August 21st - Shorebird Trip

Days had passed since my trip out to see the Red-footed Booby, since my trip to Mount Townsend, and it seemed that each passing day brough more reports of birds passing through, including a lot of shorebirds, both in Kitsap and Jefferson Counties. 

Sitting at 182 in Jefferson and aiming for 200 species for the year. . . sitting at 137 in Kitsap and aiming for 150 for the year. Migration had really been hopping, and it had just been hard to make a trip out. On the day that I decided to make a run for it, I packed up in the morning and dropped my daughter off in downtown Renton for her work at 10ish. Then I was on the road. 

In retrospect, this really didn't leave me a lot of time to explore and/or catch birds at good tides, but you get what you get, and you don't get upset, yeah? 

Kitsap

I made a handful of stops in Kitsap. The first was Sinclair Inlet at Gorst. I'd hoped to find some shorebirds, and I did! Nothing new, but there were scads of Least and Western Sandpipers, as well as the ever-present Killdeer and Greater Yellowlegs. 

Turkey Vultures sat on the far shore of the inlet - three of them, before one took flight to circle overhead. An Osprey circled as well for most of the time I was there. The usual gulls were there, but this time there were also some California Gulls (138 for the year!), giving me a common bird that I'd been missing most of the year. 

Apples - Dickerson Creek

Next, I stopped at Dickerson Creek. This may have counted as lolligagging - trying to find an American Dipper during a hot week of migration. Dippers are generally found year-round at their usual spots. But I hadn't found them this year, and I really hoped to get them crossed off of the needs list. I parked, walked, and scanned. The creek was a bit slow, and no dippers were to be found. I did end up coming across a Pileated Woodpecker (139), thwacking away heavily at a tree on the far side of the creek. 

Submarine - Port Orchard

Up on Peninsula no Peninsula, I made a quick stop near George's place to listen for Olive-sided Flycatcher but found none. From there, In continued to Point no Point. This stop was fun, if only because I got a chance to see so much fishing. Droves of people were lined up on the shore by the lighthouse, poles in the water - and not without success!

90 percent sure that they said these were Coho Salmon

Here I picked up two new birds for the year as well. The first was a Merlin (140), hunting from the fields next to the lighthouse. 

Merlin - Point no Point

The other, out on the water, was Marbled Murrelet (141).

Marbled Murrelet - Point no Point

There were so many Bonaparte's Gulls out on the water. I'd heard tell that people had seen other gulls mixed in, including a Sabine's Gull, but no interesting gulls stood out on this slightly overcast day. My experience with off-brand gulls (Sabine's, Little, Laughing, Franklin's...) is also pretty light, so for me it was largely a learning experience in regard to juvenile Bonaparte's Gulls, which were a smaller portion of the gulls on the water, and stood out significantly. 

Quick stop en route

I finished Kitsap with a trip to Foulweather Bluff (no interesting shorebirds) and Driftwood Key (same, although goodness, there were a lot of Purple Martins). Port Gamble gave me a chance to stop at the cafe in town for a bowl of soup and the curried chicken sandwich. I opened the laptop here, handled a few reviews, and checked eBird for any leads. Jefferson had a lot of promise!

Jefferson County

Promises promises. :D I made a stop at Oak Bay, and a stop at Kah Tai Lagoon, finding no shorebirds of interest at either place. From here, I went directly to Point Hudson and found one more Jefferson bird - Surfbirds! (183)

Black Turnstone
So pretty in flight!

I missed these during the winter months, so I was glad to get them checked off, but. . . there had been a lot of other shorebirds reported! Red-necked Phalarope, Ruddy Turnstone, Wandering Tattler, Semipalmated Sandpiper. . . I guess, I just hoped that one of them might be findable, but there wasn't much variety while I was there. The tide was clearly in and wouldn't really be dropping until dark or so. This was the cost of a late departure, I suppose!

I really got to know Black Turnstones, if nothing else. There were hundreds of them on the shore, and I was amazed at how difficult it was to startle them. I'd get close, and some other thing would disturb them, causing hundreds of them to file, one by one, just a few feet in front of me. The facial marking caught my eye, with some of them showing a little bit of white around the eyes while other had pretty black faces. 

I made a quick run to Fort Worden. No Red-footed Booby while I was there. But I did get to see some mammals putting on a show - juvenile River Otters, one with a large fish in its mouth - and Harbor Porpoises, as close as I've been able to enjoy them. 

Much closer than last time. So fun to see the dark markings!

Back to Port Townsend to grab a quick Chinese dinner (Four Seasons - tasty orange chicken!). I passed a laundromat where people had gathered for a DNC watch party. I admittedly had it on the radio as I drove, listening to numerous speakers whenever I was headed from A to B. 

I got parked at Port Hudson again, and just watched for anything to come flying in. I kept the radio on, and continued to listen to the conference, and very little changed on the shore in front of me. I took Beaver Valley Road out of town, pulling over a few times, optimistically thinking of Barn Owls. Nope. 

Four Kitsap birds, and a single Jefferson bird added to the year. I have since come across several days where I considered a late morning departure, but I've hesitated. I likely just need to drive out for a couple days, as soon as things open up enough to do so.