June 3rd - Swift Weather

I was sitting with 170 species for the year in Pacific County. I was also sitting with a pile of laundry, and a chicken in the fridge that would best be broken down and turned into stock. 

And it was swift weather. 

Black Swifts are one of the most interesting birds in the state. Their nesting sites were mysteriously tucked into the Cascades, with birders identifying a few different sites over time. There's even speculation that they *could* use the steep cliffs of the Pacific Coast for nesting. Waterfalls and cliffs are their jam. Not sites that are the most accessible! 

lifted from www.birdweb.org

On warm overcast days in late spring, they sometimes head a bit farther afield. We'd just had a hot day in Western Washington, and the weather reports were calling for overcast skies throughout this part of the state. Black Swift weather! These birds are a code 4 in Pacific County. Not detected annually, but they have a pattern of occurrence, more than 5 records over the years. 

Two other reports grabbed my eye. A Lazuli Bunting in Tokeland, and a Yellow-headed Blackbird at Midway Beach. These are both birds that wouldn't be expected annually and were a short distance from each other. I considered the idea of hopping right in the car in the morning, but the laundry and stock situations just made it feel silly. I pushed through lunch before heading out the door. I've entered the county on three different roads this year - this time, I took the one that would get me to Tokeland fastest - I5 to Hwy101 to Hwy 8 to Hwy 12 to 107 to 101.

This landed me in Pacific County, and the weather continued to feel just right. Although I knew there were possibly other birds waiting ahead, I wanted to give myself a chance at Black Swifts! I pulled off to walk one of the gated roads - owned by forest companies (this one was Hancock), but open for foot recreation. The skies remained a flat gray as I tromped out, listening to Wilson's Warblers, Swainson's Thrushes, and a new bird - Western Wood-Pewee! (171 for the year). These birds are not all that uncommon in the Seattle area, and are almost junk birds in parts of Eastern Washington. But here, they are a code 3, so this felt like a good find.

It was not my last such stop. I continued to find great spots with clearcuts. As it had become 3....4 PM, I increasingly thought my luck for finding a Common Nighthawk was increasing as well.  Nothing.

I drove to Tokeland and could see the cloud surrounding it as I approached. It was just kind of a misty, windy, unpleasant time to be there. I drove Emerson Avenue twice, keeping an eye out for any sign of a Lazuli Bunting. Nada.

Parking Space Pelican - Tokeland Marina

And now, I was thinking of what a waste the trip might turn out to be. Head home and spend a tank of gas for a Western Wood-Pewee? Camp in crappy weather... for a Western Wood-Pewee? Grab a hotel room and add to my expenses, for... you get the point. 

I texted Allison, a Pacific County birder I'd been contacting during the early part of the year. She and her husband, Cameron, work for Fish and Wildlife in Pacific County. We'd never gotten out to do any birding, and I'd missed out on opportunities to volunteer for their plover monitoring season, but they'd been a big help nonetheless, helping me understand some of the birding spots better, especially relative to the tides. We decided to meet up at the Pitchwood Tavern in Raymond. 

Good lord, we talked about a lot of birds. It was interesting to hear about her interactions with the birds, the places, and the people of Pacific County. Some of the most interesting shorebird spots - the ones that she and her team survey - are best (or only) accessible by boat. Great Knot, Rock Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit - all had been found during the spring by her teams. There was an offer to look into joining the upcoming godwit surveys - they are trying to sort out subspecies patterns with those birds - and there was also talk about trying to organize a "blanket day" in October. 

The map of the Mason County Blanket Trips
What would it look like in Pacific County?

I've done these little blanket days in the past in Mason County and Chelan County. The basic idea is that three cars meet up in the morning, say hello, then head off in different directions in a county. They spend the morning sweeping through the Good Spots in different parts of the county, then get back together at lunch time to compare notes, giving everyone plenty of time to go and chase good birds that are found. 

Maybe like this...? Blue and Green trips could say hello in the morning
Red and Green trips could say hello at lunch? 
Pencil it in for Sunday, October 4th. Message me if you're interested!

For me, it's a nice way to catch birds that I have had trouble finding for the year. For others, they get to benefit from the familiarity I've gained from ten months of exploring the county. Between Allison's depth of knowledge with shorebirds, and Cameron's skill with seabirds, they would be *amazing* as part of a blanket day! Stay tuned. 

Tick tock tick tock

It was a great chat, and there was *also* live music provided by the Pitchwood Inn. Three singers took the stage while we talked, and they were all great. The crowd (and I've become a crowd afficionado as a karaoke host) was also great. People were deep in conversations, enjoying time with friends, but almost to a person stopped to cheer on the people on stage after each song. It's such a small thing, but I rank it up there with Being Nice to Animals as one of those litmus tests for good souls. 

BUT... I had nighthawks to find and still needed to get a room at the Pitchwood Inn. I wrapped up our conversation (pro-tip that I didn't need to use: double-tapping your thighs with both palms and saying "Welp" is a nearly unbreakable method for signaling a departure. Practice this.) and continued the online process for reserving a room. I had started it before Allison arrived, and I was able to hit "reserve" after we ended the talk. 

And I reserved a room for the wrong night. 

Holy Booking.com this was a headache. I could have made the reservation with the guy at the bar, and there would have been no lack of clarity. But I was encouraged to hop on a site to save money. Now, I was given a room key, along with a number to call Booking.com to cancel the reservation that had been made, and hopefully not get double-charged. As I made my way to the room, watched time tick away, and went back and forth over the phone, and finally got it squared away AS I was in the car, driving to what I thought would be good spots for nighthawks.

Stop number one - north of Raymond on Highway 101, I listened to the soft whits of Willow Flycatchers, all tucked away out of sight. Not a super-rare bird, but hey, 172 for the year! This was pretty close to the road, and I wasn't seeing much action, so... now past 7 PM... I drove further up the road and started up Smith Creek Road.

My first stop was a clearcut just a short way up Smith Creek Road. There was barely any room to park on the South side of the road, but I took the space, got out, and listened. No nighthawks. This surprised me! It seemed like a nice clearcut (insert jumbo shrimp/military intelligence joke here), and nighthawks do seem to like to spend their nights in clearcuts!

But what I did hear was better. At first, the rhythmic chipping confused me. Then there was some chittering to go with it, and I sat there confused for yet another half-minute. Then I realized what I was hearing. Black Swifts! (173). I scanned the sky, looking for one of these tiny scimitars cutting through the sky. The calls were helpful for at least trying to find a direction. 

And then a White-crowned Sparrow popped up, and started "PINK"ing at me. At short-range, these suckers are quite loud! And... folks, I may just have a comic misunderstanding of birds. We all may? I don't know. I thought that "pishing" was a really specific sound meant to put birds on alert, encouraging them to vocalize more. Do you know what else seems to encourage them?? Talking.

"Hey! Could you pipe down? I'm trying to listen..."  I can't guarantee that I was this civil when I spoke to the White-crowned Sparrow, but I feel like I was trying? Then a second one popped up and started sounding the alarm as well. With this, I lost all hopes of finding the Black Swifts against the huge gray sky. 

And honestly?? I didn't like hearing these birds at 7:45. I was at least puzzled by it. It seemed late in the day for the birds to be heading back to their homes in the Cascades (this was before I learned that they *could* use spots on the coast, but even this is an unsupported belief). And here I am, staring up at the sky like an idiot, ready to drop a weird observation into eBird, with zero documentation. I knew that I could describe the observation, describe the conditions and habitat... it would be fine for *my* list, but from the other side of things, from the side where you are evaluating the data point, my expectations were low that this would be accepted. 

But these White-crowned Sparrows were not backing down, I could get on no birds, and the hour was getting late, so I packed it up and drove further up the road to the intersection with the "H-line". I may sort this nomenclature out at some point, but this was another private forest road where the signage says "just don't block the gate or drive a vehicle beyond the gate without a permit." 

And I heard nighthawks before the car door even fully swung open. 174. 

I continued the walk past the gate, and I was happy to get a visual on a nighthawk, along with some video to capture the calls. I also got to hear a fair number of Willow Flycatchers making their full calls. "Fitz Bew!" is the accepted phonetics for this. I hear something a little different but would need to really sit down and hammer it out to say what. 

And just like that. In the work of an hour or so, I went from a kind of wasted trip to a trip where I picked up four species - three of them being code 3 or higher! I returned to the Inn, and collapsed, knowing I wouldn't have to get up particularly early the next day.