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All right, back to 4/16.
I have spoilers for you. This is not good birding. Not like. . . Tim worked really hard and found a bird he'd been looking for. Nope. This trip seems to be full of:
- Birds that I expected would be work that just *poof* appeared, sometimes unexpectedly, and...
- Birds that I wasn't expecting much at all that did the same, and...
- Birds... no A Bird... A Bird that everyone is seeing except for me, despite any effort I throw at it
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| Looking for this kind of story? Not today, friend. |
I'll cut myself a little slack. I did set off pretty early. Pacific County is just close enough that an early departure can still look like... an early morning departure, rather than a middle-of-the-night departure. I decided to enter the county on Highway 6 this time, coming down I5, and passing through Pe Ell, before crossing the old "Entering Pacific County" sign.
But the first new year-bird for the day was not singing at all, it was tapping. A Red-breasted Sapsucker (131 for the year, a number I'll track in parentheses) did its syncopated tapping against a tree. I'm not great with most of the woodpeckers, when it comes to sorting them out by their drumming, but we had one of these birds outside of our home for nearly a decade, hitting a street sign morning after morning every spring. So, when I looked for, and failed to get a visual on this bird (another theme for the morning), I wasn't too concerned.
This was a short walk down the road, to the copse of trees where the bird was tucked in. After a little looking, I saw that what appeared at first to be a driveway was a public road, Walville Creek Road. I started walking back up the road towards it, when I heard a "kerwee!" call. On this tree-lined road, I couldn't make sense of it on the first call, but my brain got up to speed on the second call. Sora! (132). This is a code 4 bird, meaning that it should not be expected every year.
I wondered if that was still the case! The distribution and occurrence of birds can change over time, so I went to eBird to see what their recent history has been.
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| Just soggy enough! |
Common Yellowthroats (133) gave some little "cherf" notes. These skulky warblers love some of the same soggy places that Soras do, so this gave me some comfort about finding a Sora "high in the Willapas" (the Willapa Hills, are *not* high). Continuing down the Primitive Road with No Warning Signs, I felt a bit of odd pressure against my ears. Then again, then accelerating. Ruffed Grouse??? (134). This was another bird where I had mapped out places I would try to visit in search for it. The universe was just handing out birds today.
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| Horsetail - one of our ancient native plants just starting to pop up |
I packed up and drove half of a short stretch down the road, pulling over to take a look at a pond. I quickly found a pair of Wood Ducks (135). This is a species that I was expecting, but the speed of the birds rolling continued to be a surprise!
Elk Prairie Road
This is the road where I'd found an American Dipper on birding day 1. Again, I was thinking... here's my chance to find a Black-throated Gray Warbler singing. Nope! I pulled off several times in what seemed like nice enough habitat and got no singers. This road runs parallel to Highway 6, leaving the highway, then returning to it. I kind of like the option of taking it and getting off of the "busy" highway! I scanned the fields for anything interesting, knowing that even mid-April can bring surprises.
At the end of the road, I pulled over and watched a sparrow patch for a little while. Horses watched me as I did.
One treat I got while watching was some singing from a Purple Finch. It's not a new bird for the year, but one that I hadn't heard in full song yet. And lord, what a beautiful song! It had rained the day before, and you could see evaporation rising from nearly every square inch of ground in sunny places. I didn't get proper rainbows, but it almost felt like I was inside a rainbow at times. No better way to describe it that I can conjure up.
I made one short stop along the road where I had a view of a little horse pond swirling with swallows, including Barn Swallows (136) another new species for the year.
A-line Road off of Trap Creek Lane
I'd seen a pin here for Sooty Grouse on eBird. It was from a few years back, but I figured it was worth a try. Some areas are good for grouse, but become less good for them as they grow in. I went up Trap Creek Lane and found a pull-off where I could park. Up the hill I went!
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| Female Common Yellowthroat |
The thing that surprised me most at the start of the walk was the sheer number of Common Yellowthroats hanging out on the hillsides. I had mentioned how they enjoy soggy spots. It seemed that they were less picky, at least for now, as they called from the hillside clearcuts. It was still a beautiful morning, and it was nice to be walking up a hill that got me huffing a little bit. Writing work is almost never a simple M-F 9 to 5 thing. Projects begin. Projects end. Of late, project work had been coming in guns-a-blazing, so life had drifted towards sedentary.
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| Someday supper for grouse |
And it was a birdy walk! Forest to my right had Pacific Wrens and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, open areas had Spotted Towhee and Song Sparrows. I crossed an open gate, and things got even a little steeper. Down along the slope to my right, in open spaces between the road and the forest, I heard a Sooty Grouse booming (137). Neither grouse species is a slam-dunk easy bird to find in the county, so I was pretty excited!
As I was listening to the grouse, I heard Western Bluebirds higher up the hill, so I started to go higher.
As I was going higher, I heard something large enough to make a large branch go CRACK make a large branch go CRACK, so I turned around.
In my head, I'd considered cougar or bear. I'm sure that elk or even maybe a deer could have caused the sound. It just sounded heavy enough to not take chances. I gave a few yells as I walked. Sounding dangerous is a good plan with cougars. They really like a low-effort meal.
I got back to my car and stopped to listen to a Townsend's Warbler (138) singing from the trees. Not a Black-throated Gray, but a very similar song! In some cases, the songs overlap, in my mind. Both are variable, so you can have very zippy, accelerated, electric sounding Townsend's (as I had here), and very bouncy, derpyderpyderpydee! songs from Black-throated Grays. There are times where I hear the songs, feel like I know which one I'm hearing, find the bird, and confirm. There are other times where.. I don't know, maybe a Townsend's is just feeling a little relaxed, or a Black-throated Gray is feeling a little excited, and I get a song that is not easily or safely sortable. But out on the far edges, they're pretty clear.
138! It wasn't even noon, and I was really cooking with gas.
Raymond to Tokeland
From here, I hit Raymond, passing through town to get to the airport. In mid-April, my target bird was a Cinnamon Teal. The little ponds were even more full of Ring-necked Ducks (a kind of challenging bird in Pacific) than usual, but I found no Cinnamon Teals, no American Coots, and no reason to linger longer.
But good lord, once I continued farther up 105, on the way to Tokeland, I realized... there are shorebirds. So. Many. Shorebirds.
And this is where... I mean I DID fill out an eBird checklist, but it was largely like.. I'M DOING SOME GUESSING HERE. How many thousand Dunlin? In some patches, however, I was able to find some species pairs that helped me add to the old year list.
I heard calls from Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs (139). It was nice to see some in the scope side by side, highlighting just how chonky Greaters are by comparison. Lessers have a daintier, shorter bill, and especially in the neck, you can see how... I dunno "buxom" the Greater Yellowlegs is.
Dowitchers... they were another story. Yeah, I was able to hear both calls. And I know that Short-billed (the species I hadn't seen yet this year) was more common, but these are not easily separated, and I'd say the distance beat me in the attempt. Some pictures like this one were tempting.
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And then I went to Tokeland
Why'd I go to Tokeland? I mean, there are a few birds I was looking for in Tokeland. One of them was Simply There:
Brown Pelicans! (141) There were as many as 60 of them at the Tokeland Marina at different times.
And of course, there were other shorebird possibilities. Dunlin, Least and Western Sandpipers, Willet, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Long- and Short-billed Dowitchers, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers had ALL been seen here in recent weeks. But I had all of these birds on my year list. One other bird was not on my year list, but... should have been easy enough to find!
Long-billed Curlew. The Clown Prince of Shorebirds:
This photo (from Ruth Sullivan, a local birder) includes a godwit for comparison. Godwits are not small birds! So, this provides a nice perspective on just how big North America's largest shorebird is. Easy to pick out. Easy!
A single curlew has been seen off and on in Tokeland for months. So... all I needed to do was stay here in Tokeland and find the thing. The universe had been throwing a lot of new birds at me. It was time to settle in and go on a focused search.
...
I looked around...
There was no mud. No place for a curlew to even be.
So, I went to lunch.
The Tokeland Hotel is the oldest hotel in our state. I did not realize that until I stepped in and looked over some of the signage. I got greeted and seated and set up with Wifi. It gave me a chance to enter the morning's observations, look over my alerts to see if there were any new interesting sightings to chase, and figure out the tides for the day.
And the Wandering Goose Restaurant is something else. The hotel and restaurant were purchased in recent years by a couple from Seattle. They've put a lot of work into both ends of the business, bringing a southern take on local ingredients. I looked around at the spacious tables and considered how convenient it might be to just get a room here for the night (I had no reservations yet).
The hotel does not normally take reservations for single nights, but for a midweek drop-in in person, they were willing to talk!
I got rate information, and thought... I should give this curlew and honest effort before I lock myself in to Tokeland!
Killing time
The tides were still rising, so I made some side trips. First, I stopped at the cranberry bogs east of Grayland. The little ponds sprinkled around would (I figured?) be a good enough place to find a Cinnamon Teal. I found some Mallards, and some Wood Ducks, but nothing more interesting than that. It was still a beautiful stop on a sunny April day.
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| I want to understand these little pools and these little shacks. I'll have to either ask a stray farmer, or hit the Cranberry Museum |
From there, I made a stop at the wind phone out on old SR 105. Had a nice chat with important people I miss. I also got a nice flyby of some birds that I had been missing: Brant! (142)
These saltwater geese are on the move in March and April. I was glad to see this flock moving through.
Back to Tokeland
I went to the marina. Sat. Waited. The tide was going out, but was still pretty high. Close in on the rocks of the beach, a Willet kept me company.
It was interesting to watch peeps roll past the marina. Sometimes in dozens, sometimes in hundreds, as the tide went out, exposing mud off to the northeast of the marina.
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| So many Dunlin |
I finally saw some signs of other larger birds flying overhead, as more and more mud appeared. I walked out to the marina dock, and bingo!
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| Marbled Godwits! And... maybe another Marbled Godwit. That light bird has been confusing. Not a godwit with that bill. Not a Willet with no underwing marks?? Not anything else. Probably... an elk. We'll call it that for now. Unless it's just a bad picture of a Willet... I've taken my share of bad pictures! |
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| An actual Willet - great fit for that bird above, outside of the white underwing markings (which, note, go all the way to the body) |
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| I was so excited about the Long-billed Curlew in the back.... lol |
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| Until I realized |
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| It was a Whimbrel. And... yeah, these are Hudsonian Whimbrels now... But as soon as I say "Hudsonian" I get all excited, because I think the next word is going to be Godwit. So I'm still just calling 'em Whimbrels. |
Sigh...
A Caspian Tern flew overhead, screeching at me (143). "Yeah yeah... shhh.... I'm busy hating a bird."
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| Fun mix of birds on the way out |
The tide had apparently gone out far enough, and birds started to leave the area, so I couldn't see a reason to stay. All in all, it seemed like a short window. As I sat down for dinner at the hotel, I pulled up the laptop and stared at tide tables for the next day. I mean... I was HERE for the night, but the outlook for the next day wasn't great. Not for the marina, at any rate, which seemed to get some business 2-3 hours after high tide. That would either be before sunrise, or too late the next day.
"Well then!"
I got squared away. It was a lovely dinner, and a lovely room. It should be for (large number redacted) per night! A last-minute shift in my taxes seemed to justify a little splurge, and I used the cozy tables and fireplaces as a nice backdrop for some work on my writing projects.
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| I don't know who the "he" is here, but a few came to mind for me, having lost some friends along the way, and a father, and a son. Be amazed at anyone who is still here, yeah? It's amazing. Be amazed. |
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