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| Tacoma Narrows Bridge |
I'd been printing documents - having found the hunting site that "sells" free permits to be on their land. I had a handful of birds in Kitsap County that I'd wanted to try to find on these lands. I thought I'd be mailed a permit/decal/something, but just printed out the agreements in the end. So, it was a late start - 11:30 or so from Renton, and close to 1 PM as I started hitting birding areas.
Olalla Valley Road
Anytime I'm coming via Tacoma, rather than a ferry, I feel pulled this way. Hovgaard Road, in particular, looks like great habitat. And yet somehow. . . I once again swung through without so much as a Golden-crowned Sparrow to add to the year list! I think I've had Virginia Rail here in the past, and that's a bird that I'm still missing this year. But why not some geese? Why not a Lincoln's or Swamp Sparrow? I'll be back!
Gorst
Sinclair Inlet's little park warranted a stop. I've been there a couple times now, and I still can't 100% convince myself that there's a park there, as I drive into what looks like the Subaru dealer's back lot. No signage, so it's a bit of a War Drobe in the Spare Oom kind of feel when you find it again. Same general cast of characters here - notably many Dunlin and Greater Yellowlegs.
Kitsap Lake
Before I got to the ducks... Downy Woodpecker for my 73rd Kitsap bird of the year. I should explain a little jump there! In mid-February, my daughter had a performance in Everett. I got up to see her via Kitsap County, taking the ferry to Southworth, with a quick stop at Harper's Ferry, where I found a Steller's Jay (67). I bee-lined it to the West Kingston Wetlands Viewing Station of Doom, parking and peeking and picking up Brewer's Blackbirds (68), and Northern Shoveler (69). Heading through Hansville, I got my first Chestnut-backed Chickadee (70) and Eurasian Collared-Dove (71) of the year. This was all on my way to get a code 5 Black Phoebe (72) that had been hanging out at a retention pond on Benchmark Avenue! That's how we got to 72 - and how Downy Woodpecker ended up being 73.
Anna's Hummingbird (74) was another addition as I walked out to the dock. It was a gray day, but the Canvasbacks (75) are shaped differently enough to stand out well. Not too far from shore, I was able to pick them out by their wedge-shaped bills. The Redhead was tougher! I thought I saw it. . . and frowned as I tried to relocate it. Did I just see a different bird - was this a figment of my imagination? I tested the birding gods, putting my binoculars down and starting to walk back to the car. "Guess I missed that one! Welp!!"
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| Canvasback |
I got back to the car and looked back out with the binoculars. It worked. Redhead (76). The bird was not far from the dock where I'd been standing. Even so, on this day, it took a few pictures to get one where the head looked red.
Redhead
Redhead turned up to an 11 through the magic of Photos
Redhead - Warhol-inspired
On to Jefferson!
I left Kitsap Lake, stopping briefly at Port Gamble to scan for Black Oystercatchers. These code 4 birds had been taking on a very code 2 feel to start the year - showing up in a few different spots, including the rocks at Port Gamble. None appeared today, and I couldn't pick out any other hoped-for surprises like Eared Grebe, so I crossed the bridge to Jefferson County.
It was hard seeing all of the places I kind of wanted to have a peek at - as the day creeped past 2... 3 o'clock, I knew I'd better hustle to have a chance at seeing the Snow Bunting. I got into Port Townsend, followed my GPS, got turned around by construction, circled back through town, and finally landed at Kuhns Road.
I'd not read too much regarding the sightings but knew the bird had been seen from the parking lot as early as that morning. I got out of the car, looked around. . . and saw no sign of the bird, or of any birders for that matter. Hm. I got down to the beach, walking a bit. I'm trying hard this year to get used to the crunching sound that comes from walking over rocks crusted in barnacles, mussels, limpets, and the like. It ain't easy.
I did pass two birders and did the long-distance "I'm a weirdo too" introduction - the one where you hold up your binoculars and shake them around a little as you wave. "Have you seen it?" I was asked. We did a quick check in - they'd been here for a bit, looking for the bunting without success. I continued for a little bit, stopping to stare at an Olympic Gull for a bit. . .
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| Not a Western Gull, and not a really tough call |
These gulls. I'd had them mostly right, but not 100 percent. My understanding had been that a Western Gull would have a dark mantle, black primaries, and a nice clean white head. This is true. I also believed that a gull with some of those marks and a smudgy head was likely a hybrid. Also true! But. . . hybrids can seasonally also have clean white heads. And you can have some ink black primaries. . . mixed with some lighter ones. It's just worth a closer look, and Western Gulls are really not all that commonly found when folks are doing that close-lookin'.
This bird on the beach knew where I was, and kindly stayed still to model its almost-Western-Gull-ness for me. Everything I'd read about on fine display here.
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| Not a Western Gull, but a tougher call for me. The face/bill overall appearance seem better for me, but. . . I see a lil grey in those primaries. |
As I went back and squinted at my Western Gull from back in February, I thought I could see some of those lighter feathers in the pics. So, my Jefferson total took a step backwards from 98 to 97! This suits me just fine. Pure Western Gulls are so striking - I don't mind continuing the search for them this year! Aren't gulls a pain in the butt though? (Thank you, especially, to anyone who just answered "No. . ." but is continuing to read this blog notwithstanding.)
Finnriver Cider
I hung it up and decided to backtrack to Chimacum. I've passed so many winery and cidery signs in the first months of the year - they'd always been closed. Yes, the sun was still up, but I needed some food, and I needed to do make sure that my explorations went beyond the birds. I'd also read that there would be live music in the afternoon. So, I committed.
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| Setting for an American Kestrel fly-by |
Oh lord. The cider here is pretty good. I'd been a member of Union Hill Cider Company in East Wenatchee, back when I was doing my Douglas County year. I bit the bullet and joined here as well. On this particular day, that meant 6 bottles and a 20 percent discount, as well as a free flight of 2 oz pours of five ciders. They actually cover quite a range of styles. Some are single-varietal apple-focused endeavors. Others include botanicals ranging from rose hips to hops to grand fir needles. There was even a cider that had been "keeved".
I was happy to have a window seat. I sipped and watched the fields, enjoying pizza from one of the food stands on site. "An American Kestrel should fly by the window." I thought. And one did. (98). I think there are more strenuous ways to find code 3 birds.
South
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| South at top |
I had vague ideas for the evening. I wanted to go South. Jefferson County continues a good ways along Hood Canal, and I'd spent no time there this year. It wasn't even that I had many specific birds in mind, but I knew I wanted to wake up in that part of the county and look for some birds. Tomorrow's blog post will clear up plans A through D that had been circulating through my head. But I eventually settled in at Dosewallips State Park, setting up with my sleeping bag right in the car, rather than going to the trouble of setting up a tent.
So, I'd finished the day having found two of the three birds I'd been chasing. As Meatloaf famously evaluated, "Two out of three ain't bad."
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