Monthly Archives: January 2014

ABC Meeting, January 23, 2014 – BIG YEAR!

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ABC Meeting – January 23, 2014 – BIG YEAR! ************************************ Ryan Wiese was fresh off the plane from Arizona where he did nothing but twitch, but with great success (all of the Thrashers!). ********************************* Mike Charest managed to find just about every bird that landed in Pierce County in 2013 plus more! It all started at a prepossessing industrial site called Gog-Le-Hi-Te… His Flickr site is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecharest/ ******************************** Laurel Parshall didn’t know she was doing a big Washington year until suddenly she realized how close she was to 300 and set her sights on that number! Swamp Sparrow caught her eye just as time was running out! Her Flickr site is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/llp_unesolitaire/ **************************** Brian Pendleton really twitched towards the end of the year and hit the big time, reaching 350. It takes someone who knows their Gulls! His Flickr site is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianpen286/ **************************** These birders are all accomplished photographers as well. What a combination! A great program! Click on photos to enlarge:

Puyallup-Orting Half-Day Field Trip Report

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The Tahoma Audubon Society Field Trip to Puyallup and Orting was remarkable for the great weather and the number of participants.  Likely due to the PR in The News Tribune, with both Sunday and Friday notices in the activities section, we had 29 participants.  Of these only 7 were TAS members.  The TAS members were primarily ABC birders.The day started under bright sunny sky trying to pick the waterfowl on Bradley Lake out of the glare of the rare bright yellow thing in the sky.  We managed to get a perspective showing beautiful scope views of 8 Hooded mergansers along with a Ringed-neck duck, American Wigeon, Mallards, and Double-crested cormorants as a male Belted kingfisher rattled at the end of the lake. In the nearby forested area we had 4 woodpecker species.  Downy, Pileated, Red-breasted sapsucker and Northern flicker were seen or heard by some.  On the way back to the car a nice winter mixed flock of songbirds responded well to Ken Brown’s Pygmy Owl whistle, and we tried but failed to find a Hutton’s vireo among the 30 or so Ruby-crowned kinglets mixed with good numbers of Golden-crowned kinglets, Black-capped chickadees. A Brown creeper gave everyone a close look at its typical tree trunk climbing feeding behavior.We headed for Orting as a 7 car caravan, leaving only a few Puyallup-only birders behind.  The winter’s flock of 87 Trumpeter swans was compliant and we studied them and failed to pick out a Tundra swan at the corn field at Pioneer Way & Hwy 162.  On the way to our next stop a Merlin atop a fir tree stayed for us to see in the scopes, and we headed on with only a minor traffic hassle. Next was a short stop by the Puyallup river behind Orting Middle school where adult and young Bald eagles roosted, we saw and heard Song and Fox sparrows, another Sharp-shinned hawk (juvenile this time) was sighted, and a pair of Gadwall swam in the collection ponds.

At the farm loop off Calistoga Road just across the Puyallup River we finished up our morning by finding an American kestrel, getting everyone great looks at Sooty Fox Sparrows, and seeing another Red-tailed hawk.

Everyone seemed to have a nice time. Many saw parts of our county they had not visited before.  I was thankful for pleasant company, the birds, and most of all the sunshine. Life does seem a bit better after a day birding in the sunshine in Washington.

Day’s totals:  29 human participants, 40 species, and no accidents.

For those interested I also started an e-bird user called TASFieldTripLists.  If trip leaders share their e-bird lists to that user name we will be able to have an ongoing record of field trip sightings that may be helpful in considering what trips may be good to repeat and as a tool for data keeping.

 

E-bird Trip List
Report Details
Date range: Jan 4, 2014 – Jan 10, 2014 Total # of Species: 47
Total # of Checklists: 6
Location(s):   Bradley Lake; Mounts Road – Nisqually Tribe Site Turnout; Orting Farm Loop; Traveling Hwy 162; behind Orting Middle School; corner of Pioneer and Hey 162 Orting
Summary
Jan 4 Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 7 Jan 8 Jan 9 Jan 10
Number of Species 47 — — — — — —
Number of Individuals 898 — — — — — —
Number of Checklists 6 — — — — — —
Highest Count for a Species   (sample size)
Species Name Jan 4 Jan 5 Jan 6 Jan 7 Jan 8 Jan 9 Jan 10
Trumpeter Swan 87
(2)		 — — — — — —
Gadwall 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
American Wigeon 14
(1)		 — — — — — —
Mallard 12
(4)		 — — — — — —
Green-winged Teal 12
(1)		 — — — — — —
Ring-necked Duck 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Bufflehead 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Hooded Merganser 8
(1)		 — — — — — —
Double-crested Cormorant 8
(2)		 — — — — — —
Great Blue Heron 1
(3)		 — — — — — —
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
(2)		 — — — — — —
Cooper’s Hawk 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Bald Eagle 8
(4)		 — — — — — —
Red-tailed Hawk 1
(3)		 — — — — — —
American Coot 4
(1)		 — — — — — —
Western/Glaucous-winged Gull 4
(2)		 — — — — — —
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
gull sp. 8
(2)		 — — — — — —
Rock Pigeon 20
(3)		 — — — — — —
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Mourning Dove 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Belted Kingfisher 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Downy Woodpecker 1
(2)		 — — — — — —
Northern Flicker 3
(3)		 — — — — — —
Pileated Woodpecker 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
American Kestrel 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Merlin 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Steller’s Jay 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Western Scrub-Jay 3
(3)		 — — — — — —
American Crow 200
(6)		 — — — — — —
Black-capped Chickadee 8
(4)		 — — — — — —
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Brown Creeper 1
(1)		 — — — — — —
Pacific Wren 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Marsh Wren 8
(1)		 — — — — — —
Golden-crowned Kinglet 20
(1)		 — — — — — —
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 30
(4)		 — — — — — —
American Robin 16
(2)		 — — — — — —
European Starling 30
(5)		 — — — — — —
Spotted Towhee 6
(4)		 — — — — — —
Fox Sparrow 4
(2)		 — — — — — —
Song Sparrow 30
(4)		 — — — — — —
Golden-crowned Sparrow 2
(1)		 — — — — — —
Dark-eyed Junco 12
(4)		 — — — — — —
Brewer’s Blackbird 30
(1)		 — — — — — —
House Sparrow 8
(1)		 — — — — — —

Biking for Birds – Not Me. A Blog to Watch

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I just found a blog following Dorian Anderson who is doing a fundraising green big year. He started yesterday on a “zero-petroleum” for transportation big year, by bike and foot.  Amazingly his first two birds were snowy and short-eared owls by bike in Massachusetts.  I plan to follow him at http://bikingforbirds.blogspot.com   I’m sure our Eastern WA class trip will be relatively balmy compared to his Jan 1 day biking for birds in MA at 8 degres F.  I though some of you might enjoy this.

Possible New ABA Big Year Record

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For an entertaining read check out Accidental Big Year a blogspot blog by Neil Hayward who may have broken the ABA big year record held by Sandy Komito of The Big Year movie and book fame.  The 746th ABA listed bird plus 3 ABA provisional birds was Great Skua on Dec 28th out of North Carolina.  This puts him at one above the 745 big year of Komito, and one above the 748 of Komito including his 3 provisionals that were accepted.

I did not know that officially on an ABA big year birds seen that are subsequently accepted onto the ABA list don’t count as they were not listable when seen.

Anyway it’s quite a year detailed nicely on his blog.  Check it out.