Shorebirder

I know it's mid-April but I wanted to get one last winter gull post up before I turn my attention to more recent happenings. Here are photos of two presumed hybrid GLAUCOUS x GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS at La Push, WA on Jan 28, 2013. These birds were part of a killer concentration of large gulls enjoyed by Frank Gallo, Ryan Merrill and myself for several hours on this morning. I'm not sure I've had this much fun standing in pouring rain for so long! We had 8 species plus 3 hybrid combinations. I'll say it again: the next gull ID conference must be held here. If nearby Aberdeen, WA native Kurt Cobain was into gull identification he would still be alive today...although we wouldn't have had the same great 90's grunge to listen to, so maybe things turned out for the best after all... Then again, perhaps hours of head-scratching while staring at soaking wet hybrid gulls would have resulted in the same sort of depression, angst and drug addiction that produced albums li...

I debated whether I should post these images or not on account of them being of rather poor quality, but I found the variation in the Seattle area's wintering Fox Sparrows too interesting to not post. The expected subspecies of Fox Sparrow at this time of year are of the "Sooty" group. I will arrange them from darkest to lightest. Each of the below birds may indeed fit best into the Sooty group, but I do wonder about the lightest bird in particular. See for yourself. I am not well schooled on the western forms of Fox Sparrow so if anyone with experience has any thoughts, please feel free to comment. Bird #1 : Uniformly dark brown throughout upperparts, large dark spots dominate underparts. Very plain face pattern with ever so slightly paler lores. Bird #2 : Not as dark as Bird #1, less heavily spotted underparts (spots themselves are smaller). Still rather plain face with lores a bit more contrasting than Bird #1. Bird #3 (likely same individu...

This winter's owl show in WA/BC is a great spectacle. On most days my conference's schedule generally finished around dusk, allowing me to enjoy the owl show on several occasions. Totals for the trip added up to somewhere around 50 (!) Short-eared Owls, 8 Snowies, a handful of Barn, and 3 Long-eared Owls. Fading light and oft rainy conditions hampered photography, but a couple of Long-ears in particular were cooperative enough to photograph anyway. Long-eared Owl Long-eared Owl Long-eared Owl Short-eared Owl Short-eared Owl  - NB

Two killer birds just minutes from one another near Vancouver. Major kudos to finder Colin McKenzie and identifiers Mike Toochin and George Clulow. On January 13th Colin found the subject bird but did not know what it was (being unfamiliar with most Asian passerines myself, I wouldn't have either!) but took very detailed notes and sketches during his observation. Based on Colin's information alone, Mike and George were able to tentatively identify the bird and get word out. As it turned out, the bird was refound the following day and their suspicions were confirmed. Perhaps a lost art these days, this goes to show how crucial field notes can be to identifying a bird. Without Colin McKenzie's attention to detail, who knows, this bird could have gone unnoticed. A great story. Red-flanked Bluetail - only the second for mainland N.A.! The Brambling is a long-staying male that is coming to a feeder in a small yard. More often the bird is seen within the thicket...

We were able to enjoy two Gyrfalcons (both most resembling gray morph) while in the Seattle area, one a juvenile in the Skagit Valley and a subadult/adult in Vancouver. Frank and I spotted the adult-like bird chowing down on a pigeon atop a distant building along the harbor. We had positioned ourselves, somewhat accidentally, between the bird and its favorite cottonwood tree. After finishing its meal, the Gyr flew straight towards us... Gyrfalcon - grayish adult or subadult showing gray-brown upperparts, pale underparts with streaking heaviest at flanks where appearing barred, and bright yellow feet The juvenile bird was quite distant, but Ryan and Jay first spotted it being pursued by a young Bald Eagle. The Gyr soon turned the tide and began to harass the eagle. It then landed in the same tree as an active eagle nest and proceeded to stare down the nesting bird before dropping out of sight!   Gyrfalcon - presumed gray juvenile...

Just back from a medical conference in Seattle which allowed for some local exploring during meeting breaks with Frank Gallo, Ryan Merrill, and Jay Withgott. I came away very impressed with the birding that the Pacific Northwest has to offer at this time of year. This has been a banner season for Asian vagrants in the region, with Red-flanked Bluetail and multiple Bramblings being the current highlights we were able to enjoy last weekend. A Citrine Wagtail on Vancouver Island was last reported on Jan 13th and a Little Bunting was recently a two-day wonder in NE Oregon, so we did not try for those. Both the wagtail and bunting are almost certainly kicking around somewhere nearby but are currently eluding birders. Vagrants aside, the birding was just phenomenal. The raptor show in such places as the Skagit Valley and Samish Flats just north of Seattle and at Boundary Bay near Vancouver was nothing short of brilliant. Multiple Short-eared (several dozen), Long-eared, Snowy, and Barn O...