Some members suggested a way for members to borrow and loan “stuff” from other members. On this post you can leave a comment noting items you’s like to borrow, or have available to loan. Just leave a comment. I suggest starting with HOPING TO BORROW or AVAILABLE TO LOAN as the header. Then list the details and how to be contacted. I suggest using an e-mail address written in a self explanatory way but that won’t be easily spammed. For example myname – at- yahoo dot com
I’ll post the first available to loan item comment as an example.
I’ve learned about a birding resource that I’m excited to be helping with here in Washington. Birding Hotspots is an “Open-source” and “Crowd-Sourced” website that works alongside eBird to help birders know about how to bird at hotspots. By Open-source they mean that the coding and back-end of the website is open, i.e. not secret of proprietary. This is not the way a for-profit site would function, and gives assurance that the founders are not in it for profit from our work. Crowd-sourced means that the content comes from a broad audience of birders, i.e. the “crowd.”
Every eBird Hotspot in the world is imported into Birding Hotspots, and information on how to access and best bird the hotspot, along with any other useful information can be added easily.
I’ve been working for a while with Ken Ostermiller and Adam Jackson ans I think it is a great resource that will help me when I am traveling, and will help any birder visiting an eBird hotspot where they are inexperienced with the site.
The site relies on local knowledge to be useful. I’ve agreed to be the Washington State editor, a role where I both try to enter content for sites I know, and review and confirm the appropriateness of content entered by anyone else for WA hotspots. I’m having fun and feeling like I can contribute in this role.
I’m asking WA birders to add content for eBird hotspots that they feel like they know a reasonable amount about birding at the spot. It is really easy to do, and can be done either on a computer or directly from your phone.
Because some of you learn best by reading directions, and others are more visual learners, I’ll write a step-by-step how-to use the site here, and also add a short video of how to use the site.
Navigate to the desired hotspot in any of several ways.
Type the name of the hotspot in the “Find a region of hotspot…” space
Select the state from the list of states with an editor (WA is there)
Click on the Explore Nearby Hotspots blue text to navigate by address of by city and state.
Once at the hotspot click on the “Suggest Content” text.
Enter your name and email address so the editor (me in WA) can know who is submitting content and contact you if they have questions. This also can help by letting the editor know that you are not a “bot”.
The key sections are “About this Location” and “Tips for Birding.” The Birds of Interest and Notable Trails sections can be filled in if you have helpful knowledge.
If possible answer the Yes-No button questions Restrooms, Wheelchair trails, Roadside Viewing, and Entrance Fee questions. (Unless there is safe and good roadside viewing either enter “no” of leave as “Unknown”
If you want the editor to know something not appropriate to put in the options otherwise enter them in the “notes to the editor” section.
Be sure to click on the Submit Suggestion big green button so it gets submitted.
I If possible add a photo of the site. To do this is a separate task. Click on the Upload Photos text. Enter you rname and email. Then click on the “Browse” text in the big rectangle. You can add photos either from your photo library or other folder, or directly on your phone by clicking on the “take a photo” option. This is designed to be a photo to help visiting birders know what to expect. Great examples might be a photo of the entrance or parking area, a photo of the general habitat, or a photo of the trailhead. A photo of a map of the site is good too. Again be sure to click on the big green “Save photos” button.
If you want to see this visually, watch this video.
Hopefully this is helpful. If you have any questions contact Ed Pullen. I answer the submissions on the Contact section of this website.
I’m home and have had enough time to put up a trip report on my “Ed’s Birding Notes” folder on the Bird Banter website, and to post some photos to Flickr. Here are links if anyone is interested.
Ken and Ed led a trip to the coast with so many ABCers interested that we started Saturday Oct 8 taking 16 birders in 4 cars to the Westport-Tokeland side of Gray’s Harbor, 7 more birders joined us Sunday for the Ocean Shores side, and the 7 + one holdover repeated the south side of the harbor on Monday. Weather was good, exceting morning fog most days, and birding was surprisingly excellent.
Hudsonian Godwit seen on Day 1 at Tokeland
The route was to the Hoquiam STP first on Saturday, then on to Bottle Beach, Tokeland and Graveyard Spit, North Cove, MIdway Beach and then back to the Hoquiam STP to chase the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper found there by Shep and others after their weathered-out pelagic.
I won’t go into great detail, but here are the highlights:
Day 1:
-At the STP good numbrers of ducks, a few Pectoral Sandpipers seen through the fog.
The Hudsonian Godwit with several Marbled Godwits for comparison. Many Black Turnstones with at least 2 Surfbirds at the Ocean Shore JettyA Surfbird at the jetty
-At Bottle Beach we arrived early for the incoming tide, spent an hour or so on the trail adjacent to the beach where a good variety of common birds were seen well, then on the beach we had 10 species of shorebird including 3 Sanderling, 12 Marbled Godwit, 1 Black Turnstone, +/- 400 Black-bellied Plover, 6 Semi-palmated Plover, Dunlin, Western and Least Sandpipers.
-On to Tokeland, where the arguably best bird of the trip, a Hudsonian Godwit had us all fooled for a while until Ken (who else) correctly IDed the bird as a Hudsonian Godwit a bit after we left. This one rarity was mixed nicely with an estimated 350 (probably more) Marbled Godwits, a good number of Willets and one Whimbrel.
A Whimbrel with the MAGO at Tokeland
-We made a short stop at North Cove hoping for Franklin’s Gull which had been reported earlier in the week without luck.
-A nice walk out into the wet fields at the end the road to Midway Beach yielded one Wilson’s Snipe, a nice walk in a wet field, and good numbers of distant ducks and Long-billed Dowichers, and one American Pipit.
As we left there Ken found out about a reported Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at the Hoquiam STP, so instead of birding the Westport marina we went back there, near our hotel, and got excellent looks at this rarity in great light on the east side of the middle pond in the nearest short patch of muddy shore.
Day 2: After Mexican food for dinner at Mazatlan and a night’s sleep at Econolodge we joined the arriving second party group and headed for Ocean Shores, with a short try at the Hoquiam STP for the STSA without luck in foggy conditions.
-At the Brown’s Point Jetty we did a seawatch, with waxing and waning fog, but were pleased by a nice flock of rocky shorebirds that flew in and found one Rock Sandpiper and 6 Surfbirds mixed with at least 50 Black Turnstones. A nice variety of seabirds made the watch enjoyable.
A Black Turnstone at the Jetty
-Nothing special at the Ocean Shores STP on a brief stop, and we walked the Oyhut Game Range area from the new path at the Tonquin Ave entrance. It was very slow overall, but a nice highlight was flushing 5 Lapland Longspurs from almost underfoot, calling their nice rattle to be heard by most and a nice look as they flew up and away. Nice numbers of Red-throated and Common Loons were fun to see, and a Peregrine gave great overhead flight looks as it soared high above us as we got to the parking lot at the end of the stop.
A Lapland Longspur flying away at the game range.
-After lunch at the playfield by the airport, we went to the Quinault Casino beach access with high hopes from excellent reports there in recent days, but a dense fog rolled in and we almost saw the water. Zip.
-We killed a little time at the Cabana Pool, waiting for the tide to receed a bit before going to Bill’s Spit hoping for shorebirds. The pool area was pleasant but without many birds. Bill’s Spit had the tide just going out, and as more sand became available the largest group of shorebirds of the trip gave a nice show. Highlights were several Red Knots, good numbers of Dunlin and Western Sandpipers, lots of gulls to sort through, and one shorebird we had to leave unidentified due to distance, but always fun to try.
Shorebirds and gulls to sort through at Bill’s Spit
-We tried in the afternoon with better light to recover the STSA for the new arrival birders, but were not able to confidently ID it among several Pectoral Sandpipers who were more distant than they had been Saturday.
-Monday, after dinner at the 8th Ave Bar and another night at Econolodge we again headed south. The stops were similar to Saturday, but we missed the HUGO at Tokeland, picked up a Pacific Golden Plover at Bottle Beach, and took some time to explore a new area at the mouth of the Cedar River just south of Tokeland to find a few county birds for the county listers in the group.
Ken Brown and Ed Pullen are leading an ABC Birding field trip to the coast on the weekend of Oct 8-9. Maximum of 16 people in 4 cars, but if enough demand we could make a hybrid trip, with 12 people on Saturday Oct 8, joined by another 12 in 3 cars on Sunday Oct 9, with the Saturday participants leaving after birding on Sunday and the Saturday arrivals staying overnight on Oct 9 to bird the areas covered on Saturday on Monday Oct 10. Let’s see how many people want to come. RSVP to Ken by e-mail kennethwbrown-at-hotmail- dot-com and include your cell phone number as it’s been awhile. Please let us know if you could go on the Sunday-Monday version if demand is high.
We plan to bird at the Ocean Shores side one day, and the Westport/Tokeland side another day, with an overnight stay between. Focus on shorebirds, but some seawatch too. In years past this has been a popular and productive trip as a part of Ken’s classes, so lots of possibilities exist for vagrants plus the usual species. Details on where to meet, times, hotel etc. to follow.
Bruce LaBar, Will Brooks, Peter Wimberger, Max Merrill and Ed Pullen undertook a later than usual May Pierce County Big Day on May 15th, a rainy day a few days later than our previous big days, on a whole different route that Will and Bruce planned. Ken might have called it a “hot-damn” day of birding, finding 138 species, the highest of any of Bruce’s 21 years of doing this. Read the full report at my birding notes page on the Bird Banter site.
When I travel to an area where I expect to see birds I don’t know and to study them. It has the advantage over just studying a field guide book to the birds of the area of showing you the birds you are really likely to see, in order of likelihood. Check it out.
How to use eBird to study birds likely in an area.
Will Brooks talks about his Washington State big year record along with his good friend Jason Vassallo who completed the 9th highest Lower-48 big year in 2021. Fun stories and a chance to live vicariously through their birding.
Ken really loves taking the club, previously the class, on our annual freezathon to North Central Washington. For the second straight year Covid made us reluctant to get a big group together for the trip, but Ken, Bruce, Jacob Miller and I managed a 4-day trip last over the MLK weekend (Thursday – Sunday actually) and as usual it was great. Read all about it on the Bird Banter site under Ed’s Birding Notes here.
Here are a couple of photos to tempt you. Snow cover was really heavy, and weather great except for some patchy fog at times.
Golden Eagle on Hess Lake Rd with a Gray PartridgeThe old feeder spots seem to have gone, only one was still present and few birds were there. These 120 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches on Mary Ann Creek Rd were even better against snowy fields background and actively flying around. Jacob’s lifer Snowy Owl on H Rd on the Waterville Plateau
