blackburnian Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 Birding Trips was one of my favorite forums back before the crash, so I thought I’d help in the effort to make it popular again with a quick recap of my trip to WA state this past June. There were some truly great reports on here back in the day and I hope to see some more in the future. I’m far too lazy (and busy) at the moment to write a full report with photos so I’ll just list the lifers I saw and include a quick comment about them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 (edited) I had only birded west of the Mississippi once before (Montana last year) this trip so lifers were abundant. ABA # Glaucous-winged Gull- one of the first species seen after getting off the plane in Seattle. Abundant and the dominant Gull around the Pudget Sound Chestnut-backed Chickadee- the most common Chickadee in the state, especially around the Pudget Sound Red-breasted Sapsucker- unfortunately, we only had very brief looks at one bird near Seattle. A stunning bird, I look forward to getting better looks in the future Pacific-slope Flycatcher- very common around Pudget Sound Mountain Quail- brief looks at one bird. Very local in WA, with only one reliable area a bit west of Seattle Band-tailed Pigeon- had them at a few spots, but best looks were near Seattle at a flock of about 15 feeding in a yard Steller’s Jay- beautiful birds, common Anna’s Hummingbird- common in the western half of the state Bewick’s Wren- also common Hutton’s Vireo- a few around the Pudget Sound Barn Owl- two spots, had one bird at Discovery Park near Seattle, and one in Walla Walla Co. in the SE part of the state Black-throated Gray Warbler- one bird around Seattle Bushtit- actually had a bit of trouble finding these, but once we did, they became very common Pigeon Guillemot- common in Pudget Sound Marbled Murrelet- surprisingly not hard to find at Point No Point NW of Seattle Rhinoceros Auklet- interesting looking birds, common at Point No Point Evening Grosbeak- a nemesis, missed in ME and MT. A flyover of 5-6 birds in the Cascades (at a random gas station no less) White-headed Woodpecker- one of the main targets of the trip. Found a nest on the east edge of the Cascades Black-backed Woodpecker- I’m probably in minority in that I got my Three-toed before my BB. Good looks at one bird in a burn on the east edge of the Cascades Tricolored Blackbird- east of the Cascades. A local bird in WA, but reliable in a few spots Canyon Wren- heard only Sagebrush Sparrow- in a vast sea of sage in the eastern part of the state Edited August 17, 2018 by blackburnian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 (edited) 425. Chukar- introduced, but nonetheless cool looking birds 426. Common Poorwill- abundant N of Yakima. Saw several individuals with a flashlight and heard many more 427. Western Screech-Owl- one bird heard at very close range 428. Sooty Grouse- an unbelievably cooperative and bold female in Mt. Rainier NP 429. Ferruginous Hawk- I bird I really wanted after missing in MT. Three juveniles in a nest in Walla Walla Co. 430. Long-eared Owl- my favorite bird of the trip. Amazing, close looks at a bird in Walla Walla Co. 431. Great Gray Owl- my second favorite bird of the trip, and that’s only because we never saw an adult, only three (almost fully grown) juveniles in Walla Walla Co. Even though we didn’t see an adult, the moment that I first got eyes on one of these will never be forgotten 432. Northern Pygmy-Owl- one heard only bird that was tantalizingly close in Walla Walla Co. 433. Black-chinned Hummingbird- feeders in Walla Walla Co. 434. Lesser Goldfinch- pretty common SE of the Cascades 435. California Scrub-Jay- along the Columbia 436. Acorn Woodpecker- a good bird for WA in June. A cooperative bird seen just N of the Columbia. Edited August 17, 2018 by blackburnian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 437. Black Phoebe- an unreliable bird in June. One bird seen around a nest in N Oregon 438. Hermit Warbler- Cape Meares, OR. Got out of the car, immediately heard one, and went on to find one of the most obliging warblers I’ve ever seen 439. Common Murre- hundreds and hundreds of the Oregon Coast 440. Western Gull- the dominant Gull along the N Oregon Coast 441. Pelagic Cormorant- Common 442. Black Oystercatcher- two brief fly-bys 443. Brandt’s Cormorant- pretty common 444. Tufted Puffin- strange to see puffins soaring like vultures, Haystack Rock, N Oregon 445. Heermann’s Gull- these were just arriving in WA when I was there. Caught a few along the N edge of the Pudget Sound at the end of the trip 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 Pictures can be found here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46536278 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceylon Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Brilliant photos. What a nice collection of birds. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCRBackCountry Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 I'm spending the next week in WA and this post has got me excited. I can only hope for a tiny bit of your success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted September 8, 2019 Author Share Posted September 8, 2019 17 hours ago, JCRBackCountry said: I'm spending the next week in WA and this post has got me excited. I can only hope for a tiny bit of your success. Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be happy to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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