Birding by boat

One of my favorite ways to bird is from my kayak. Patterson Lake in Okanogan County is an excellent choice for birding by boat. It has a posted speed limit for motorized craft and that limit is generally followed. Many people powered boats can be seen there as well, including other kayaks, canoes, sculls and row boats. If you don't have a boat, you may be able to rent one from Sun Mountain's Patterson Lake cabins.

young Black-headed Grosbeak

I put my boat in the water at the WDFW launch on the east side of the lake. This site requires a Discover Pass or WDFW parking permit issued with a hunting or fishing license. On weekday mornings it is never crowded. Weekends may be a different story.

This morning, after the busy Labor Day weekend, I nearly had the place to myself. The water was glassy, the sky - bluebird blue and the sun was warm. Summer weather in September. Birds know fall is coming and migration was evident. Few swallows remain of the summer swarms. White-crowned Sparrows have arrived. There was a big flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers. I did not see any Ospreys.

Canada Geese

Small birds near the lake shore seem to be less wary of a boat than of a person on foot or bicycle. By letting my boat drift slowly, I could get good views of tiny species that generally provide only a passing glimpse.

Mountain Chickadee

Here is my list of 28 species seen this morning:

Canada Goose 

Mallard 
Hooded Merganser 
Common Merganser 
Great Blue Heron 
Bald Eagle 
Red-tailed Hawk 
Spotted Sandpiper 
Belted Kingfisher 
Downy Woodpecker 
Northern Flicker 
Common Raven 
Violet-green Swallow 
Barn Swallow 
Black-capped Chickadee 
Mountain Chickadee 
Red-breasted Nuthatch 
White-breasted Nuthatch 
Pygmy Nuthatch 
American Robin 
Gray Catbird 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Townsend's Warbler 
Spotted Towhee 
White-crowned Sparrow 
Dark-eyed Junco 
Black-headed Grosbeak 
American Goldfinch 

Horan Natural Area Bird Walk

Why we bird: Reminders from a Spring Bird Walk,
by Mark Oswood, NCW Audubon Society President
 
A few weeks ago, we had one of our traditional bird walks at Confluence Park and Horan Natural Area, in Wenatchee. We’ve had these bird walks, with a shared meal fore or aft, in spring and fall, for some years. You can never take the same bird walk twice, of course; every trip is a once-only.


We had more folks completely new to birding than in previous trips (yahooie!) so we needed more loaner binoculars and field guides than we had at hand. Question to Chapter members: should we construct a goes-anywhere, traveling kit of loaner binoculars and field guides, ready to deploy on any birding trip likely to have always-welcome neo-birders? On this trip, we had no Really Good Birders (RGB  someone who can casually identify immature gulls or who knows a bird’s song from a faint “fweet” high in a tree). Having a RGB on a trip is inspirational (we all yearn to have these skills) and educational (one can learn bird lore and identification tips, just standing downwind from a RGB). Even so, there is much value in the communal learning of average birders helping each other.

We were, to our surprise, joined by a reporter (Dee Riggs) and photographer (Kathryn Stevens) from The Wenatchee World. Here’s a link to their newspaper article: http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2011/apr/12/taking-flight/ . Dee asked participants why they like birding. Perhaps not surprisingly, the answers didn’t include amassing lists of birds seen but rather the ways in which birding gets us outside, slowed down, with our senses turned on and minds wide open. Annie Dillard pointed out the necessity of just showing up: “… beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”

For us average (or especially beginner) birders, even a common bird seen closely is a gift. There were Violet-green Swallows zooming about like tiny jet fighters in a dogfight. One swallow lit on a fence wire and tolerated the intense look-rays of all of our binoculars. An Osprey, on our edge of the Columbia River, caught the downriver wind and hovered in a fish scan, nearly overhead. Our bird list for the trip had no rarities but we did get some rare good views.
 
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Lesser Scaup (could not distinguish from Greater Scaup but location/habitat make Lesser Scaup much more likely)
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Osprey
American Coot
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Violet-green Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch

Pearrygin Lake Bird Walk

Yesterday's Methow Valley Bird Walk went to Pearrygin Lake State Park. Seven of us quite lucked on the weather with a sunny calm morning. The water was perfectly smooth as we walked from the main campground south to the group camp area along an old road that gives views into the brush and trees below it and the lake beyond. Highlights included a calling Virginia Rail and some people saw an Osprey catch a fish while we all got to see it and another Osprey practice evasive manuevers when a Bald Eagle arrived to try to steal it. There was also a pretty good variety of waterfowl although they stayed quite a ways away and we wished we had a scope with us.

Observed species:

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Ring-necked Duck

Unknown Scaup

Common Goldeneye

Common Loon

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Virginia Rail

American Coot

Red-naped Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Say's Phoebe

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

American Goldfinch

Total number of species seen: 34

Next scheduled Bird Walk is May 9th.

Birds and bird trips

Are you seeing any interesting birds at your feeders these days? Over on Harrier Hill they have a male Evening Grosbeak along with their House Finches and Goldfinches. In Pine Forest a while back, I heard they had all three nuthatches and a White-headed Woodpecker and Clarks Nutcrackers coming to their feeders. Here on our little hill, I've seen Northern Shrikes a few times since the weather got cold and the Steller's Jays are coming around regularly. Yesterday Ken was outside and heard a call from the power line and found a Northern Pygmy Owl observing the place. I was able to get a few snapshots when it flew to the snag on the other side of the house.

It mostly just presented the back side of its head with the fake eyes.

On December 12th Dan Stephens will be leading a waterfowl field trip, starting in Wenatchee and going up the Columbia on the Chelan County side to Bridgeport and then down the river on Douglas County side. I plan to meet the group in Pateros and join them for part of the day. Anyone else want to carpool from the Methow down to the Columbia?

This is a good warmup for the Christmas Bird Counts that get underway on December 14th with Bridgeport leading the way. Another opportunity to carpool from the Methow and Wenatchee. Meredith would love to get a bunch of folks up there. It's a great count. In past years I've seen a Gyrfalcon, Redpolls and also the count's only Wild Turkey! The Twisp CBC has been moved up to December 16th so be sure and change your calendars for that one. Karen tells me Leavenworth is either the 15th or 16th. Grand Coulee with David St George is December 21st. Chelan is the 30th. Okanogan and Wenatchee are both on January 2nd. You can look at http://www.wos.org/ to find a complete list of CBC's around the state.

February 5th, Dan Stephens will lead his annual trip from Wenatchee to the Waterville Plateau. Always something interesting with possible Snowy Owls and Snow Buntings and other winter specialties.

Next bird walk in the Methow

Just a short post to let you know that our next Audubon Methow Valley Bird Walk is September 8th. We will continue to meet at the MVSTA parking lot in Winthrop at 7:30 am. We are heading down valley to Cassimir or Bridgeport Bar on the Columbia in hopes of seeing American White Pelicans and other waterbirds. Bring your lunch and something to drink and of course your bird books and binos. This might be a good trip to have a scope or two along. And bring your ideas for future bird walks!

Pearrygin Lake Bird Walk

Nine of us met at the MVSTA parking lot yesterday and car pooled up to Pearrygin State Park. At the parking lot I saw two Pygmy Nuthatches in the pines overlooking the ice rink and a Turkey Vulture roosting across the river. It was comfortably cool but by the time we were were walking at the park, the sun had warmed considerably. Summer is finally, really here. We went into the park at the south entrance and walked toward the south end of the lake which is less developed, having only one group camping site and lots of good trees and shrubs for bird finding. Surprisingly, most of us never go there due to the pressure from all the campers and boaters at Pearrygin. We birded for about 2 1/2 hours with the highlights being a Yellow-headed Blackbird (uncommon in the Methow) and a Yellow-breasted Chat. There were lots of observations of singing Lazuli Buntings and also a few Gray Catbirds. On the lake we saw a group of six Pied-billed Grebes, probably a family group although they were all about the same size. Still lots of wildflowers blooming. Juliet Rhodes photographed this mariposa lily, a flower most of us had never seen in the Methow.

Here is the list of birds we observed for the morning.

Mallard

Pied-billed Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Unidentified gull
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-naped Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Western Wood-Pewee
Eastern Kingbird - at a nest
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee - heard
House Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Black-headed Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
American Goldfinch

The next Bird Walk in the Methow is August 9th, although I'm up for going anytime. We meet at the MVSTA parking lot next to the fitness center at 7:30 am.

Big Valley Bird Walk

Yesterday, 8 of us met at the MVSTA parking lot for one of NCW Audubon's summer bird walks. Weather was at long last, perfect - warm and calm and dry. It seems that summer has finally arrived. We car pooled to the Big Valley section of the Methow Wildlife Area in hopes of observing Veerys, Lazuli Buntings, various vireos and American Redstarts, among others. None of us were 'experts' and we are all trying to learn the less common bird songs and calls of the migrants who nest in our area. To this end, two of us brought our electronic devices to help with identification. These birds are often hidden in the canopy of cottonwoods, aspens and water birch so the song may be all the observation we get.

Ladyslipper Orchid

In addition to birds, we saw many wildflowers including ladyslipper orchids, tiger lilies, immense cow parsnips, northern bedstraw, Canada violet (a white violet - new to all of us), and many others. The non-stop spring rains have created a lush landscape of four foot tall grasses and bracken fern over our heads.

Cow Parsnip

Tiger Lily

I was glad to have flowers to photograph since the birds were not nearly so cooperative. Here are the species we observed, some of them were heard and not seen.

Spotted Sandpiper

Mourning Dove

Calliope Hummingbird
Red-naped Sapsucker - appeared to be nesting pair although we did not find the nest
Downy Woodpecker - we observed male and female feeding young at a nest
Hairy Woodpecker
Western Wood-Pewee
Hammond's Flycatcher
Unidentified Empidonax
Cassin's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Veery
Swainson’s Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Cassin's Finch


Total number of species observed: 33

Next NCW Audubon Methow Bird Walk is July 6, meet at MVSTA parking lot 7:30 am

Birds, botanizing and mushrooms

I went with my friend Juliet to the Oden burn on the Okanogan side of the Loup today. We were hoping to find some morels and maybe see some interesting birds. We did both and saw some cool plants and many fruiting lichens. Also observed some strange logging going on turning tiny streams and seeps into muddy holes and trenches. It was hard to tell what was the purpose of all the heavy equipment activity on the wet ground.

A pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers foraged for their nestlings while we ate lunch. This is a photo of the female. The image was made with a point and shoot camera.

This is a tiny fruiting lichen.

Here is a list of the birds we observed:
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
Lewis' Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)
Western Wood-Pewee (Contopus sordidulus)
Unidentified Empidonax (Empidonax sp.)
Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus)
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
We also saw a thrush and finches that we did not identify.

It was a good day with fine weather!

Been Birding Lately?

A group of birding acquaintances got together this week for a birding walk in a lovely riparian area along a stream with beaver ponds and a multi faceted canopy of aspens and cottonwood, willows and dogwoods, pines and douglas fir trees. One side of the stream had a long open hillside. One couple who brought the group together played their iPod based bird calls for all of us to learn the various warblers and other neotropical migrants in the area. It was a delightful morning of good company and good birds, even with marginal weather.

During the course of the walk we discussed doing this regularly over the summer and at the end of the day we came up with a list of dates when we will meet again for bird walks. Feel free to join us. We will visit various places around the Methow. We do not have a ‘leader’. None of us are real ‘expert’ birders. All birding abilities are welcome and we hope to learn from one another.

We will meet at the MVSTA parking lot next to Winthrop Physical Therapy and Fitness Center at 7:30 on June 15 and 23, July 6 and August 9. Should we vary from these dates and times, we will post changes to this blog and the NCW Audubon website. If you have any questions, let us know.

Are you organizing bird walks in your area? If so, email them to webmaster@ncwaudubon.org for inclusion on the blog and website!