This is a place to stay connected with your birding friends, talk birding, and let the rest of us know you are still birding and doing well. Post the “best” bird you saw in the last week, tell us why you chose this bird, and tell a story if you like.
For me the best bird of the week was not the Franklin’s Gull that somehow Charlie Wright saw way out on Commencement Bay from the gravel lot up on top of the Dune’s Peninsula area. It was the Parasitic Jaeger that I found myself from Iverson Beach on Camano Island. Marian and I went up Sunday to visit her sister, have a socially distant visit on their deck, and before meeting them birded the Iverson Beach area. When I got there several Caspian Terns were squawking and flying around, so I thought, why not a jaeger? Very few birds were out on the water, and one of the first floating birds I saw had the jaeger profile. I zoomed up the scope and sure enough, an adult Parasitic Jaeger. It subsequently did its tail-chase thing with the terns, even more diagnostic of it’s ID with the white wing flashes, pointy wings, and behavior. No photo, way too far away. The location is really cool though, with a dike walk, a forest trail, and a walk back through a marsh with a “Hobbit Trail” that was unexpected. I now don’t have to wait for a possibly “not-happening” pelagic trip or the fall migration for my PAJA this year. Good birding. Leave your best bird notes in the comment section. Thanks.
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Good birding.
Have been vacationing in Oregon on the McKenzie River (where our family has had a cabin since 1930) and saw four wild turkey. What a surprise. When I lived in Michigan I saw them often. A neighbor said they have been around for a few years in May/June often with chicks, then they disappear into the mountains. This was certainly my best bird this week. Other than watching an osprey teach offspring how to fish on the river.
Wild Turkey are really catching on everywhere. The program to reintroduce and introduce them all over is a good story. Check it out at https://birdbanter.podbean.com/e/the-bird-banter-podcast-happy-thanksgiving-wild-turkey-episode/ Fun to see them, though they may be pretty destructive to habitat in some areas. Ed
My best birds for several weeks have been a pair of Northern Flickers that are putting to good use a nest box mounted on a dead tree on the edge of my back yard. I was amazed at how quickly they accepted the box and “moved in”. They are now hauling our fecal sacs. I’m hoping to see the heads of nestlings in the entrance hole any time now. It’s not a box that can be easily checked so I’m having to estimate what’s going on inside by the observed behavior of the adults.
Nice observation. Sounds like fun.
Yesterday, Faye took me to a “guaranteed” spot to see Lazuli Buntings in Mason County. There was actually a pullout on the rural road. I’m surprised there wasn’t a signpost naming the spot. When we got out of our separate cars (socially distancing), we immediately saw and heard Common Yellowthroats carrying food to a hidden nest. Then not one minute later we heard a Lazuli. Then it flew in and posed and sang just opposite our parked cars! Just amazing!
I bet this is the same area Ken took me to for LABU. Was it under a power line? We too had the COYE there. A cool spot.