April 19th - Fairweather Birding Trip, Day Three

How'd you sleep?

The King of Ubiquity

Jeez, this night. . .Most of it was a poorly conceived attempt to find Barn Owls. I'd say that sums it up. I woke up at Leland Lake at some hour in the middle of the night. I had two places to investigate: Boulton Farms and Uncas Road. These two spots are actually not far from each other, as the crow (or what have you) flies. Both are locations where Barn Owls have been seen off and on for a good number of years. 

I'd been to Boulton Farms during the day, so I kind of knew where to go to look for them. I tried a few spots along the road, figuring that the birds might be hunting anywhere over the fields, and might give me a nice screech in the course of their hunting. 

I heard a pair of Barred Owls calling, slept, woke up, moved, listened, slept, and eventually hung it up. I looked things over and realized I *did* need gas, and that Chimacum wasn't all that far from me. So, I drove into Chimmie and gassed up, then turned back to 101. My destination was a road that starts and ends on 101 - Uncas Road. 

So. . . As a writer, I feel a vague responsibility to find a creative way to state: you can't see in the dark. But that's all I've got. 

And I feel like, even being able to see may not have been enough. I was looking for a barn, so that I could try to catch a Barn Owl swooping into it at twilight. But even in full light, truth be told, I may not have known which barn to investigate. The opportunities to sit on the side of the road, windows down, were not as good here. Narrow shoulders, and some tree-obscured stretches of field. 

In the end, I parked at the entrance to the wildlife area, near the north end of the road, and just slept there, listening. I woke up and gave the road one more drive, getting a completely different bird added to my year list as a California Quail scurried across the road. 129 for the year list! The goal for the year has been 200, and I had this vague notion that getitng to 2/3 of that going into May would be good progress. Almost there! I parked and thought of what birds I might find at daybreak and fell asleep one more time. 

Uncas Road

Daylight! I woke up for good, and had my bagel and banana, then started walking the trail. Outside of the endless parade of robins and white-crowned sparrows, I picked up some good ones on this walk. Nearly the first bird out of the car was a very skulky Chipping Sparrow (130). I could hear the call notes and got a couple views of it in my binoculars, but no singing, and no pictures. 

And then immediately after that... a bird song just like the one from the previous morning. At Dosewallips I was thrown off when I heard a singing Fox Sparrow. They just leave so soon after the singing season starts, I don't get to hear the song very often. And now another song was coming at me. I almost fell flat-footed, but I did realize what I was hearing. It was a song that I may have heard a handful of times... from birds. But I'd heard it many many times... from phones. Lincoln's Sparrow! Not a new one for the year, but still just a joy to get to hear one singing. 

Common Yellowthroats (131) were all over the place. I was not surprised to pick them up here. Marsh Wrens, similarly, were there in crazy numbers. 

The trail kind of ran into some forest (Varied Thrushes!), and then there was this: 

Golden-crowned Sparrow

I really do promise to do some dumb things this year in the name of birds. But I weighed the dumb, and weighed the birds, and decided not to cross. Between the binoculars, the camera, and the extra lens tucked in a pocket, I just didn't want to put anything at risk. 

Headed back towards the car, I added one more year bird - Cassin's Vireo (132). I took some care on this one, because Purple Finches (and House... and Cassin's) can do vireo-like calls. This stood out as a very clean Cassin's Vireo, calling from across the field. They had been seen in this general area at this time of year before, so they had been on my radar. 

Back up on the road, I gave it a little drive, pulling over a couple times. Savannah Sparrows were everywhere, and a Pileated Woodpecker (133) called from the hillside. I knew the day was off to a great start if I'd already hit the day goal of 133!  41 species at this stop. 

Gardiner Beach Road

I had stopped here earlier in April and found many of the same species. I was happy to see some grebes in breeding plumage: 

This image provided an interesting mix. I spent a little time squinting at it, trying to turn two grebe species (Red-necked at left, Horned at center and right) into three. The front grebe doesn't look any smaller than the horned at right, but its humpy back, maybe diamond shaped head, and other assists from poor lighting had me wondering if it was an Eared. It's not. :D

One new one! Northern Rough-winged Swallow (134)

Back to the Quimper Peninsula

I made only a brief stop at Anderson Lake, doing my due diligence in looking for Cinnamon Teals. Objectively speaking, there had to be exactly two of them somewhere in the county... somewhere... not at Anderson Lake. It was, however, fun to hear Virginia Rails calling, and then a Sora (!) let out the full whinny call. 

From here, I headed into Port Townsend for a late cup or five of coffee. 

I saw a seat with an outlet and got all plugged in. . . except for the part where I plugged in to the Internet. They had no public wifi, which was a little bit of a bummer, in this day and age (says the guy with a flip phone. . .). But it gave me a chance to pull photos off of the phone and camera, get some coffee, and to eat. . . a scooter!

It's just a breakfast burrito on steroids and topped with a nice cilantro sauce. 

In the absence of any Internet guidance, I looked at my list, and figured I should continue the hunt for a Cinnamon Teal! So, it was off to Kah Tai Lagoon. 

The art installment (a fine reason to visit the trail!) had changed for the season. I pretended to listen to birds as I walked along enjoying the art and read the poetry. It wasn't too too ducky on the water, but I did get one new year bird nonetheless! Not singing but smacking a tree. 

Downy Woodpecker! 135 for the year. 

And here, I started to wonder. Did I have anything else to really look for? I felt like my hopes of House Wren and Western Bluebird had been left back in the foothills of the Olympics, I hadn't had a chance to pull up eBird to see what there might be to chase. I just had a couple more stops to make to look for Cinnamon Teal, and then it was time to sail on, silvergirl. 

Returning to the trail and swinging from branch to branch in my decision trees, I started in the direction of the car. And there I stood, binoculars and camera dangling around my neck and shoulders - my scope and tripod slung over my shoulder. Walking towards me in the other direction was a fellow with binoculars and camera dangling around his neck and shoulders - his scope and tripod slung over his shoulder. 

I looked up at his hat: 

And asked the obvious question. 

"Looking for deer?" (This is a Port Townsend joke. iykyk.)

KC and I had our introductions. He explained that he was out on a trip getting some birding in, working towards a life goal of seeing 100 or more species in every county in the state. 

!!

So, I had a second wind of sorts. He had just arrived, so I let him finish a look at Kah Tai Lagoon, and we planned to meet at Oak Bay County Park. 

Folks. . . I do a pretty good job of getting pictures if I'm birding solo, but out with others, I tend to get chattering, and I forget. 

It was, needless to say, a fun bit of birding. One picks up more birds and learns more things with others. One stop landed me a couple more birds - House Wren (136) and Cooper's Hawk (137) at the Morningtide site along Schwarz Road (Marrowstone Island).

East Beach was a good stop once more, with more Whimbrels, Marbled Godwit, and a Pacific Loon in the distance. 

KC and I parted ways, and I made one more stop on the way home. I hit Short Farm on Center Road, hoping to turn up a Cinnamon Teal. I gave the ducks a good look, I thought, and couldn't turn one up. At least I'd given it a good try, so I couldn't feel bad about missing them. 

Until I got home. . . and learned that Cinnamon Teal had been seen right before I got there. And again, after I left. At Short Farm. 

:)

This. . . suits my sense of humor just fine. And honestly, at 137, I was feeling like I was on a good track for the goal of two hundred birds by years end.