanding in his field

And, the 'speck' does stand out amongst the Cacklers

The ”Cacklers” are on their way to nest on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

These Cacklers are Branta hutchinsii minima, and heading for their summer home

The resident Canada Geese nest here, and already have hatched their broods of goslings.

What's a Mother to do?

As it was, Ken and I were the only birders to go all the way out on the estuary boardwalk.  We usually sort through the gulls, and look for what shorebirds are left after the peak of the vernal migration.

A Narcissistic Ring-billed Gull

But, it was well that we made the effort, as we were treated to good views of a pair of Whimbrels.  The Whimbrel is a large shorebird that is fairly uncommon on the south Puget Sound beaches.

They can be found in small numbers throughout the year in Western Washington, but I’ve seen them during the Spring migration in agricultural fields.

Checking that no Peregrines are passing by . . .

Standing Pretty

In the shorebirds, the female is the larger, and has the longer bill

We returned back along the east side of the Twin Barns boardwalk loop, and noted that the Refuge folks had cut down a “beaver tree”.  This large cottonwood had been the subject of Bucky’s attention for over a year, and they’d completely girdled it as of last fall, so that it was dead by this Spring.  Dropping the tree removed the likelihood that it would fall across the boardwalk.

The walk resulted in 70 avian taxa being seen, although I missed on seeing about a dozen species due to my late arrival.  But, it was a good day to be out on the Refuge.

Song Sparrow of the Puget Sound

After the walk, Ken and I ate lunch at the Nisqually Bar & Grill.  I had the sirloin steak lunch and 2 cans of cider for $22.  Yummers!

Nisqually NWR eBird Checklist is Here

March 20 - Another good day at Nisqually NWR

I woke this morning to a sunny 38º day to celebrate the Vernal Equinox.  After making coffee, I drove out to Nisqually NWR, where more than 30 people gathered at 8 a.m. for the weekly bird walk,

ably led by Refuge Volunteers Phil Kelley and Shep Thorp.

The group followed the usual route, and we were rewarded in the Heritage orchard with a male Anna’s Hummingbird sharing the blooming Oregon Grape flowers with a first-of-the-year Rufous Hummer, just back from his winter sojourn to Mexico.

Male Anna's hummer nectaring on Oregon Grape flowers

The Tree Swallows are back in numbers, as well, and many will nest in boxes and natural cavities in the Refuge.

I am always saddened by seeing the fir and spruce trees planted in the orchard.

There are many groups around the country working to preserve the old heritage apple trees, and one would hope that the USFWS would protect this historical orchard, rather than planting “native vegetation” that will eventually shade out and kill the apple trees.

The group’s path leaves the orchard and goes around the service road for views into the open fields,

Nisqually NWR is just north of I-5

before arriving at the boardwalk along the west side of the Visitors’ Center pond, where we get good views of waterfowl and of some the “little brown jobs”.

Drake Hooded Merganser

Male Bushtits have dark eyes

while the females have yellow eyes

A crow at the picnic area was enjoying its own “elevenses”.  Where it found the head of a Mallard hen is anyone’s guess, but it could easily have been scavenged from an eagle kill . . .

Brunch on the Lido deck . . .

After a quick stop for morning snacks at the Twin Barns overlook, we continued out the north dike for views of the remaining Cackling Geese, before they leave for their breeding grounds on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta.

Many of the folks leave the group at either the Barns or at the base of the mile-long estuary boardwalk, but the “hard-core” group (those of us who don’t have a life?) continue on out, to see what’s on the mud flats.  At high tide, this area is all water.  At low tide, we get a good idea of the benefits of the estuary restoration, since the outer ring dike was removed in 2009.

The project was the largest of its kind ever undertaken in the Pacific Northwest.  Because the estuary was diked and dammed for more than 100 years, it took a decade of planning and on-the-ground work to restore tidal flow.  The end result: the successful re-connection of 762 acres of estuary to the Puget Sound.  The project restored 37 acres of riparian surge plain habitat and enhanced 240 acres of freshwater wetland habitat.  More than 4 miles of dike was removed to allow tides to flood the area, increasing salt marsh habitat in South Puget by 50 percent.  Combined with 140 acres previously restored by the Nisqually Indian Tribe, more than 900 acres of the Nisqually estuary have now been restored.

Mt. Rainier caps the view of the estuary restoration area

This boardwalk is our best opportunity to search for shorebirds, and we were rewarded with a sighting of a not-too-common-for-Nisqually Western Sandpiper.

It was warm on our return to the Visitors’ Center, as the temperature got up to 79º F this afternoon.  But, the heat didn’t slow down the birding.  In fact, it got hot and heavy for some . . .

Parents - avert your children's eyes!

We also found a drake Eurasian Wigeon mixed in with the American Wigeon flock, which we’d apparently missed on the way out.

At the end of the walk, Shep usually reviews the daily list, and while going through the sightings, we have a few minutes to see what’s around in the afternoon.  Today, we picked up our Wood Duck pair, loafing in the warm sun with a resident red-eared slider.

Nisqually NWR eBird Checklist is Here