Here is a link to a collation of the ABC birding birders submissions for their best 5 photos of 2018. Link to Photos. Click here.
Plus some late arrivals here:
From Maggie Tieger:
From Joe Tieger:
And from Laurel Parshall:
From John Reigsecker
ABC celebrated our birding achievements in 2018 with Big Year reports and best photos from all, with refreshments and merriment.
As usual, we had so much active participation that we ran overtime, but isn’t that a sign of a good time?
The Big Year reports started out with Carole Breedlove, who continues to search the earth for new kingfishers and other birds, but this past year covered Washington state thoroughly as well. She doesn’t e-bird, so it’s nice that she keeps us in the loop.
Many reports followed including the duos of Jerry Broadus and Clarice Clark, followed by Marcus Roening and Heather Ballash, both highlighting Spanish-language birding, Ecuador for Jerry & Clarice, Mexico for Marcus and Heather
A highlight was Ed Pullen’s report on how to get a really big year in Washington without being an expert or trying too hard, which was both hilarious as well as instructive! Bottom line: Go on all the ABC field trips and add a couple of others such as a pelagic, and pay attention to the experts! I believe this was Ed’s way of explaining how he became the expert he is today. Here is a link to a PDF of the presentation.
Bruce LaBar, Marcus, Ken Brown and others talked about using eBird and Washington Birder county lists, getting to the magic number of 253 in the 253 area code, and sharing sightings.
Heather Voboril and Laurel Parshall gave meticulous presentations, carrying on the tradition that Heather started several years ago of women reporting! Both had well-organized professional quality photographs, and both projected their personal birding excitement.
We ended up with special guest star Blair Bernson, the #1 birder in the state for the year, who outlined his plan to cover the country with his progress so far with numerical quotas, photographing as he goes. He was set to head off next day for New Mexico. Here is a link to Blair’s website where you can follow his birding posts and enjoy his photography and writing.
The 5 best photos will continue with those we missed! This is very enjoyable for all, and ABC will post the 5 best for each soon, whether or not you attended the party!
Lunar Eclipse from the parking lot of the Omak Inn on Saturday night.
When Kay and I took the kids on any kind of trip, one of our family traditions was that we tried to “finish strong.” On this trip the group did just that. At about 1:50 PM, after not finding Bohemian Waxwing anywhere, including the usually reliable Central Ferry Canyon Road, I got a text from Shep Thorp that his group had located a Snowy Owl on Heritage Road on the Waterville Plateau. After brief discussion we decided to go for it, though not on a direct route home.
A cropped photo of the Prairie Falcon.
As Fred led the 60 mph plus dash there we spotted a distant bird on a large erratic in a field off Hwy, 172, and presto, our only Prairie Falcon was added to the list.
Snowy Owl distant photo.
We did a dance and continued to the spot for the SNOW. As we got close to the described spot, our eyes in our back, namely Ryan and Bryon in the back car who all trip had been picking up great birds we drove by, radioed that they may have the owl. Sure enough, a very white, mile-distant Snowy Owl was perched on a small pile of rocks in a wheat field, and we all got nice scope views and some distant photos.
The ride home was uneventful.
We one time used the color of cows as a location landmark. I like this rear-end shot of these cattle.
Now the rest of the story. We met at the Snoqualmie Rest stop, and headed for Confluence Park in Wenachee. Birds on the water were few, but we did make the eBird alert with a single Greater White-fronted Goose mixed with a large flock of Canada Geese and a few Cackling Geese on the lawns.
Up on the Waterville Plateau we found the expected large flocks of Horned Larks, good numbers of Snow Buntings, Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks, but no Gray Partridge, no Prairie Falcons, Gyrfalcons, or Snowy Owls. At the Heritage Road site we found the flock of American Tree Sparrows, but they were very skittish and good looks were had by only a few. No Long-eared Owl was found.
Coopers Hawk
We finished day 1 looking for raptors, especially the SNOW on the plateau and headed for Omak as darkness settled. Dinner at the Breadline was as expected, good.
Day 2 we headed up to the Okanogan Highlands, and the first major stop was indicative or our success this trip on gallinaceous species. No Chuckar, no Gray Partridge, and not even the usually present Golden Eagle. We did hear a Canyon Wren calling.
On Siwash Creek Road we missed Sharp-tailed Grouse again, and settled for nice looks and listens to both Type 2 (Ponderosa Pine) and Type 4 (Douglas Fir) Red Crossbills.
The rest of the day in the highlands was a bit of a struggle. We managed lots of Northern Shrikes, brief but exciting looks at an adult Goshawk, initially perched, and then actively hunting among the clearings and trees. A Northern Pygmy Owl was spotted by our ace back-car crew on Bolster Road, and great looks and photos were enjoyed by all.
Northern Pygmy Owl
Dinner at our usual Mexican place was delayed as the New England Patriots went to overtime to defeat Fred’s cousin’s (Andy Reid) Kansas City Chiefs.
On Sunday we drove across Cameron Loop Road. At the usual “flag” stop we managed Pygmy Nuthatch and more crossbills, but at best heard a White-headed Woodpecker drumming, but none of us were confident enough to list it. At the cattle pen off Cameron Lake Loop Road we again found Snow Buntings, but Ryan and Bryan spotted Gray Partridge both on the ride in and the ride out. We all got on them on the road out. While stopped to see the partridge, a flock of American Tree Sparrows flew behind us, and from there the trip down the hill was uneventful.
Next stop was at Bridgeport State Park, for Northern Pygmy Owl. Bruce found on in the usual trees, and Bryan then found another, so close we could only see if in dense branches if we looked from about 18 inches below.
The first NSWO found by Bruce. The second was too close and too obscured for a photo.
From there we looked many places for Bohemian Waxwings. A nice try by our ace spotters again found a flock of Cedar Waxwings, with a nice mix of other passerines, but no BOWA. The rest of the story is at the lead of this post.
The wrong (Cedar) Waxwing on Central Ferry Canyon Road.
Varied Thrush
Another wonderful winter trip led by our faithful mentor Ken Brown, featuring perfect weather, and the bird mentioned above.
Good birding.
February 5, 2019, 6:45 PM, University of Puget Sound, Thompson Hall, room 175, suggested $10 contribution for expenses and for room use.
Join us to welcome Sergio Seipke of Raptours, who is in the state with Bill Clark to enjoy the raptors of western Washington, hosted by Bud Anderson of Falcon Research Group, whom we all know.
Bill Clark and Sergio Seipke at the Platte River (courtesy RapTours)
Sergio will talk discuss “Five Years Hawkwatching Around the World.” He says, “I will share raptorial highlights in our tours from 2014 to 2018. This talk features a number of raptor photographs, landscape pics, anecdotes and some funny facts of the destinations Raptours has been to as a company. In other words, a collage of raptor images taken in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Nepal, Panama, South Africa, Thailand, and the USA.” Sergio will also discuss the 19 diurnal birds of prey of Madagascar briefly, where he will lead a tour next November/December.
World raptor expert and wildlife photographer Bill Clark founded Raptours in the 1990s to cater to birders who have a particular interest in birds of prey. In 2006 Bill co-led a tour with Sergio Seipke in northern Argentina. Bill then suggested to Sergio that he should offer raptor tours as a means to help fund his Raptors of South America field guide project. The idea was an appealing one: small tours would be perfect to be in the field and collect data for the book. So, Sergio started offering raptor tours himself to destinations in South America following Raptours’ guiding style and philosophy.
In February 2013 Sergio formally organized Raptours, L.L.C., in Lincoln, Nebraska, and now owns the company. Sergio says, “This resulted in a new and very exciting phase of my raptor career. Since 2005 to date I have designed, organized, and led or co-led raptor tours in eight countries in four continents.
“Raptors have inspired me to travel. I’ve watched, studied, photographed and enjoyed raptors in 13 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Germany, Panama, South Africa, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S.A. While mother taught me to speak Spanish, raptors made me fluent in English and Portuguese. I have met many inspiring individuals in my travels ranging from superstar international raptor experts to impressively knowledgeable local naturalists. Not that I am counting, but as of March 2015 I have seen 192 species of raptors. OK, maybe I am counting them, after all.”